The book is about Malala Yousafzai, a teenage Muslim girl who is from Pakistan. Malala’s hometown had recently changed in past ten years due to the Taliban, a radical Islamic terrorist group, who are against education and women’s rights. Malala begins her book by describing her Pashtun culture and the inequality women face daily in Pakistan. She mentions how even when she was born, many did not congratulate her parents because of the stigma behind giving birth to a girl. Luckily, her parents were educated people who who raised Malala to believe in free speech, education, and women’s rights.
Malala was a very clever, but shy girl growing up. Her father knew her potential so he would encourage her to join debate competitions. Malala began gaining more and more confidence with every debate competition she participated in and eventually became one of the most talented public speakers in her grade. Malala was devotedly faithful to her Islamic religion, but expressed her frustrations with Pakistanis who would use the Islamic religion to demean women and belittle their rights. Malala would study and infer the Quran in her own way and wanted to show others that women can be faithful Muslims while still pursuing an education and advocating for their rights.
After 9/11, Pakistan began to change as many became religious extremists. The terrorist group, the Taliban, gained power and forced repressive interpretations of the Quran. They oppressed society, especially women, by destroying schools that offered education for all and having women be covered in their burqas in public. The Taliban get so extreme that when Malala was ten years old, the Taliban murdered the female prime minister, Benazir Bhutto. Malala’s father decides to promote Malala’s diary under a pseudonym so people around the world can learn about the terrorism Pakistanis endure from the Taliban. During many shifts and fluctuating levels of the Taliban’s power over Malala’s hometown. Malala begins getting much recognition around the world for advocating for women’s rights, education, and exposing the Taliban. While Malala is getting international attention, Malala’s father fears the Taliban are still at large in their hometown.
On October 9, 2012, when Malala was only fifteen, Malala was on the bus when a man got onto the bus and shot her in the face. Malala was transported to a hospital in Birmingham, UK, where she had a higher chance of surviving. From then on, her family decided not to return to Pakistan, and instead settle in Birmingham. Following her shooting, Malala decided she would continue pushing harder and continue advocating for women’s rights and education, all while acclimating to her new life in Birmingham.
