I am Malala

by Malala Yousafzai

This is the autobiography of Malala.  The story is as much about her father and her family as about her.  She tells the story of her father and how he manages to set up a school in Pakistan.  She talks about her love of the countryside where she lives and about Muslim cultural practices.  She is a young girl, who enjoys school, watching dvd's, listening to music, gossiping with her friends. She then details the history of Pakistan and how life changed in her lovely valley with the invasion of the Taliban.  At one point they fled the country to escape the fighting between the military and Taliban.  A lot of the time they felt the governemt wasn't doing enough, she even suggests some people may have been secretly in league with the Taliban

I wasn't aware of it but her father was an advocate for fighting the Taliban and did a lot of media interviews and presentations urging the goverment to take action against the Taliban.  Later, Malala became involved in media events promoting education and the rights of girls.   As well as political leaders many of their acquaintances are murdered or threatened, including her father.  He fears for his own safety but doesn't think she will be targeted.

The latter part of the book chronicles the attack on her and her recovery.  She is initially cared for by the Pakistani military but when British doctors realize that her post surgery care is not adequate they urge her parents to let her be taken to Britain for medical care.

It was an interesting read.  It will be interesting to see how her life and advocay efforts develop in the future.