Review: I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 327
Rating: Pretty awesome. I really never feel comfortable with ratings and books like this.

Summary (thanks Goodreads): I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday.

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive. 

Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize.

I Am Malala is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.

I Am Malala will make you believe in the power of one person's voice to inspire change in the world.

Thoughts: I really enjoyed this novel...like a lot. I wasn't sure if I would because my grandma told me to read it. Okay, she sort of forced me to. She actually threw it at me. Thank heavens I have good reflexes...sometimes. I thought I'd die but I read the book anyway!

Before I read this novel, I knew of Malala. I knew she had been shot and I sort of knew why. I knew nothing in comparison to the real story. Sure, I've traveled to more of the world than other people my age. I've seen a lot of things and I've met a lot of people but Malala really paints a vivid picture of the word she lived in. Honestly, I never really considered what it would be like to live somewhere like Swat. I live a very nice, happy life in Canada. I don't have to worry about bombs or the military breaking down my door in the middle of the night. I have never even in my darkest dreams had to worry about seeing dead people on the side of the road. She really shows you how some other people live.

Yet, she was always upbeat. Malala always thinks positive thoughts. She really works to make a good difference in the world. What she is fighting for is another thing I've never had to worry about. In Canada, I am allowed to go to school. In fact, it's law that I do until I'm 18. I never even gave a second thought to my going to university. I knew that if I wanted it, I would be able to work something out. Where Malala lives, it has not been like this. They are not as lucky as I am here.

This novel made me rethink my view of school. School has always been something I have had to do. I never thought of it as a true blessing until I read this novel. I can't just think about myself. I have to think about what people go through in other countries. 

Another thing I never considered is how much one person can make a change in the world. She really has and continues to do so much to make the world a better place. It's incredible to see how much one person can do. She really is an inspiration. I would love to meet her and I will definitely be following her in the future to see what she does next.

So: This was a very interesting book. It really makes you think about how you view your world and things that you expect to always have available to you. I would love to meet Malala. If she, by some unlikely and random event ends up reading this, I'd like to thank her for all she's doing. Even if she never accomplished another thing, her spirit of positive change would live on in those, especially girls, which she has and is inspiring by her work. Keep up the incredible work.