Book in the Spotlight: I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
July's Book in the Spotlight's blog post is by a guest writer who wishes to remain anonymous. Here is what she has to say about this book.
This month’s book review is of an inspiring young girl that
faced all odds to try and push her culture to believing the need for all girls
to have an education. She took great
risks and stood up against the Taliban and spoke openly of her views of the
importance of good education and the important role women play in the future of
their country. In doing so, she paid a
heavy price of being shot by the Taliban. But she was not one to be silenced and after her recovery she went on
to win The Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 17.
Reading this book made me wonder if us, women and young
girls in particular, realize how fortunate we are to live in a civilized
world - to be able to freely go about our
lives, take part in everything around us, have a good education, career, and to
be able to speak our minds freely without the fear of being persecuted or
killed.
"One child, one teacher, one
book, and one pen, can change the world." --From a speech given to the UN Youth Assembly, just nine months after her
attempted assassination.
She shows much forgiveness in her struggles after being
assassinated. We could all learn from
such a brave and courageous young girl.
"If he [the Talib] comes, what
would you do Malala? …If you hit a Talib with your shoe, then there will be no
difference between you and the Talib. You must not treat others…with
cruelty...you must fight others but through peace, through dialogue and through
education…then I'll tell him [the Talib] how important education is and that I
even want education for your children as well… that's what I want to tell you,
now do what you want." --In
a Daily Show interview.
This book took some time to get into because I found the
writing to be a bit “scrambled” at times – events going from place to
place. But eventually it began to flow
and it actually became a good read. I am
very impressed by this young girl and if ever there was a chance to meet her, I
would not hesitate. Every young girl should
read this book and thank God that they live in such a free world and to never,
ever take anything for granted – especially their education.
I would give this book a 3.5 for the format and written
structure, but I would definitely give it a 4.5 for the story.
