BOOK REVIEW
Published By: Little, Brown and Company, UK
Author: Malala Yusufzai with Christina Lamb
About the Author:
Malala Yousafzai:
1.Born on 12 July 1997 is a Pakistani school pupil and education activist from the town of Mingora in the Swat District of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. She is known for her activism for rights to education and for women, especially in the Swat Valley, where theTaliban had at times banned girls from attending school. In early 2009, at the age of 11–12, Yousafzai wrote a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC detailing her life under Taliban rule, their attempts to take control of the valley, and her views on promoting education for girls. The following summer, a New York Times documentary by journalist Adam B. Ellick was filmed about her life as the Pakistani military intervened in the region, culminating in the Second Battle of Swat. Yousafzai rose in prominence, giving interviews in print and on television, and she was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize by South African activist Desmond Tutu.
2. She has been nominated and have been awarded many prestigious world awards. Some notable awards are mentioned below:
- International Children’s Peace Prize nominee, 2011
- National Youth Peace Prize, 2011
- Sitara-e-Shujaat, Pakistan’s third-highest civilian bravery award, October 2012
- Foreign Policy magazine top 100 global thinker, November 2012
- Time magazine Person of the Year shortlist, December 2012
- Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice, November 2012
- Rome Prize for Peace and Humanitarian Action, December 2012
- Top Name of 2012 in Annual Survey of Global English, January 2013
- Simone de Beauvoir Prize, January 2013
- Memminger Freiheitspreis 1525, March 2013(conferred on 7 December 2013 in Oxford)
- Nobel Peace Prize nominee, March 2013
Christina Lamb:
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(born 15 May 1966) is a British journalist who is currently Foreign Correspondent for The Sunday Times. She was educated at University College, Oxford (BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics) and was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
About the Book:
- 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.
Body of the Book: Chapter wise brief description is explained below :
Chapter 1- July 12, 1997
Malala Yousafzai was born in Mingora, Pakistan. Her parents are Thorpekai and Ziauddin Yousafzai.
Chapter 2
Malala discusses her father’s younger life as he grew up in Pakistan with a stutter. During his time growing up, Russia invades Afghanistan, but Ziauddin was too young to fight. Because of his upbringing, Ziauddin’s view on war and life enable him to conquer his stutter and become a well-rounded speaker, motivated to educate others.
Chapter 3 & 4
Malala learns to appreciate her freedom and upbringing at a young age when she visits her Grandpa in Barkana, Shangla. This village had harsh conditions and rules and Malala witnesses as women’s schools are burned down and women are beaten if not precisely follwing the rules of the Taliban.
Chapter 5 & 6
Because of her parents and her upbringing, Malala strives to help the poor in her community. She follows the example of her parents, who offer their home to the needy and give free tuition to children. In Malala’s country, the Pakistani government starts aiding the United States in the war against terror while assisting the Taliban.
Chapter 7
Local authorities try to put an end to Malala’s school because they believed women should be at home and not in the precense of men. The USA sends drones to destroy Al-Queda but many innocent people are killed and talk starts about how the deaths will be avenged.
Chapter 8- October 8, 2005
A large earthquake hits Malala’s hometown and surrounding areas causing immense damage. The government does little to help the people and take of introducing Islamic law begins.
Chapter 9
A Taliban leader named Fazlullah starts spreading Islamic law over the radio,and becomes very popular while sharing his beliefs. Malala speaks on the radio and becomes known as “Radio Malala”. Ziauddin works as an English teacher and begins to establish his own school with his college, Nameen. Malala is born and everything with the school turns out successful. Tradegy strikes in America when 9/11 occurs and the Yousafzais are yet to understand how this will impact their lives
Chapter 10
The Taliban gains many supporters including women who cannot go out in public anymore. They declare war on the Pakistani government and train female suicide bombers.
Chapter 11
The two schools surrounding Malala’s school are bombed, and Malala goes on a local news channel to do an interview about womens’ rights. Fazlullah’s deputy, Maulana Shah Dauran announced that all girls schools should close.
Chapter 12
Many dead bodies are dumped in the town square, located in the middle of town, making it known as the “bloody square’
Chapter 13
Malala keeps a blog/diary about how she lived on a day to day basis under the Taliban, which had issued her school to be closed on January 15.
Chapter 14
The Taliban and the provincial government create a peace treaty allowing girls under the age of ten go to school. Malala and her friends are eleven, but pretend to be ten to continue their schooling. Militant Sufi Muhammad gives the hope of stopping the Taliban, but no peace occurs.
Chapter 15
Malala and her family have to leave Swat Valley and she has to leave all of her books and possessions behind, not knowing when she will return. The entire family minus her father go to live in her uncle’s house where Malala goes to school with her cousin.
Chapter 16
Malala and her family return home to Swat Valley after three months as an IDP. The Prime Minister announced the Taliban had moved out, and Malala takes a trip to Islamabad with her school to learn about politics and give speeches. Malala turns thirteen in July, 2010.
Chapter 17
Osama bin Laden was killed by American forces. Malala recieves half a million rupees from winning awards given to her by the prime minister and other foreign ministers/ governments which she donates to charity.
Chapter 18
Malala and her father travel to Karachi to do more speeches and Malala starts to receive death threats.
Chapter 19- Summer, 2011
On July 12, Malala turns fourteen. Malala’s school is anonymously threatened and bad rumors are spread about the school and its teachings. On August 3rd, Malala’s father’s friend, Zahid Kahn is shot, and the family worries that Ziauddin is next, but he continues to speak about education, politics, and rights.
Chapter 20- October 9, 2012
Malala is riding home from school on her bus after taking exams when the bus is stopped by two young men who ask “Who is Malala”, and then shoot her. The first bullet goes through her eye socket and out her shoulder, while the other two bullets hit the ear and shoulder of the girls next to her.
Chapter 21
The doctors at the local hospital are sure the bullet didn’t cause Malala any brain damage, and the Taliban takes full responsibility for the shooting.
Chapter 22
Malala is moved to a superior intensive care unit because infections and other complications threaten her conditions.
Chapter 23
A week later, Malala becomes conscious. Her primary concerns become her family and how they will pay for her treatments. She is shocked by the love and support of the people from all over the world.
Chapter 24
The bullet damaged a nerve in Malala’s face, causing permanent damage to her smile. The government pays for all of Malala’s hospital bills and rents an apartment for the family. Malala is thankful to to have survived and will go on to continue doing great things.
Comments/ Analysis of the Book
An unbiased conclusion would entail and suggest that the book was written with clear intention to inform and guide the public living in the west about the kind of lifestyle a common family in South Asian rural community will lead and the hardships they go through in day to day life. What occurs to be the most simplest of the tasks in the western world would be a tiresome journey for a girl in a small town like Swat. However, we must acknowledge that Christina Lamb is a journalist of high repute and have been awarded numerous awards covering war torn areas in the middle east and South Asia and has won many accolades. Yet, we must not forget the fact that it will always be more convenient for the west to paint itself as more righteous, more civilised, than the people they occupy and kill. But now, Malala’s fight should be ours too – more inclusion of women, remembrance of the many voiceless and unsung Malalas, and education for all. This book may be read for knowledge sake but it is no content account of a life of common man in Pakistan. All the hardships borne by Malala are not faced by a common girl living in Pakistan. It was her hard luck to be born at a wrong time in a wrong place.
Farhan's Diary 