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Review: I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and Patricia McCormick

Title: I am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World
Author: Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick
Year Published: 2014

Genre: YA non-fiction
Pages: 224
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Location (my 2015 Google Reading map)Pakistan

FTC Disclosure: I bought this book with my own money

Summary (from the inside flap): Malala Yousafzai was only ten years old when the Taliban took control of her region. They said music was a crime. They said women weren't allowed to go to the market. They said girls couldn't go to school. Raised in a once-peaceful area of Pakistan transformed by terrorism, Malala was taught to stand up for what she believes. So she fought for her right to be educated. And on October 9, 2012, she nearly lost her life for the cause: She was shot point-blank while riding the bus on her way home from school. No one expected her to survive.

Now she is an international symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize nominee. In this Young Readers Edition of her best selling memoir, which includes exclusive photos and material, we hear firsthand the remarkable story of a girl who knew from a young age that she wanted to change the world--and did.

Review: I don't really have to say much about this book since Malala's story is so well known. I have wanted to read this book for a long time now and am glad that I finally did. I am also glad that I read the young reader version since it means it was a quick and easy read.

Patricia McCormick, a fantastic Young Adult author, is the co-author on this book and I think they did a good job of making a difficult topic accessible to adolescent readers. Life in Pakistan is so very different from life in the US and the issues with the Taliban are complicated, but this book makes it all very easy to understand for US/western readers. The explanations and descriptions of life before the Taliban, how Malala felt about issues pertaining to her religion and culture, and her life did have similarities to our youth are all done well. For example, I love that she watched episodes of Ugly Betty to learn English when her school was closed!

Before I don't this book to one of our school libraries, I will have my daughter read it.

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