I Am Malala Book Reviews

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.

My Review:
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~

Missing Kylie (Mark Myers) Book Review

2017 Reading Challenge

19. Missing Kylie by Mark Myers
      Prompt: a book about a difficult topic

Synopsis:

None of us like to hear the word no – especially as an answer to prayer. So how does a father reconcile a lifelong faith in God when confronted with the word no regarding something as critical as the healing of his youngest child?
This book is a two year journey through that wilderness of no. It contains few answers and many questions, but ultimately a faith that there is a loving God who chose a path we will never understand on this side of heaven.
When Kylie was diagnosed with cancer in April of 2014, her father believed that she would be completely healed and become a living testimony to God’s faithfulness and goodness. That is not the story that God wrote. A writer and blogger, Mark began posting about his struggles of heart and faith with a unique ability to mix humor and heartache. His genuine and often raw style seemed to resonate with many hurting people and his words were shared on many platforms.
Upon Kylie’s death in February 2015, he began a journey to find purpose among the ruins heaped on him, his family, and his faith – documenting both progress and set-backs. With several never-before published writings including an especially poignant letter written by Kylie just days before her death, this book is a compilation of blog posts and journal entries that allows you to walk alongside him for this season. It will bring both smiles and tears. You will feel his hope and faith while he faces the struggle, endures the pain of devastating loss, then embarks on a desperate search for meaning, while always: Missing Kylie.

My Review:

No one wants to hear the word cancer, especially when it's a child. But that's what happened to Mark and his family. His daughter Kylie was diagnosed with cancer and Mark only wanted to believe that she would survive. But it was an aggressive form of cancer that ultimately led to her death ten months later. Mark writes about the effects his daughter's cancer journey had on not only Kylie, but the rest of his family, before and after her death. The most poignant writing came on his journey of searching for purpose and meaning after Kylie died. There's no book out there that tells you how to grieve after someone dies because everyone is different and everyone deals with loss and heartbreak differently. Mark's struggles with hope and faith is understandable as it's real and genuine, but he also mixed it with a touch of humor which actually worked in an unique writing style. What I particularly enjoyed was the letters that Mark, his wife, and his other daughters wrote to Kylie around a year after her death.

Final Note: It's okay to question faith and God during hard times. But it's also important to remember that He's always with you and He will get you through it. It won't happen overnight, but with time and prayer, we, with God's support and grace, have the power to overcome those hard times.

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

~Meg~

Wellness Warrior Book Review

2016 Reading Challenge

12. Wellness Warrior by Lisa Douthit

Synopsis:

Have you ever awakened to find you’ve contracted a devastating disease that ended life as you knew it forever? Lisa did . . . multiple times. After surviving four different cancers, she hit the final wall when a life-threatening autoimmune disease took over. Exhausted and discouraged, she had to make a choice: was she going to give in to disease and let nature take its course, or would she use whatever strength she had left to figure out what the hell was happening to her…and more importantly, WHY?
After immersing herself in the study of illness from a physical, emotional, and spiritual perspective, Lisa learned how to recreate her body from the cellular level while keeping her sense of humor. Throughout her crazy journey, she shares practical skills and a quirky higher guidance to create positive shifts in our health which will serve as a roadmap through the darkest hours of life.

My Review:

Lisa's journey through cancer and an autoimmune disease is one of a kind. There's not many people who have been through as much as she has. Her story was more like an emotional and spiritual process. While I'm not a fan of holistic and alternative therapies (like the whole shaman thing), I liked that Lisa was willing to give different things a try - things that she never would have imagined doing. I did find it to be on the slow side, as I didn't really care for her writing style. I could have done less with the dream parts, though - I think she went on a little bit too detailed with that. I wished there was more of the family dynamic during everything. I believe this book is suited more for anyone who has a chronic disease.

Ever since I got diagnosed with my heart condition, I have been interested in these kinds of books in which people share how they stayed positive or got through an illness or something. Going through a hard time makes you think about life and all of that. The main point I disagree with is that people choose to get sick or whatever from stress or what we do in our lives. While I do agree that stress, eating unhealthy, not exercising, etc. can lead to illness, I don't believe that it's the whole picture. I didn't plan to have my heart condition, nor do I believe that I could have done anything differently to avoid "getting" it. I've known people who seem to do everything right when it comes to staying healthy, but still got cancer, etc.

When it comes to being sick with any type of disease/condition, I believe people should do whatever they want to do to stay positive or deal with what they have. Different therapies/medicine work for different people, so it's about what works for you.

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

♥Meg♥