This story is about a young girl named Malala who decided to fight for women's right to education when this fundamental right was taken away by the Taliban. Her mother was illiterate, but her father was a great speaker and he was very involved in many environmental, social and political causes around the region. He was a teacher and along with his friends and business partners, he decided to open schools for both boys and girls in a time when most of the women were illiterate and were not inclined to pursue an education. He encouraged his daughter to learn and be an independent woman rather than a humble wife who cooks, cleans, has children and never leaves the house. The arrival of the Taliban brought a dramatic change to the region. They set up a radio broadcast and started telling people to burn their books, their CD's and DVD's, to keep the girls away from schools and to return to the old ways of Islam. Pakistan was very affected by a big earthquake, by huge floods and other natural disasters so people thought that they were punished by God and listened to the Taliban. Malala kept going to school and she started giving interviews in order to promote education and women's rights. She was just a child, but she spoke from the heart and people listened to her speeches and she received many awards. She wrote a blog for the BBC website in which she described life under the Taliban rule. Her father encouraged her, and they kept their spirits up in spite of the numerous threats they received and the people that were killed every day by the Taliban. The reign of terror lasted many years and people did nothing to defend themselves and to get rid of the Taliban until the government started up a war and drove them from the region. In 2012, Malala was coming home from school when their school bus was stopped, and a young man started shooting the girls. He shot Malala in the head and he injured other two girls who happened to be in his way. Malala was taken to the local hospital, but she was getting worse and worse, so she was taken to a military hospital and then out of the country. She was transported to a hospital in England where she spent many months having surgery and recovering from her wounds. She received international support and she was visited by many important people even if she was only fifteen years old. Her dedication attracted attention all over the world and thousands of people wrote her letters and sent her gifts. Rising from the ashes, Malala gave many speeches to the UN and other international organizations promoting women's right to education. She is an internationally acclaimed young woman and she is still very involved in women's cause for freedom of speech and education. So far, she is the youngest Nobel Peace prize winner. Though many of us are in countries where freedom of speech is a still a dream, Malala tries to show us that all is possible with faith and strong determination. Sometimes, dying for the right course can be the most humane thing we could do. It’s at this point in our lives where we need to stop seeing the difference between men and women.

Evance Henrico

Rating: 5 Recommend

The book shows the amazing journey of a young girl known as Malala Yousafzai and the social and political hurdles she had to overcome in order to spread her beliefs on the importance allowing girls of all ages to obtain education. The journey begins at a town called Swat in Pakistan in a humble home. Her mother was illiterate as she never received proper education, while her father was very well spoken and involved in the community. He even opened 3 schools to ensure both boys and girls would be able to receive education. Despite being in a strongly traditional Muslim community, her Father openly and constantly encouraged her to pursue her education and become whatever she desired regardless of what members of the community had to say about open behaviours. This support helped fuel her desire for knowledge and freedom of expression. The peaceful years came to an end when the Taliban arrived in Pakistan. After a series of illegal radio broadcast claiming natural disasters to be punishments from God as the people were being ungodly and anti-Islamic, some girls were now forbidden from going to school. A war even broke out between the Taliban and the Pakistani government due to their radicalism which was fought just outside Swat. Through these years of conflict, Malala stayed strong and her voice grew. She begun having interviews for documentaries and talking to local news outlets expressing her determination to obtain her education and how she was not afraid of the widespread threats on schoolgirls. Eventually the Taliban took notice and openly targeted her. This act shook her usually brave Father who openly spoke against the Taliban, but Malala did not feel sad as she knew what she was doing was right. In October 2012 the threat became reality as 2 Taliban members stopped her bus on the way home in search for her. They shot her in the head, but this was not the end of her journey. She woke up 1 week later in a hospital in Birmingham with no recollection of the attack however, the entire world knew what happened. Her family later joined her, and they now live in Birmingham as Pakistan was no longer safe for them. While in hospital she received numerous gifts and letters of support, her voice was now heard by the entire world. After multiple surgeries and physiotherapy, she left the hospital and went to her new home. Malala went on to win the Nobel peace prize, present a speech to the UN assembly and begin the Malala fund which enables education for many children in under privileged communities in the world. The book had two underlining lessons in leadership to me. Courage and belief. When gathering support over the years, she did not fear to speak out her beliefs to anyone she came across. These two behaviours compelled everyone to hear her voice and listen.

Trevor Ntutu

Rating: 5 Recommend

This book is about a girl called Malala Yousafzai. It is based in Pakistan. Malala was from a family that was not too poor because they could afford to take their children to school.The family lived happily and Malala went to a school which was owned by her father. The Taliban arrived in Swat Valley (which is Malala’s home town) and changed most things negatively. The Taliban are a terrorist group which occupied Pakistan. Malala defied the Taliban and demanded that girls should go to school. The Taliban soon found out about her activism. One evening, Malala was on the school bus on her way home when a Taliban stopped their bus and asked which one of them was Malala. The girls that were on the bus with her all turned their eyes to Malala and that indicated to the Taliban who she was. He then fired three bullets at Malala. One hit Malala on top of her left eye and the other two hit her friends that were next to her. This book has taught me that you should always stand up for what you believe and you should not follow the crowd. Malala believed that girls should have the right to education and she stood up for what she believed even though there were consequences, she did not back down.

Angel Mailu

Rating: 5 Recommend

Malala Yousafzai is a girl who was raised in a family that was not financially stable. When she was born, very few people bothered to congratulate her parents because the birth of a girl was seen as a failure on the part of the parents. Her mother, Toor Pekai Yousafzai, was illiterate and her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, was an eloquent speaker, that earned his family’s respect by winning several distinguished debating competitions. As time went by, he became a passionate supporter of free speech to all citizens. Ziauddin was a teacher and he – together with his friend – opened up a school for both boys and girls. He encouraged Malala to learn and to become more knowledgeable, which led to her being a strong independent woman, and not the woman that the society expects her to be – stays at home doing all house chores. The rulers at the time were misogynistic towards women- the women got half as much privilege as the men. Young girls’ lives were being ruined to settle a dispute that she had nothing to do with. As time went by, Malala became conscious of the restrictions being placed on her- and others – because of her gender. Malala believes that women could perfectly educate themselves while also being perfectly faithful Muslims. She fought for women’s rights to education and free speech but these rights were taken away from her by the Taliban – a radical Islamist group that posed as a threat to the advocates of education and women’s rights. Malala being attacked by the Taliban made her speak up for what she firmly believes in. She ended up giving speeches to the UN and many other international organizations about reasons why women ought to have the right to education. This book highlights how men and women are not treated as equal to one another in some regions, and how freedom is limited to those who can afford it. As quoted in the book; “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes” – Mahatma Gandhi.