I Am Malala

Last updated

I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban
I Am Malala.jpg
Book cover
Author
Country
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
SubjectAutobiography
Publisher
Publication date
8 October 2013
Pages288
ISBN 978-0-29787-091-3
OCLC 1407766175
371.8
LC Class LC2330

I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban is an autobiographical book by Malala Yousafzai, co-written with Christina Lamb. It was published on 8 October 2013, by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK and Little, Brown and Company in the US.

Contents

The book details the early life of Yousafzai, her father's ownership of schools and activism, the rise and fall of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in Swat Valley and the assassination attempt made against Yousafzai on 9 October 2012, [1] when she was aged 15, following her activism for female education. [2] It received a positive critical reception and won several awards, though it has been banned in many schools in Pakistan.

Synopsis

Part One covers Malala Yousafzai's life "Before the Taliban". She describes her childhood home Swat Valley. Named for Malalai of Maiwand, Yousafzai lived with her father Ziauddin, her mother Toor Pekai and two younger brothers Khushal and Atal. Ziauddin's father Rohul Amin was an imam and a teacher. Ziauddin studied a Master's in English at Jehanzeb College. He opened the Khushal School with a partner Naeem, who later left due to financial difficulties. Ziauddin found a new partner Hidayatullah, with whom the school slowly began to make a profit. As Ziauddin began to open more schools, Toor Pekai would bring children in need to live with them and Ziauddin would give free places in his schools to poor children. Yousafzai describes the changing political regimes in Pakistan, the first drone strikes in Pakistan in 2004 following the September 11 attacks.

Part Two, "The Valley of Death", details the rise of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in Swat. In 2006, Fazlullah began a popular "Radio Mullah" broadcast which initially gave advice on such matters as ritual ablutions and drug abstinence, but progressed into the condemnation of music and dancing, and instruction on women staying in the home. The book also describes the continuing War in North-West Pakistan, and the return of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan which culminated in her assassination. The Taliban began to commit further murders such as that of Shabana, and Ziauddin Yousafzai continued outspoken activism. During the First Battle of Swat, Malala begins to write a BBC Urdu blog under the pseudonym "Gul Mukai". Her school is shut down following a Taliban edict in 2009, and her family are forced to move to Shangla for three months.

Part Three is entitled "Three Bullets, Three Girls". By August 2009, the army have fought off the Taliban in Swat, and the Yousafzai family return. Malala's school re-opens, and she visits Islamabad with school friends, meeting with Major General Athar Abbas and giving a public speech. With her father, Yousafzai speaks at many interviews, critical of the Taliban and the army's ineffectiveness. The 2010 Pakistan floods devastate Swat, destroying buildings and leaving many without food, clean water and electricity. In the rest of the country, CIA agent Raymond Davis murders two men and the Americans kill bin Laden, leading to widespread mistrust of American influence in Pakistan by the public. In late 2011, Yousafzai begins to receive prizes for her activism. She travels to Karachi to talk to Geo TV, also visiting the mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Yousafzai receives death threats, which worries her parents. Following the shooting of Zahid Khan in August 2012, Ziauddin expected to be targeted next. Malala also begins to fear an attack on her. She revises hard for her exams, staying up late at night. After her Pakistan Studies paper on 9 October, two men stop her bus and come aboard. One shouts "Who is Malala?" and shoots three bullets.

Part Four is named "Between Life and Death". One bullet travelled from Yousafzai's left eye to her shoulder, and her friends Shazia and Kainat were also non-fatally injured. Yousafzai's father gave a speech with the Association of Private Schools before rushing to the hospital, while Yousafzai's mother was learning to read and rushed home to pray. Malala was taken by helicopter to the Combined Military Hospital in Peshawar and then airlifted to a military hospital in Rawalpindi. Yousafzai was taken on 15 October to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, aboard a United Arab Emirates jet, but her father refused to come as the rest of the family could not travel without passports.

