I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday. We'd finished for the day and I was on the open-back truck we use as a school bus. There were no windows, just thick plastic sheeting that flapped at the sides and a postage stamp of open sky at the back through which I caught a glimpse of a kite wheeling up and down. It was pink, my favourite colour.
In 2009 Malala Yousafzai began writing an anonymous blog for BBC Urdu about life in the Swat Valley as the Taliban gained control, at times banning girls from attending school. When her identity was discovered, Malala began to appear in Pakistani and international media, campaigning for education for all. On 9 October 2012, Malala was shot at point-blank range by a member of the Taliban on the way home from school. Remarkably, she survived. In April 2013, Time magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.
I Am Malala tells the inspiring story of a schoolgirl who was determined not to be intimidated by extremists, and faced the Taliban with immense courage. Malala speaks of her continuing campaign for every girl's right to an education, shining a light into the lives of those children who cannot attend school. This is just the beginning. . .
Read Caroline Baum's Review
Why she didn't get the Nobel Peace Prize is beyond me. Malala's story, told in the same unwaveringly forthright voice we have become used to hearing her speak in at her many public appearances is a tribute not only to her personal convictions and courage but to those of her remarkable father.
It also offers an insight into what daily life under the threat of the Taliban really means and how petty their brutality can be. And still, despite the horror of it all, Malala expresses an acute homesickness for her beloved Swat Valley.
About the Author
Malala Yousafzai, the educational campaigner from Swat Valley, Pakistan, came to public attention by writing for BBC Urdu about life under the Taliban. Using the pen name Gul Makai, she often spoke about her family's fight for girls' education in her community. In October 2012 Malala was targeted by the Taliban and shot in the head as she was returning from school on a bus. She miraculously survived and continues her campaign for education. In recognition of her courage and advocacy, Malala was honoured with the National Peace Prize in Pakistan in 2011 and nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize in the same year. She is the youngest ever person nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. She was shortlisted for Time Magazine Person of the Year and has received numerous other awards. Malala continues to champion universal access to education through The Malala Fund, a non-profit organization investing in community-led education programs and supporting education advocates around the world.
Christina Lamb is one of the world's leading foreign correspondents. She has reported on Pakistan and Afghanistan since 1987. Educated at Oxford and Harvard, she is the author of five books and has won a string of awards, including Britain's Foreign Correspondent of the Year five times as well as the Prix Bayeux, Europe's most prestigious award for war correspondents. She currently works for the Sunday Times and lives between London and Portugal with her husband and son.
Industry Reviews
Moving and illuminating -- Catherine Bennett * OBSERVER *
For sheer inspiration read I Am Malala -- Kirsty Brimelow * THE TIMES *
Not only powerful, but also very instructive about the recent history of Pakistan and the pressures of everyday life there. One finishes the book full of admiration both for Malala, and for her father, who has clearly inspired her * THE SUNDAY TIMES *
Malala Yousafzai's story begins with her parents being commiserated with after producing a baby girl. In their part of northern Pakistan, she says, rifle shots ring out in celebration of a baby boy's arrival. But there is no such fanfare for females: their destiny is to cook and clean, to be neither seen nor heard... So how did Malala, who barely warranted a mention in her family's genealogy, become destined for the history books as a powerful symbol for girls' universal right to an education? Her memoir I Am Malala tells us how -- Baroness Warsi * DAILY TELEGRAPH *
One of the more moving details in I Am Malala is that her mother was due to start learning to read and write on the day Malala was shot - 9 October 2012 -- Kamila Shamsie * The GUARDIAN *
Her story is astonishing -- Owen Bennett-Jones * SPECTATOR *
This memoir brings out her best qualities. You can only admire her courage and determination. Her thirst for education and reform appear genuine. She also has an air of innocence, and there is an indestructible confidence. She speaks with such poise that you forget Malala is 16 -- Ziauddin Sardar * THE TIMES *
Inspirational and powerful * GRAZIA *
The medical team that saved Malala; her own stoicism and resilience; the support of her family, now, again in exile, this time in Birmingham; Malala's level-headed resolve to continue to champion education and children's rights - these are all powerful reminders of the best in human nature. Much of the money Malala has been awarded has gone to the Malala fund (www.malalafund.org). "Please join my mission," she asks. It's vital that those of us who can, do -- Yvonne Roberts * OBSERVER *
A tale of immense courage and conviction which begins as [Malala] is shot for campaigning for the rights of girls to an education * THE INDEPENDENT *
