Book: I am Malala
Author: Malala Yousafzai
Country: Pakistan
Review: 5/5
Malala Yousafzai is an activist known for her efforts towards women’s rights and education among other human rights advocacy. She was born in Pakistan and lived in the Swat Valley until being shot by Taliban forces and being evacuated to be treated overseas for her injuries. She has since continued her studies, spoken to a number of well-known figureheads and celebrated individuals, is the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate (as well as received other rewards) and co-founded the Malala Fund. I am Malala is her memoir about these events.
I recommend this book to everyone I can and it was a delight to read it for the second time. Malala has taught me that education in its many formats is key to solving many of the problems that exist in our world. Educating myself through literature and reading books by international writers is just one small way that I try to live by this. Yousafzai uses this book to describe her sources of inspiration and the trauma that she lived through, as well as help us to understand why she has made the choices that she has. I am curious to know how the co-author, Christina Lamb played a part in writing the book, but it still feels extremely personal and tightly knit with Yousafzai’s own voice. I feel like the book was very well written, maintaining a balance between history and personal memories, ensuring that any reader regardless of their knowledge of Pakistan could easily following the events of the book. This book also had a number of photographs, which I find very valuable in a memoir, reminding me that this is real life and continuing to unfold as I read about one individual’s story.
I wanted to highlight this book through this challenge because of how much Malala and her story have inspired me. Learning about her after she was shot and being just three years younger, I found myself wanting to be more and more involved in human rights activism in any way that I could. Although I’ve never put myself in danger the way that Malala has, I consider her dedication to be something I can keep striving to. I also admire the way that she has written every angle of her country, acknowledging the horrific ongoings, but also highlighting the beauty that I never knew existed. Hopefully I can read more about Pakistan in the future to see the diverse views of people living there.
Stay tuned for other book recommendations for this country and other countries, and follow my journey on Instagram @beyondpageone and find more reviews on my GoodReads page: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/116494925-kaitlyn-nightingale Thank you and happy reading!
Feature image from Goodreads.