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1

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

Malala Yousafzai,



   Christina Lamb

Diane

it was amazing

Oct 09, 2013

Reading this book reminded me of how much I take for granted every day:
 Freedom of speech. Freedom of religion. The freedom to go to the store
 without needing a male escort. And the ability to get an education,
 regardless of gender."I was a girl in a land where rifles are fired in
 celebration of a son, while daughters are hidden away behind a curtain, their
 role in life simply to prepare food and give birth to children."Malala,
 who is now 16, is an outspoken advocate for girls to have the same r
 Reading this book reminded me of
 how much I take for granted every day: Freedom of speech. Freedom of
 religion. The freedom to go to the store without needing a male escort. And
 the ability to get an education, regardless of gender."I was a girl in a
 land where rifles are fired in celebration of a son, while daughters are
 hidden away behind a curtain, their role in life simply to prepare food and
 give birth to children."Malala, who is now 16, is an outspoken advocate
 for girls to have the same right to go to school as boys. In her native
 Pakistan, she lost that ability when the Taliban took over: "I was 10
 when the Taliban came to our valley ... It seemed to us that the Taliban
 arrived in the night just like vampires. They appeared in groups, armed with
 knives and Kalashnikovs ... They looked so dark and dirty and that my
 father's friend described them as 'people deprived of baths and
 barbers.'"The Taliban started bombing schools and decreed that girls
 couldn't get an education. Malala's father was a school principal and
 encouraged her to speak out. She was only 15 at the time, but threats were
 made against her and her family. And in October 2012, when she was riding the
 school bus with her friends, a man with a gun climbed aboard the vehicle and
 shot Malala in the head.Amazingly, Malala survived the bullet and was able to
 recover. She and her family currently live in England, but Malala writes
 about how much she misses her home country and wishes she could return to be
 with her friends. Her graciousness was such that she did not wish revenge on
 her attacker, and instead prays for peace."I thank Allah for the
 hardworking doctors, for my recovery and for sending us to this world where
 we may struggle for our survival. Some people choose good ways and some
 choose bad ways. One person's bullet hit me. It swelled my brain, stole my
 hearing and cut the nerve of my left face in the space of a second. And after
 that one second there were millions of people praying for my life and
 talented doctors who gave me my body back. I was a good girl. In my heart I
 had only the desire to help people."Malala's story is both heartbreaking
 and inspiring. I admire her courage and her tenacity, and also hope that her
 country will one day find peace. "Why are we Muslims fighting with each
 other? ... We should focus on practical issues. We have so many people in our
 country who are illiterate, and many women have no education at all. We live
 in a place where schools are blown up. We have no reliable electricity
 supply. Not a single day passes without the killing of at least one
 Pakistani."The book is lovingly written, and I also appreciated her
 stories about the history of Pakistan and her people, the Pashtuns. While
 reading the book I realized that I knew more about the history of other
 countries in the region, such as Afghanistan, Iran and India, than I did
 about Pakistan, and it was very informative. I would highly recommend the
 book to anyone interested in women's rights, current events, history or
 inspirational memoirs."Today we all know education is our basic right.
 Not just in the West; Islam too has given us this right. Islam says every
 girl and every boy should go to school. In the Quran it is written, God wants
 us to have knowledge. He wants us to know why the sky is blue and about
 oceans and stars ... The Taliban could take our pens and books, but they
 couldn't stop our minds from thinking."Update October 2014:I was
 thrilled to hear that Malala had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her
 humanitarian work. I have recommended this book to numerous people in the
 past year, and am still amazed by her courage. Three cheers for Malala!
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1