Malala's voice has the purity, but also has the rigidity, of the principled. Whether she is being a competitive teenager and keeping track of who she bet in exams (and by how much) or writing a blog for the BBC that catapulted her on to the international stage - "We were learning how to struggle. And we were learning how powerful we are when we speak" - or talking about Pakistan's politicians ("useless"), Malala is passionate and intense. Her faith and her duty to the cause of girls' education is unquestionable, her adoration for her father - her role model and comrade in arms - is moving and her pain at the violence carried out in the name of Islam is palpable -- Fatima Bhutto * GUARDIAN *
The story of the girl shot by the Taliban for speaking up for women's education is one of idealism and stubborn courage, and a reminder that women's rights and many children's rights to education are continually threatened * METRO *
She has the heart and courage of a lioness and is a true inspiration -- Lorraine Kelly * THE SUN *
One finishes the book full of admiration both for Malala, and for her father, who has clearly inspired her -- Andrew Holgate * THE SUNDAY TIMES *
Part memoir, part mission statement. I Am Malala recounts the early life of the Pakistani schoolgirl who spoke out against the Taliban and was shot for her defiance. Her recovery, bravery and stoicism - and her father, Ziauddin - make for shocking and moving reading * EMERALD STREET *
Malala's story is gripping, tragic and yet ultimately full of hope. Faced with religious fundamentalism, suicide bombers and death threats her courage, stoicism and wisdom shine through at every turn. The bond she shares with her father - an equally courageous man whose views on equality are at odds with many of his countrymen - is also very movingly described * WOMAN'S WAY *
This remarkable book is part memoir, part manifesto. I feel enriched from having read it. I also feel humbled. Our obsession with school performance is suddenly marginalised by a story in which education, quite literally, proves a matter of life and death -- Geoff Barton * THE EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT *
It's hard to believe that this intelligent, charismatic and very poised young women is still just 16 years old. There is so much hope and expectation resting on those inspirational small shoulders -- Lorraine Kelly * GLASGOW HERALD *
The Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban has astonished the world with her courage and determination to fight for education and equal rights for women * FINANCIAL TIMES *
Honest, insightful and piercingly wise, this is the celebrity memoir to give your teenaged daughter this Christmas -- Katy Guest * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY *
Read the story of the remarkable young woman who refused to be silenced after she was shot in the head by the Taliban on a school bus in 2012. At 16, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest ever nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize * BABY & ME *
The media didn't really take on board the fact, which emerges from her book I Am Malala, that every single day for her was a protest. She would hide her pens and books under her clothes on the way to school and ignore the Taliban's threats. She is a role model, not just a victim -- Agatha Johnson * STANDPOINT *
It's hard to find the words to describe what this girl has done, not only for young women everywhere, but also for the world in which it feels like the bad guys always win. I'm choked up just writing this * GLASGOW HERALD *
I felt both humbled and inspired by I am Malala, the remarkable story of the young educational campaigner from Pakistan's Swat valley, who miraculously survived after bring shot by the dark forces of fundamentalism. Deftly written with the help of an award-winning foreign correspondent, this is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the tortured politics of the Taliban in the North-West Frontier -- Jimmy Burns * THE TABLET *
Malala has shown extraordinary courage in campaigning for the millions of girls who are still denied an education. Uplifting and inspirational -- June Purvis * TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT *
The inspirational story of the girl who singlehandedly showed that the pen is mightier that the sword should be required reading for people of all ages * ARMY & YOU *
A rich and riveting account of a short, brave and admirable life -- Kevin Power * SUNDAY BUSINESS POST (Ireland) *
The book is equally Malala's story of love for her family and respect for her father who comes across as an inspirational figure. It is a book of courage and endurance in the face of tremendous odds. I Am Malala should be read by everyone who sees education as an agency of liberation for both boys and girls and an indispensable weapon in the struggle against ignorance and oppression -- Alan Gibbons * ARMADILLO *
This courageous and extraordinary young woman has become something of a world symbol. Her stand for education of women in her own native Pakistan was a courageous one, but it should not lead Western readers to think that such things only happened over there. She and her family now live abroad, but as her speeches and appearances show, she continues her campaign for the right of young people everywhere to fully realise their potential * IRISH CATHOLIC *
The world is entranced by the story of the 15-year-old girl who was shot in the head by the Taliban because she wished to go to school. Flown over to Birmingham for emergency surgery, she has emerged as an elegant and brave spokesgirl for a better future. This book should inspire girls the world over * CATHOLIC HERALD *
Malala is an inspiration to girls and women all over the world -- J.K. Rowling
