I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb

 Book Synopsis(via Goodreads):

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive.

Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize.

I Am Malala is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.

I Am Malala will make you believe in the power of one person's voice to inspire change in the world.

This insomniac's opinion:

There are not words to tell you how I feel about Malala- her bravery, kindness, compassion and intelligence are astonishing. Anything even in the slightest way negative that I have to say in no way reflects the way I feel about this AMAZING young lady.

Malala's life story(she is just a young woman and already has lived so much!) = 5 stars.

Unfortunately, this book was not terribly well written and was convoluted at times. I wish it had been better edited so that it was more representative of Malala's story. I do understand that Malala is a young woman who has a brain injury and English is not her first language, so this criticism is not for her as a writer but for the other writer and the editors on the team.

Still, this is a story worth reading. An important story for all in the world to read, not just the middle east.

Malala included a poem in her book, written by Martin Niemoller who lived in Nazi Germany:

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak out  because I was not a Catholic.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.

This poem, for me, is why it is important for all of us to read Malala's story and similar stories all across the world and not turn a blind eye to the injustices all around us.

May God bless Malala with a long life so that she can continue to speak out in such an important way.

Rating:

4 stars. Read it!