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

Malala Yousafzai,



   Christina Lamb

Tanya Tyson

liked it

Nov 01, 2013

Just to be clear, the rating is for the book not the person Malala
 herself. I read this quickly whilst on holidays and was keen to find out more
 about her story after seeing a short tv piece just before leaving home. I
 think her story is amazing and her courage remarkable, her plight and vision
 inspiring but the book itself I found to be an odd mix of political and
 historical fact and personal reflections that didn't quite gel for me. Still
 a worthy read and I really appreciated the insight into
 Just to be clear, the rating is for
 the book not the person Malala herself. I read this quickly whilst on
 holidays and was keen to find out more about her story after seeing a short
 tv piece just before leaving home. I think her story is amazing and her
 courage remarkable, her plight and vision inspiring but the book itself I
 found to be an odd mix of political and historical fact and personal
 reflections that didn't quite gel for me. Still a worthy read and I really
 appreciated the insight into the young girls life with her family. I can see
 that the historical documentation that was added, presumably by the other
 author, is there to inform people like me who have a flimsy grasp on the
 political events and motivations of power brokers in that region of the
 world, however I found Malala's personal account to be much more interesting
 and think the book would have done better with a different angle that focused
 on just her story or even told the political through her eyes or words...I
 found myself wondering sometimes "who am I listening to here?" and
 feeling a little as if I was being coerced into forming a political opinion
 based on the interpretations being offered in the factual accounts.
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890

1

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

Malala Yousafzai,



   Christina Lamb

Miranda Reads

it was amazing

Nov 20, 2018

We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.

   Criticism be damned, I loved this book.Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani girl,
 was just fifteen years old when the Taliban decided she needed to be taken
 out. That she was too dangerous to be alive. That she was radical,
 sacrilegious and so much more.
 And what did she do?
What was the heinous, terrible
 actions that necessitated her being shot?
 Education is education. We should
 learn everything and then choose which
 
 
 
 
 We realize the importance of our
 voices only when we are silenced.

   Criticism be damned, I loved this book.Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani girl,
 was just fifteen years old when the Taliban decided she needed to be taken
 out. That she was too dangerous to be alive. That she was radical,
 sacrilegious and so much more.
 And what did she do?
What was the heinous, terrible
 actions that necessitated her being shot?
 Education is education. We should
 learn everything and then choose which path to follow." Education is
 neither Eastern nor Western, it is human.

   She spoke up for education - particularly for girls - and was doing such an
 inspirational job, that she became a 'problem'.Her father, a schoolmaster,
 founded many schools throughout her childhood and he always gave Malala the
 option to speak up for her right to education. And speak up she did. She
 corresponded with newspapers, campaigned on the radio and even appeared on
 television.
 One child, one teacher, one book,
 one pen can change the world.

   She gave a voice to the ever-silenced children, especially the girls, who
 were forced to cover up and stay at home. To give up their education because
 it was "improper".Malala expressed her love for God, for her people
 and for the right to education - time and time again.
 When the whole world is silent,
 even one voice becomes powerful.

   And when the Taliban heard of her, they decided that she, a fifteen year
 old girl, needed to be killed.And so they tried. They shot her in the head on
 her way to school on October 9th, 2012.But something happened that they had
 not calculated -
 she survived.

   And the attempted murder (assassination? I think she's important enough to
 bump this to attempted assassination) didn't cow her or put her in her place.
 She survived and she is ready to continue the fight.
 We were scared, but our fear was
 not as strong as our courage.

   In short - amazing. Truly amazing.This book felt like a honest chat between
 the author and the world - she unashamedly details the poverty, the cruelty
 and the losses that her family, and the families around her, suffered.But at
 the same time, she speaks so honestly and fervently about her love for God,
 her country and even for those who attacked out of fear or misguidance.Normally,
 when there is a second author, the book begins to feel false - as in there's
 too much influence from the more professional writer, and that erases all of
 the personal voice. But that was not the case in this one.Malala's felt so
 incredibly real, the way she spoke about her life in Pakistan - from her
 humble beginnings to the success of her father's school - and heartbreaking,
 especially when she talked about her freedom being taken away slowly. This is
 a book that should be read by everyone - especially the those who oppose her
 - because if you can feel one ounce of love that Malala feels for her country
 and education, then I honestly don't see why anyone would keep fighting it.
 
