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A review by realadhdoug
I Am Malala by Christina Lamb, Malala Yousafzai
4.5
This was everything it was cracked up to be. What struck me most about the ordinariness of Malala’s experience. At its heart, it’s about a girl who just wants to learn. Encouraged by her father—who sees education not only as a human right but also as a religious obligation—Malala continues to go to school even as an oppressive regime takes over in her homeland and forbids it. In doing so, she becomes an accidental advocate for girls’ rights after being nearly murdered for daring to seek an education.
The story also ends up being about the perils of religious fanaticism (or fanaticism more generally), documenting how quickly personal friends and community members turn on one another when they’re taken in by extremist rhetoric. Malala recounts reading Anne Frank’s diary and finding it relatable as her country folk become more sympathetic to the Taliban and thus more antagonistic towards mainstream Muslims like her and her family. And—beyond religion—I couldn’t help but think of the cult-like behavior that would emerge years later in the US as Donald Trump became the 45th president. So, though this book is now over a decade old, I found it surprisingly relevant in so many ways.
The story also ends up being about the perils of religious fanaticism (or fanaticism more generally), documenting how quickly personal friends and community members turn on one another when they’re taken in by extremist rhetoric. Malala recounts reading Anne Frank’s diary and finding it relatable as her country folk become more sympathetic to the Taliban and thus more antagonistic towards mainstream Muslims like her and her family. And—beyond religion—I couldn’t help but think of the cult-like behavior that would emerge years later in the US as Donald Trump became the 45th president. So, though this book is now over a decade old, I found it surprisingly relevant in so many ways.