I Am Malala

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai, Little, Brown and Company, 2013. 

Malala Yousafzai and her family were Pashtuns living in the Swat Valley in Pakistan. He father was names Ziauddin Yousafzai, her mother was named Toor Pekai, and Khushal was her younger brother. Punjabis dominate Pakistan’s bureaucracy and army. Malala’s father opened a school in his village. The school admitted both boys and girls. Malala was one of the girls in the school. This school was a private school, supported by parents of students and charity. Malala was an excellent student and competitive. 

Starting in 2004 there was a war in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas between the national army and the radical Muslims, who banned beauty parlors, barbers, DVD shops, cinemas, and Western dress. In 2009 the radical Muslims closed the girls schools in Swat. Dr. Shamser Ali Khan was killed by a bomb in December 2009 for speaking out against the Taliban.

Malala learned about journalism from a British organization called Open Minds Pakistan Malala wrote a public diary about life under the Taliban starting in 2009. Archbishop Desmond Tutu nominated Malala for a prize from the Dutch group Kids Rights. She was shot in 2012. Malala was shot in the head, operated on in Pakistan, and float to Birmingham, England to recover.