I am Malala Review

Last week we read “I am Malala” and I am just now getting to writing the review because quarantine inspires either an apathy that sinks into the bones and cannot be conquered in a timely matter, or a burning desire to make progress on every creative venture I’ve ever said I do not have the time for. Which fancy overtakes me appears to be directly related to how cold my feet are but I still refuse to wear socks, therefore I have myself alone to blame (as per usual.)

This book is a memoir in which Malala, a girl who was shot by the Taliban for pursuing an education in her native country of Pakistan, tells her life story. The book starts with her birth and goes all the way up to what was present day at the time she wrote it.

This book is admittedly a little slow to get into, mainly because Malala includes so much of the history and politics of her time and region in her memoir that there are large sections of the book that read more like a textbook than a narrative. That said, it explores themes of feminism, equality, and the importance of universal education that are deeply relevant to today’s world, and I think it is a worthwhile book for youths to read. Young girls especially will be inspired by Malala’s story.

Some teaching ideas for this book include literally anything but what I am doing right now…I am currently videoing myself reading this and posting it to canvas for my students, because there is no other way to get hours for my internship. But a book like this, with heavy content and a slow beginning, needs passion to be read well. Students have to want to read it beforehand.

What I would love to do with this is have a group of students that are part of a club, probably a library thing. Women’s history month is in March so during that month I would start by giving them this poem called “For Teenage Girls With Wild Ambition and Trembling Hearts” by Clementine Von Radics, which mentions Malala, Cleopatra, Sacagawea, Joan of Arc, and several other women who influenced history at a young age. After we talked about the poem, I would let them choose a woman from the poem to read a book about and then create a presentation to share with their peers.

I guess this could also be an out of class activity for a normal classroom, I just felt like a club would be great for this because if you join a book club, you generally love books. Also I like libraries.