Part Five is called "A Second Life". Yousafzai woke up in Birmingham on 16 October, and spent the following days obsessed with the location of her father, and not being able to afford medical treatment, though the Pakistani government was covering costs. Yousafzai received 8000 cards and many presents. When she awoke, she was confused about all the cards she had received, as there was supposed to be a news blackout in Pakistan so no one would know anything had happened to her or where she was being taken, but someone had seen her being flown out to the UK, and word got around quickly. Her family finally arrived on 25 October. The day her family got to the hospital was also the first day since arriving in Birmingham that she had any access to windows. Malala had not seen the city she was being kept in for 10 days. [3] She underwent surgery on 11 November to repair her facial nerve; in January 2013, she was discharged, and in February she received surgery to get a cochlear implant. Yousafzai lives in Birmingham, though she misses Swat, and plans to continue her activism so she can be known not as "the girl who was shot by the Taliban" but as "the girl who fought for education".

Reception

According to Publishers Weekly , in 2017 the book had sold almost 2 million copies, and there were 750,000 copies of the children's edition in print. [4] In March 2018, The Bookseller reported that 328,000 copies of the book had been sold in the UK, netting over £2.47 million. [5]

Accolades

Critical reviews

Sayeeda Warsi, writing for The Daily Telegraph , giving the book four stars out of five, wrote "Malala has turned a tragedy into something positive". [9] Entertainment Weekly gave the book a "B+", writing "Malala's bravely eager voice can seem a little thin here, in I Am Malala, likely thanks to her co-writer, but her powerful message remains undiluted." [10] Metro list the book as one of the "20 best non-fiction books of 2013", praising that Yousafzai's story is "one of idealism and stubborn courage". [11]

In The Observer , the reviewer Yvonne Roberts praised Lamb for ensuring "the teenager's voice is never lost", and summarises that "this extraordinary schoolgirl's words are a reminder of all that is best in human nature". [12] Fatima Bhutto in The Guardian called the book "fearless" and stated that "the haters and conspiracy theorists would do well to read this book", though she criticised "the stiff, know-it-all voice of a foreign correspondent" that is interwoven with Yousafzai's. [13] In The Spectator , the journalist Owen Bennett-Jones describes Yousafzai's story as "astonishing", and writes that "as the story progresses, Malala’s voice definitely cuts through, clear and defiant". [14] Marie Arana in The Washington Post called the book "riveting" and wrote "It is difficult to imagine a chronicle of a war more moving, apart from perhaps the diary of Anne Frank." [15]

Response in Pakistan

The All Pakistan Private School's Federation announced that the book would be banned in its 152,000 member institutions, stating that it disrespected Islam and could have a "negative" influence. [16] Pakistani investigative editor Ansar Abbasi described her work as "providing her critics something 'concrete' to prove her as an 'agent' of the West against Islam and Pakistan". [17]

Following the book's release, the Pakistani Taliban released a statement threatening to kill Yousafzai, and target bookshops which sell the book. [18]

The book, however, continues to be available in leading bookstores. It remains a popular reading among educated people especially young girls. Some schools, in fact, encourage students to read this book by keeping it in their libraries. Pakistan does not have high literacy rate, [19] [20] and therefore, the popularity or otherwise of any literature is always subject to how the educated people have received it. [21]

Release details

I Am Malala was published on 8 October 2013, by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK and Little, Brown and Company in the US. [22] [23] The book has been translated into more than 40 languages. [24]

A children's edition of the memoir was published in 2014 under the title I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World. [25] The audio book edition, narrated by Neela Vaswani, won the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Children's Album. [26]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swat District</span> District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Swat District, also known as the Swat Valley, Switzerland of Pakistan, is a district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. With a population of 2,309,570 per the 2017 national census, Swat is the 15th-largest district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with many popular tourist attractions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mingora</span> City in Swat Valley, Pakistan

Mingora is a city in the Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Located on the Swat River, it is the 3rd largest city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the 26th largest in Pakistan. Mingora is the largest city and the epicenter of social, cultural, and economic activities in Malakand Division, and also the largest in the northern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia McCormick (author)</span> American author and journalist

Patricia McCormick is an American journalist and writer of realistic fiction for young adults. She has twice been a finalist for the National Book Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christina Lamb</span> British journalist and author

Christina Lamb OBE is a British journalist and author. She is the chief foreign correspondent of The Sunday Times.

