Book Review: I Am Malala

BOOK REVIEW: I AM MALALA

About the Author: The book ’I Am Malala’ is an autobiography written by Malala Yousafzai who is an activist for female education. Through her story, she brings out her experience and incidents from the Swat Valley in Pakistan and the rise of Talibanisation (Tehrik-i-Taliban) and the terror which it caused. She focuses on the incident which took place on 9^th October, 2012 when she was shot at the age of 15 by the Talibs for being against them and for promoting female education in Pakistan. You can check out Malala’s website here.

The book has been co-written by Christina Lamb who is a British Journalist and Author. She has written both fiction and non-fiction novels and is also the chief foreign correspondent for The Sunday Times. You can visit her website by clicking here.

About the Book: ‘I am Malala’ was published on 8^th October, 2013 and is an autobiography of Malala Yousafzai. She narrates her story from being a girl child born in a small household in Pakistan to becoming a world famous female activist and the recipient of The Noble Peace Prize at the age of sixteen.

The book starts with Malala narrating the story of her father Ziauddin Yousafzai, how he was as a child, what were his dreams and how did he achieve them. Her father always wanted to start a school of his own in the Swat Valley of Pakistan. He faced a lot of problems and financial crunches throughout the process during which Malala was born. Her family finally gained some financial stability with time and her two younger brothers Kushal and Atal were born. Her father had always been a person who had supported female education. He believed that every child should be provided schooling irrespective of the gender. He started a school for girls in which Malala was also a student. She was a studious child who stood first in class and also read a lot. She was simply brilliant.

The conditions in the Swat Valley changed when Maulana Fazlullah who was the current leader of the Taliban at that time started a local radio station. He started telling people not to send their daughters to school since it was prohibited by Islam. Many people supported the Taliban while there were many who were against it. Talibanisation took over the Swat Valley as these Talibs started bombing schools which provided education to girls, killing principals or teachers who ran such schools. They claimed that according to Quran, females were not allowed to study, roam outside without a male relative or show their face to any male who is not a family member. Talibanisation had taken over Afghanistan before and therefore people at Swat Valley knew that such terrorism is going to cause a lot of killings and people were afraid for their lives. Many people including Malala’s father started forming associations and groups to fight the Taliban and to establish that Islam was not against females or their rights but only the terrorist groups like Taliban were trying to enforce such rules in the name of Islam. Malala also started supporting the fight for female education and wrote a blog by a pseudonym ‘Gul Makai’ (to protect her identity) at the age of eleven describing the condition of the Swat Valley under the Taliban. She also started giving interviews with her father for international news channels and websites and soon became a famous activist. The book lays down in detail all the incidents that took place along with some horrifying instances.

Finally when the army started a campaign against the Taliban, they claimed that all the Talibs have been killed and that Swat Valley is now free from the Taliban rule. Girls started going to schools again and roaming around freely in the valley. Malala continued giving speeches and interviews and was also awarded for the same by many renowned organisations. But the Taliban rule was still not over and started harassing people again. It was on 9^th October, 2012 that Malala was shot on her school bus while returning home from school. Along with her, two more girls were shot. The whole world came together to help Malala’s family and the best doctors from around the globe came forward to help her recover. Finally she was moved to Birmingham, England where she finally recovered after many surgeries and intensive care. Since then she has been living and studying in Birmingham with her family and has gained a worldwide recognition.

The book brings out each and every detail from her life in her own words. It talks about her life in Swat and Her second life in Birmingham and also about the Malala fund which she started to help all the girls in the world who are being deprived of education as their right. The book ends with an epilogue where Malala describes her current life and also that how it is different from her previous life. The book at the end also consists of her interview after winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

 Review: Though I am not much into reading non-fiction but I still read this book because it was recommended by a friend and also because I always find autobiographies inspiring. So ya back in 2012, I read in newspapers about a girl being shot by the terrorists in Pakistan and that how brutal the act was. I never knew in detail about what happened and why was she shot and so I decided to read this book. When I first started reading the book, it seemed to be quite boring for like the first fifty pages. All the incidents seemed irrelevant and therefore did not interest me. But, as the story proceeded, it became very interesting. The instances from the time when Malala started going to school made the book interesting and after that there was no point where I got bored.

The first thing which I loved the most about Malala’s story was that it was very relatable since she was born in the nineties and so all the famous television shows she used to watch, all the books she used to read have definitely been watched and read by all the children of the same age group. The excitement of having a new colour tv, a new computer, etc. are some experiences which all the nineties kids share and therefore they made me relate a lot to her. She has described all her experiences as a kid in a wonderful manner. I loved that how much she respected her father and his dreams and even he never stopped her from studying or made her follow the practice of wearing a burqa outside the house. I found her father, Mr. Ziauddin Yousafzai to be my favourite character from her story and now I consider him to be an ideal father. The way she has brought out the thinking and beliefs of her father is just great.

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

The book on the whole is very inspiring. It shows the suffering of the people who live under the fear of terrorism. The fear that you will be killed if you step outside is something which is very difficult to live with. But though living in such a great fear, Malala and her father never stopped fighting and raising their voice against the Taliban. The way their courage is displayed is just so inspiring. It gave me goosebumps to even imagine that all the events listed down in the book actually happened and that people like Malala survived those incidents. Being a fifteen year old kid who was shot in the head and almost died but still fought for her life and is still working towards her beliefs is something which everyone should learn from. The amount of courage which she displayed at such a young age is very remarkable. Having your own beliefs and having the strength to voice those beliefs is something which everybody is not able to do but the way Malala voiced her opinions in front of the whole world is something which is highly inspiring. It is a book which is very intriguing and inspiring. It is written in a way which helps the reader to feel the pain while imagining the sufferings of the people and also to realise that education for females is a right which has been granted to everyone and therefore can never be denied in the name of religion.

 To read or not to read: According to me, ‘I am Malala’ is a book which should be read by each and every person, no matter what. It helps you realise that there are so many people in the world who are very strong and courageous and will therefore provide you inspiration and help you learn a lot. It also helps you realise that there are people in the world who suffer a great deal throughout their life and help you realise that how tiny your problems are. It’s a wonderful read and I would definitely recommend everyone to read it. You can buy the book from Amazon by clicking the link here. 

“I don't want to be thought of as the "girl who was shot by the Taliban" but the "girl who fought for education." This is the cause to which I want to devote my life.” – Malala Yousafzai

Rating: 5/5

Thank you for reading! :)