 If one man can destroy everything,
 why can't one girl change it?

   The Finer Books Club - 2018 Reading Challenge - an audiobook read by the
 authorYouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat
 @miranda_reads
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413

1

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

Malala Yousafzai,



   Christina Lamb

Summer

it was ok

Dec 06, 2013

I really wanted to love this book. I don't think anyone can deny the
 difficulties this girl has faced or the impact she has had on the world.
 However, the book reads like an odd jumble of Pakistani history, politics,
 and personal experience that never quite comes together into a cohesive
 narrative. The first few chapters are very inconsistent and meander all over
 the place with no clear destination; it sounds more like a collection of
 memories or family stories interspersed with factual informat
 I really wanted to love this book.
 I don't think anyone can deny the difficulties this girl has faced or the
 impact she has had on the world. However, the book reads like an odd jumble
 of Pakistani history, politics, and personal experience that never quite
 comes together into a cohesive narrative. The first few chapters are very
 inconsistent and meander all over the place with no clear destination; it
 sounds more like a collection of memories or family stories interspersed with
 factual information about Pakistan and the history of the Swat valley, and I
 had a very difficult time staying engaged and keeping track of the many
 people mentioned. The story becomes a little more streamlined as Yousafzai
 starts to recount her older childhood years leading up to the banning of
 education for girls, but I still had issues with the writing. This is one of
 the more egregious examples, but I think it captures the serious need for
 editing: "The new girls had horrible stories. Ayesha told us how one day
 on the way home from Sangota she had seen a Taliban holding up the severed
 head of a policeman by its hair, blood dripping from the neck. The Sangota
 girls were also very bright, which meant more competition. One of them, Rida,
 was excellent at making speeches." (p.144). It is certainly
 inspirational to hear Yousafzai's and her father's stories about speaking up
 in defiance of politicians, local mullahs, and the Taliban, but I think many
 readers might lose interest trying to follow the disjointed narrative. The
 book feels like it was really rushed, which is a serious shame. Someone this
 brave and interesting deserves a better book.
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1

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

Malala Yousafzai,



   Christina Lamb

Natasha

it was amazing

Oct 13, 2013

Being a fellow Muslim, I was indeed intrigued and awed by the courage of
 this young girl who is brave enough to speak up about what is wrong with her
 country and strive for education to be available for all.Coming from a
 country where education is a main priority and females overpopulated the men
 in schools, colleges and universities, I was indeed aghast to discovered that
 in certain parts of the world, women are being treated as second class
 citizens. It brought a tear to my eyes, how Malala an
 Being a fellow Muslim, I was indeed
 intrigued and awed by the courage of this young girl who is brave enough to
 speak up about what is wrong with her country and strive for education to be
 available for all.Coming from a country where education is a main priority
 and females overpopulated the men in schools, colleges and universities, I
 was indeed aghast to discovered that in certain parts of the world, women are
 being treated as second class citizens. It brought a tear to my eyes, how
 Malala and her friends struggled to continue their education despite the
 horrors of war, earthquake and the ongoing power struggle between the
 military and the Islamic militants in Pakistan. Certainly, Malala owed much
 of her courage from her own father who is an education activist and is the
 owner of a private school. Their family background and details about the Swat
 Valley is described vividly in the book and readers get to know more about
 the places that she has lived and been to.This book should be given out to
 every teen so that they would realise how important an education is and not
 to think of schooling so lightly. I felt so grateful to be able to live in a
 country where although the majority are Muslims, the women are not banned
 from attending schools and told to stay at homes to serve the men. Thank you,
 Malala for bringing attention to your plight. Isn't it ironic that instead of
 silencing Malala with the gunshot, the Taliban instead have given her an even
 bigger voice that has been heard the world over?
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