I Am Malala How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World Young Readers Edition by:Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick Visual Presentation by: Keely PJ Tolbert

Pakistan

Shangla The mountainous village are where Malala’s parents grew-up Every spring and fall, during the holidays of Big Eid and Small Eid, Malala’s family visited Shangla. The area is mountainous and largely poor. Men work in the mines or road crews, often far from home. Women are by in large illiterate and don’t attend school – why send them to school if they will simply get married and establish and run a household. No formal shops, hospitals or clean water or electricity from the government.

Mingora Largest city in the Swat District & where Malala lived with her family. Mingora is the most populated city in the Swat District of Pakistan. The Kushal School is the school her father opened and where Malala attended while they lived in Mingora. The White Palace is a site visited by numerous tourists including Malala who described it as, “a wonder built of white marble so unearthly it floated like a cloud.” Malala characterized Mingora as chaotic, and noisy – not negatively, but in a way that she loved, A spontaneous joyful chaos.

Everything changes October 8, 2005 a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck the Kashmir region killing >80 thousand spread across India, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The quake displaced over 4 million people. In Pakistan aid came, but most quickly from militant groups and not the government. These militant groups preyed on the fears of the people claiming the quake was the results of and put stricter adherence to Islamic law into place. Breaking of laws lead to violent action by the Taliban and the slow creep of invasion of the Taliban began.

Mingora after the Taliban invasion Mingora was largely undamaged by the quake. However, the Taliban preyed on the public’s fear of more damage and upsetting God even in Mingora. The rights of women were slowly restricted, even shopping was not allowed and schools that allowed girls were targeted and threatened. Malala become a blogger for the BBC detailing the events taking place in Mingora in 2009 at the age of 11 under a pseudonym - Gul Makai. Her identity eventually became known and even in the face of danger she continued to be a vocal and now visible advocate for the educational rights of girls and women.

Malala’s life before the Taliban Malala was an ordinary girl who loved pink but not make-up or jewelry. She and her friends read Twilight and thought Bella was too fickle and Edward doesn’t give her – as Malala and her girlfriends would say – any lift. She played Thief and Police, Cricket and Ding-dong-ditch with her two younger brothers. She loves cupcakes and Wotsits, but not candy. She watched the TV show Shaka-laka Boom boom and wished for Magic Pencil that would make whatever she drew appear just like the star of the show. She was so incredibly similar to tweens and teens here.

Malala’s life before the Taliban (con.) Unlike many young women in Pakistan, Malala was a treasured part of her family. Girls are often thought to be less valuable than boys. She was encouraged to attend her father’s school – the Kushal school and excelled as a student. She told her parents she would prefer not to wear the traditional face covering scarves and garments worn by many Pakistani women, and her parent’s supported her wish. He father said, “Malala will live free as a bird.” p. 18.

Malala - after On October 9 2012, Malala was riding a bus home from school (1)when several men boarded her bus looking for her by name (2). They fired 3 shots and one nearly took Malala’s life. She was stabilized (3) and due to the severity of her injuries including severe head trauma she was flown to Birmingham England for further treatment (4). After months of recovery, and several surgeries including a cochlear implant Malala left the hospital. Due to continued threats on her life and her father’s life, she and her family have had to remain living in England. On the 10th of December 2014, Malala received the Noble Peace Prize. At age 17 she is the youngest recipient in history. She shared the prize with Kailash Satyarthi – an Indian advocate for children’s rights to pursue an education instead of being forced into labor. She continues to advocate for women’s education through The Malala Fund.

Bibliography "2005 Kashmir Earthquake." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 14 July 2015. http://www.history.com/topics/kashmir-earthquake. "Profile: Malala Yousafzai - BBC News." BBC News. 10 Dec. 2014. Web. 14 July 2015. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-23241937. "The Nobel Peace Prize 2014". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2014. Web. 17 Jul 2015. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2014/ Yousafzai, Malala, and Patricia McCormick. I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood up for Education and Changed the World. Young Readers Edition; First ed. New York: Little, Brown, 2014. Print.