Malala Yousafzai wrote this memoir with British journalist Christina Lamb a year after a Taliban gunman shot her in the head on her school bus in October 2012. She was fifteen. The book begins with that day and then steps back to tell the story of her family and of the Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan.
Her father, Ziauddin, ran a school and was an outspoken advocate for education, and Malala grew up in his classrooms. As the Pakistani Taliban gained control of Swat, banning girls from school, blowing up buildings and broadcasting threats over the radio, she began writing an anonymous diary for the BBC Urdu service and giving interviews. The book describes the army offensive that displaced her family and the uneasy return home.
Later chapters cover her treatment in Birmingham, England, and her new life there. Alongside the personal story she explains Pashtun culture, Pakistani politics and her Muslim faith. In 2014 she became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate. The memoir is also a portrait of a close father-daughter relationship and a reminder of how ordinary family life continued under fear and military conflict.
Book details
| Author | Malala Yousafzai |
|---|---|
| First published | 2013 |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Memoir |
| Type | Non-fiction |
| Pages (approx.) | 327 |
| Setting | Swat Valley, Pakistan, and Birmingham, England |
Themes
- Girls' education
- Courage
- Extremism
- Family
- Activism
Who should read it
Young readers and adults who want to understand the fight for girls' education and life under extremist rule.
If you liked this, try
- The Diary of a Young Girl
- Long Walk to Freedom
- Educated