Fazal Hayat, more commonly known by his pseudonym Mullah Fazlullah, was an Islamist militant who was the leader of the Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi, and was the leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in Swat Valley. On 7 November 2013, he became the emir of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, and presided over the descent of the group into factions who are often at war with each other. Fazlullah was designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee of the Security Council in 2015, and was added to the U.S. State Department's Rewards for Justice wanted list on 7 March 2018. Fazlullah was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kunar, Afghanistan on 14 June 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rehman Malik</span> Pakistani politician (1951–2022)

Abdul Rehman Malik NI was a Pakistani politician and a Federal Investigation Agency officer, having served as the Interior Minister from being appointed on 25 March 2008 until 16 March 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malala Yousafzai</span> Pakistani education activist and Nobel laureate (born 1997)

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani female education activist and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate at the age of 17. She is youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history, the second Pakistani and the only Pashtun to receive a Nobel Prize. Yousafzai is a human rights advocate for the education of women and children in her native homeland, Swat, where the Pakistani Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. Her advocacy has grown into an international movement, and according to former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, she has become Pakistan's "most prominent citizen."

Abdul Hai Kakkar is a journalist who has worked as a BBC Urdu service correspondent in Peshawar, Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ziauddin Yousafzai</span> Pakistani education activist

Ziauddin Yousafzai is a Pakistani education activist best known as the father of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, who protested against the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan opposition to the education rights of girls, especially for Pakistani girls.

Shabana (Urdu/Pashto:شبانه) was a Pakistani singer and dancer from Mingora, Swat, Pakistan. She was shot and killed by the Pakistani Taliban of Swat in January 2009 at Mingora.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miangul Asfandyar Amir Zeb</span> Pakistani politician

Miangul Asfandyar Amir Zeb was a Pakistani politician and a member of the royal family of the former Princely State of Swat, who was killed in an assassination attack by the Taliban during the 2007 skirmishes in Swat. His assassination was the first high-profile killing by the Taliban militants of Swat, occurring just a day after the killing of Benazir Bhutto.

<i>He Named Me Malala</i> 2015 documentary film by Davis Guggenheim

He Named Me Malala is a 2015 American documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim. The film presents the young Pakistani female activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, who has spoken out for the rights of girls, especially the right to education, since she was very young. The film also recounts how she survived and has become even more eloquent in her quest after being hunted down and shot by a Taliban gunman as part of the organization's violent opposition to girls' education in the Swat Valley in Pakistan. The title refers to the Afghani folk hero Malalai of Maiwand, after whom her father named her.

Sherin Zada is a Pakistani journalist working for Hum News. He was previously associated with the Express News based in Swat Valley, and had also worked with The Express Tribune, an English newspaper. He is known for his work during Taliban period over control of Swat Valley Pakistan. As a professional journalist, he covered or wrote highest number of reports and stories in the valley. He is president of Swat Press club.

<i>Malalas Magic Pencil</i> Book by Malala Yousafzai

Malala's Magic Pencil is a 2017 picture book authored by Malala Yousafzai and illustrated by Kerascoët. The book was published by Little, Brown and Company in the U.S., and Puffin Books in the U.K., with Farrin Jacobs as editor. It shows Yousafzai growing up in Swat, Pakistan, and wishing for a magic pencil to solve her problems; she learns that she is able to make change, such as advancing rights to female education, without one. The book has received very positive reviews, praising both Yousafzai's writing and Kerascoët's illustrations. The book appears on several lists of best children's books of 2017.

<i>We Are Displaced</i> Book by Malala Yousafzai

We Are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls Around the World is a 2019 book by Malala Yousafzai. The book was published by Little, Brown and Company in the US and Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK. The book follows Yousafzai's own experience being displaced in Pakistan and later forced to move to England, and tells stories from nine other displaced people around the world. The book received positive critical reception and reached the top 10 in The New York Times' bestseller list under the "Young Adult Hardcover" section.

<i>Gul Makai</i> Biographical film based on Malala Yousafzai

Gul Makai is a 2020 Indian biographical drama film directed by H.E. Amjad Khan and written by Bhaswati Chakrabarty, Produced under the banner of Tekno Films and Pen Studios. The film is based on the life of Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate.

