Malala writes this memoir to give a back story to her culture, her family, and her cause. At 15, Malala was shot in the head by the Taliban on her way home from school in Pakistan. The Taliban wanted to silence her from promoting her cause of peace and education in an area riddled by religious violence.
Malala was raised in a family that valued girl's education; her father's main goal was to create a school for all children. What makes the school controversial is the setting: Pakistan and many Islamic nations look down and/or forbid girls from getting an education. The bulk of the book is providing readers with strong background to Islam and the culture that preceded and followed 9/11 and lead up to her shooting. Malala's family was forced to move due to threats of violence and also natural disasters that threatened their safety. When Malala's father could have stopped educating children in their area, he pushed on, even if it meant he was risking the safety of his own family. Malala draws on her strength in religion and God to try and explain what motivated her to speak nationally/internationally starting when she was only 11 years old. It is truly an incredible story of how strongly she believes in girls education and fights for this at such a young age. I think this book could inspire and empower many girls in the classroom.
Challenge:
This book would be extremely challenging for students. She interweaves terminology from Islam as well as Pakistan to appropriately label activities, people, cultural practices, and beliefs. These words are defined throughout the text, as well as in the back, but they would be challenging to students who were not familiar with them. Additional, the setting and history of the conflict would need to be front loaded so students could understand the depth of the issue.
Curriculum Connections & Themes:
The purpose and effect of memoir as a literary genre.
- Speaks to how knowledge is power;
- Strength in the community;
- Importance and role of pride/honesty/trust;
- Struggle for gender equality in education and life;
- Dissent can lead to silencing individuals’ creativity;
- Impact of fear as a control tactic;
Lexile: 1000
Reading Level:
Grade Level Interest: Middle School +
Controversial Scenes/Language:
None. (However, I am not familiar with Muslim beliefs, and they are a large part of the book presented in an informative manner.)
Ratings: 4/5