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

Every year we choose a month to read a biography for our Gables Book Club discussion. It just so happened that I am Malala appeared in my BookBub feed This was an eye-opening read for sure.  

Malala Yousafzai is a Pashtun girl from the Swat Valley in Pakistan. Born in 1997 to a father committed to education and a mother who adhered to the Pashtun ways, Malala is the personification of what we would wish for all the girls held hostage in a regime where women don't count for much beyond bearing children and keeping house. As her father, Ziauddin,  struggled to establish schools in his homeland, he also encouraged his daughter to become as learned as he would have if she had been born a male. Ziauddin was convinced that the "power of the sword and pen" was eclipsed only by the power of women. 

Malala, with her curiosity and her ravenous desire to read was the top student in her class. It was at this time that the Taliban arrived in her village. The terror that she felt was acerbated by the fact that all the schools for girls were closed. As described in the book, one cannot even comprehend the tragedy and horror that were inflicted on the people. She and her family were forced from there home because of the bombings and killings. During this time, at age 12, Malala began writing a blog that the BBC published. She and her father also were featured in a documentary. It was evident that she was articulate and mature beyond her years. 

When the family returned home after 3 months, they found that the school had actually been used as a hideout for the Pakastani  army against the Taliban - a truly defiant act. Returning to school was a bit of normalcy for the girls, despite the fact that they needed to be ever vigilant as to their travels back and forth. It was on the way home one day in 2012 that Taliban attacked the "bus" on which Malala was riding and shouted, "Who is Malala?" and then proceeded to shoot her in the face. 

Through a series of fortuitous moves from street to hospitals and, finally being flown to Birmingham, England, Malala began the recovery and healing process. And with not capitulating to the mores of her country, she has never hidden her face, a face that has become the face of her nation. At 16 she stood defiantly in front of the United Nations Youth Assembly and spoke eloquently in support of education for women. What an impressive young woman she is. This is a must read for an understanding of just how horrible the actions of the terrorists is. It is written at a level that could and should be included in every school's curriculum.