Memoir Monday: a review of I Am Malala

Here I go reviewing a memoir again: but stay with me! Not only is this a solid book, but it is an important book, too.

I vividly remember 9/11. I was young at the time, but old enough to understand what was going on. What I didn't grasp as a child was everything that happened afterward. To me, it just meant that supposedly there was a war going on, but in my comfortable Texas life, I never felt the effects of it.

As I got older, I began to understand more. However, I only saw the conflict through American lenses. There is nothing wrong with this-- I was young, I am American, and I was still learning how to walk in other people's shoes. This began to change when Malala's story became the headline of every news outlet. I felt the outrage, though I didn't know where to put it, but more importantly, I felt a closeness to the conflict overseas that I hadn't felt before. Malala was a girl my age. I began to feel a sense of power in being a girl, I began to believe that I had a voice.

Many years later, after college, I finally got around to reading Malala's memoir. I was instantly transported back to that feeling of empowerment, but what I didn't expect going into this book was the historical element Malala brings to her story. She doesn't just tell her story, she tells you what was going on around the world at the time.

I must confess that there was a part of me that wanted to read this book because of how sensational I remember the news stories of Malala being. I was pleasantly disappointed.

For those who don't know, Malala was/is a champion of girls' right to education, and was shot by the Taliban in Pakistan. She survived.

Malala tells her story within the larger context of the conflicts in the Middle East and the War on Terror. This is hugely important because what happened to her directly correlated to the various conflicts going on at the time. She does not shy away from calling evil evil. She is very clear on her dreams and how she intends to achieve them for women and girls everywhere. She is very clear on how the powerful nations of the world often create roadblocks towards those dreams for their own benefit and continued power.

Read this book. If you remember 9/11, read this book. If you don't remember 9/11, read this book. If you have never heard of Malala before now, read this book. Step into someone else's shoes. See the world that gets sensationalized by the news, through the eyes of someone like you and me: a girl who is powerful, not because she has a platform (she was powerful before that), but because she stands up for the powerless.