Book Review: I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai (Co-written by Christina Lamb)

I picked up this book last year on sale and read it with a modicum of knowledge about Malala Yousafzai and Pakistan. I regarded her as a little girl whose existence only came to fame because she was shot by the Taliban and somehow managed to survive.

But I could never be more wrong and that was an asinine thing to assume about someone as remarkable and courageous as Malala Yousafzai. In her eloquent autobiography (co-written by Christina Lamb), Malala Yousafzai illustrates her childhood during the war in Pakistan, political upheavals, her awakening after the assassination attempt, and her continuous fight for every child to go to school. There are parts of the book that I find really helpful in understanding the convoluted history and politics of Pakistan because the book entered around some of the historical accounts, specifically on the political upheavals and the emergence of the Taliban in the Swat valley led by the so-called Islamic leader, Fazlullah.

The Taliban’s presence in the Swat Valley and Mingora (Malala’s hometown) was rapidly expanding as they were undeterred by the Pakistani army. Girls were barred from receiving an education of any kind, thus mixed gender schools were labelled as ‘nonreligious’ and ‘abominable’. Malala’s father, Zauddin Yousafzai also ran a mixed gender school for children and despite receiving constant death threats, Zauddin had little regard for his own life. He refused to cower to the terrorists and Khushal Public School was the only one that remained open in the area during the reign of the Taliban.

It’s undeniably obvious that Zauddin’s palpable love for education and justice is contagious—it’s what has cultivated and shaped Malala into the person she is today. She also devoted a significant portion of her book talking about her father whom she holds in the highest regard as her mentor and comrade in arms. She recalls her father’s life stories in the most reverential tone tinged with monumental admiration, enabling the readers to personally visualize him as a respectable, honorable kind of man, who raised intelligent, out-spoken, fearless women like Malala herself.

I personally adored everything about this book, especially Malala’s honesty, bravery, and the boldness of her storytelling. She isn’t afraid to depict herself as an imperfect human being who is capable of being little mischievous or occasionally quarrels with her little brother and falls prey to jealousy—which after all, is a part of our human nature. She does not bother to withhold these little pieces of details about her personal struggles with morality, and the flaming desire to compete with her classmates most of the time from the readers, thus she offers us a magnificent insight into her life and thoughts on certain topics. She is in an essence, an ordinary girl who likes watching Ugly Betty and singing to Justin Bieber’s songs—someone seemingly touchable and relatable to some of the readers out there.

I was exceptionally engrossed in the last few chapters as they are very intense and emotionally suspenseful. She details the events that took place during her assassination attempt on a school bus and the experience of waking up in a hospital in England. Those chapters are heart-wrenching and unbelievably brutal in a way that ripped my heart out of my chest. She recalls herself clinging between life and death to reveal the hidden depth of human resilience and the capacity to forgive in all of us, a quality that is simultaneously so open and rare. While refusing to allow herself to be depicted as an immaculate, idealized heroine for us to put on a pedestal and idolize, Malala shows us true bravery and immense compassion. She gives us an imperfect heroine with nobility and candour whose life story is real and palpable, a brave young voice that is willing to risk her own life to speak out for others who have been silenced.

Sometimes we wait for others and think that Martin Luther should raise among us, Nelson Mandela should raise up among us and speak up for us, but we never realize they are normal humans like us – and if we step forward we can also bring change just like them. 
— Malala Yousafzai

★★★★/5 stars

Note: The only reason I didn’t give this book 5 stars is because whoever edited her book must have had so little regard for where her personal photographs should be placed, otherwise he/she wouldn’t have inserted them randomly all over the book