2018 Reading Challenge
7.
I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb
8. I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World (Young Readers Edition) by Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick
Prompt: book about feminism
Synopses:
When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.
On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive.
Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
I Am Malala is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.:
I'm doing this a little different. Both of these books are about the same true story, except for the way it was told for their intended audiences. I have been awed by Malala's story from the beginning and have wanted to read these books for awhile. When I went to pick up
I Am Malala for this particular prompt, I wasn't aware that there had been two versions, one for adults and one for young adults. Even though there's a young reader's edition, it would be remiss of me to mention that it's not suitable for young children, as well as it depends on the maturity of the child. I recommend this book to anyone 12/13 (middle school grades) and older.
I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban
This is the regular version of Malala's story. If you're into the history about Pakistan and the way it's been run as a country, you'll want to read this. It goes in depth of just that, of how Pakistan was before, as well as after, Malala was born. It is important to know the background to understand her story and why she fought for what she did.
I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World
This is the younger reader's version. It lacks the rich history that the regular version provides. It gets to the essence of Malala's story earlier, while skipping out on some of the mundane parts or parts that gets in the way of relating to her story. This book was more understandable and easier to relate to than the regular version, which is why I preferred this over the other one.
I challenged myself to read both versions of
I Am Malala to see what made them different. The only things really different was one delved more into the history and the other one didn't. While I mentioned above that I preferred the young reader's version, I feel that it's important to read both of them as a way of comparing and seeing what you like and don't like.
Malala was (and still is) a girl (adult now) who wasn't afraid to stand up for what she believed in, specifically for the right for girls to be educated in her country. And unfortunately, she almost lost her life for doing just that. Her survival and bravery are awe-inspiring - that it takes only one to make a difference and get their voice heard. It doesn't always mean that things will change immediately, if at all, but it can help. Malala's story shows that any one, no matter what age, can make a difference.
Let me know if you read one or both of these and what you thought. Did you prefer one over the other if you read both?
Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!
~Meg~