Malala Fund is an international, non-profit organization that advocates for girls' education. It was co-founded by Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate, and her father, Ziauddin. The stated goal of the organization is to ensure 12 years of free, safe and quality education for every girl. As of July 2020, the organization has 48 staff and supports 58 advocates working across Afghanistan, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.

Shiza Shahid is a Pakistani social entrepreneur, social activist, investor, and educator. She is the co-founder and former CEO of the non-profit Malala Fund, which promotes education for every girl. In 2013, she was included in Time's "30 Under 30" list of world change-makers, and in 2014, she was listed in Forbes's "30 Under 30" list of global social entrepreneurs. She is also well-known as the personal assistant of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai.

<i>Let Her Fly</i> 2018 non-fiction book

Let Her Fly: A Father's Journey and the Fight for Equality is a 2018 autobiography by Ziauddin Yousafzai, the father of the Pakistani activist for female education Malala Yousafzai. It details the oppression he saw women face in Pakistan, his family life both before and after his daughter Malala was shot by the Taliban and his attitudes to being a brother, a husband and a father.

References

  1. ↑ Dawn.com (9 October 2012). "Taliban attack Malala Yousafzai". DAWN.COM. Archived from the original on 10 May 2013. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  2. ↑ "'Radio Mullah' sent hit squad after Malala Yousafzai". The Express Tribune. 12 October 2012. Archived from the original on 17 December 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  3. ↑ Yousafzai, Malala (2013). I Am Malala. Back Bay Books. ISBN   978-0-316-32242-3.
  4. ↑ Robbins, Sarah J. (12 October 2017). "Four Questions with Malala Yousafzai". Publishers Weekly . Archived from the original on 20 November 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  5. ↑ Cowdrey, Katherine (12 March 2018). "Malala signs We Are Displaced with W&N". The Bookseller . Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  6. ↑ "Malala Yousafzai wins at Specsavers National Book Awards". The Daily Telegraph . 11 December 2013. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  7. ↑ "Results for Best Memoir & Autobiography". Goodreads. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  8. ↑ "Shortlist announced for the Paddy Power Political Book Awards 2014". Politicos. 11 February 2014. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  9. ↑ Warsi, Sayeeda (8 October 2013). "Malala has turned a tragedy into something positive". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  10. ↑ Jordan, Tina (21 October 2013). "I am Malala". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  11. ↑ Nicol, Patricia (19 December 2013). "The 20 best non-fiction books of 2013". Metro . Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  12. ↑ Roberts, Yvonne (13 October 2013). "I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai – review". The Observer . Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  13. ↑ Fatima Bhutto (30 October 2013). "I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  14. ↑ Bennett-Jones, Owen (26 October 2013). "Malala's voice is defiant — but how much can she change Pakistan?". The Spectator . Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  15. ↑ Arana, Maria (11 October 2013). "Book review: 'I Am Malala' by Malala Yousafzai". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  16. ↑ Aziz, Umair; Buncombe, Andrew (10 November 2013). "Inspiration or danger? Private schools in Pakistan ban Malala Yousafzai's book". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  17. ↑ Abbasi, Ansar (22 October 2013). "Malala exposes herself to criticism". The News International. Archived from the original on 16 October 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  18. ↑ Crilly, Rob (11 October 2013). "Malala Yousafzai: Taliban threatens shops that sell teenage activist's book". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  19. ↑ "Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training". mofept.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  20. ↑ Newspaper, the (9 March 2022). "Our priorities". DAWN.COM. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  21. ↑ Reporter, A. (9 October 2013). "I am Malala hits book stores". DAWN.COM. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  22. ↑ Yousafzai, Malala; Lamb, Christina. "I Am Malala". Orion Publishing Group. Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  23. ↑ I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai | Little, Brown and Company. Little, Brown and Company. 27 June 2017. ISBN   9780316322409. Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  24. ↑ "I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai". Curtis Brown. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  25. ↑ Yousafzai, Malala (2014). I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World . Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. ISBN   978-0-316-32793-0.
  26. ↑ "India's Ricky Kej, Neela Vaswani grab Grammys". The Times of India . 9 February 2015. Archived from the original on 11 February 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.