Written by Malala Yousafzai, with Patricia McCormick

Published by: Little Brown Books For Young Readers

ISBN: 9780316327916

Malala Yousafzai is a household name nowadays, more commonly known by her first name like Cher or any number of pop stars. But Malala started out as just a normal girl in the Swat Valley who loved school, her friends, and fighting with her brother. I Am Malala tells the story of her journey to becoming an activist, ending with the Taliban shooting her and her recovery. But this is not a sad story; it is a story of hope and works to spread her message that girls everywhere should get to go to school like her. Malala doesn’t just tell her story, but her family’s story, and those of other less fortunate families from where she grew up. 

Malala is an inspiring woman who has used her global stage to further her advocacy for girls’ education around the world. Her memoir is a poignant one, giving the rest of the world her unique perspective on what happened in her beloved homeland. She never gives up, not on her education, or her country. She wants to return there to make positive change in the future, and it’s an inspiring story for anyone to read. Fans of memoir and good narrative alike will devour the story behind the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner.

At the age of 17 in 2014, Malala Yousafzai became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize after surviving an assassination attempt by the Taliban in her native Pakistan. Yousafzai became an advocate for girls’ education when she herself was still a child, which resulted in the Taliban issuing a death threat against her. On October 9, 2012, a gunman shot Yousafzai when she was traveling home from school. She survived and has continued to speak out on the importance of education. In 2013, she gave a speech to the United Nations and published her first book, I Am Malala. This is the young reader’s edition.

Malala Fund

Nobel Peace Prize

Reviews:

Publisher’s Weekly

Kirkus Review

Patricia McCormick, a two-time National Book Award finalist, is the author of several critically acclaimed novels – including Never Fall Down, the true story of a boy who survived the Killing Fields of Cambodia by playing music for the Khmer Rouge, and SOLD, a moving account of sexual trafficking. She is also the co-author of I am Malala, the story of Malala Yousafzai, the girl who was shot by the Taliban in her fight for education.

 Patricia McCormick

Stacey Shapiro is the YA/Programming librarian at Cranford Public Library and has been interested in global literature since her (hopefully first of many) trip to the Bologna International Children’s Book Festival in Italy in 2015. She served on the 2020 ALA Michael L. Printz Award Committee and spends her time at home, usually with a book in hand.