(Photo courtesy blogspot.com)

By Valeria Araujo – Staff Reporter

Malala Yousafzai was a girl full of life and compassion in an area of Pakistan that was beautiful until it was transformed by terrorism. Through this, she learned to stand up for what she believes in: education & women’s rights. She advocates for her rights as a woman and for education, she travels around the world to do so, and inspires all except the Taliban who shot her in the face on her way to school and nearly took her life.

The New York Times bestselling Book “I am Malala” helps young teen readers understand exactly who Malala is. Many think “Oh, that girl that got shot by the Taliban, right?” Howeve,r the book is so much more than that. It starts off when she is about 10 years old and about how competitive she was in school. Then it continues throughout her life as she advocates for women’s rights and education while the Taliban slowly start to take over her country. She even discusses the day she was shot and what happened afterwards.

One strong point of the book is how inspirational it is. Malala’s views on education makes the reader appreciate what they have. Malala writes, “I’m not afraid of anyone. I will get my education. Even if I have to sit on the floor to continue it. I have to continue my education, and I will do it.”

She also writes, “Help us appreciate the school days that are left to us , God, and give us the courage to fight even harder for more.”

The Taliban could do anything, yet Malala Knew whatever they did, whatever they threw her way (even a bullet) she could handle. Malala writes, “They cannot stop me. I will get my education.”

Her confidence is inspiring as well. She writes, “What would I do it a Talib came to kill me[…] take my shoe and hit him[…] Just tell him what is in you heart. That you want an education. For yourself. For all girls. For his sister, his daughter. For him[…] Now you can do what you want.”

No matter how much she does, and how much she’s been through, she’s still just a teenage girl with the same interests as any other child. Malala writes, “At home in Pakistan, the three of us ran like a pack of rabbits, in and out of the alleys around our house; we played a chasing game like tag we called Chindakh (meaning “frog”), and Thief and Police.”

The only weak points of the book were the parts that were really gruesome. They could be too graphic for some readers, so reader discretion is advised. In one haunting passage she writes, , “In the video, a teenage girl wearing a black burqa and red trousers was lying face down on the ground being flogged in broad daylight by a bearded man in a black turban.”

This book is not for the weak at heart. “I am Malala” is for people who want to be informed about what is happening in the world and for those who want change like Malala did. People like Malala are the voices of change.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars