Christina Lamb

It may not have been THE shot heard ‘round the world, but it certainly was a shot that invoked outrage around the globe when, on October 9, 2012, fifteen-year-old Malala Yousafzai was deliberately shot in the face by the Taliban, who hoped to silence her for good but only amplified her voice.

Yousafzai was already known for outspoken views on education for girls when a young man boarded the van taking her and other schoolmates home, asked, “Who is Malala?” and though no one answered, a few looked her way, so he fired three bullets at her. One hit her in the eye socket; two other girls were also injured. Even while in a medically-induced coma in a Pakistani hospital, Malala became the face of Pakistani girls fighting for an education as the Taliban destroyed their schools, demanding purdah, killing and maiming.

Yousafzai describes the beautiful Swat Valley in which she grew up and how, when she was ten, the Taliban began eradicating the Pashtun way of life, destroying art, architecture, music, customs, culture. Her father, Ziauddin, was a teacher and a peace activist, and he adored Malala. He spoke out against Taliban leaders and for the right of all children, including girls, to an education. Malala was even more outspoken, and in her early teens, began writing a column for BBC Urdu and blogging about life under the Taliban, including how the intimidation tactics by the Taliban were forcing girls to drop out of school, even before the Taliban announced an outright ban. She made known her dream that every girl in Swat should be allowed to go to school. She gave interviews, speaking out more brazenly against the Taliban, and prizes and awards followed, as did threats against her and her family.

Part memoir and part manifesto, I Am Malala, is a well-written narrative of her experiences, woven in with a history of Pakistani politics, the rise of religious extremism in the Swat Valley region, and the ever-changing sociopolitical climate in Pakistan.
… (lisätietoja)