Malala's life, challenges and recovery

• A supportive community of girls and teachers make her feel welcome

• She no longer feels like the confused new girl

• She conveys gratefulness to doctors and nurses who cared for her in Pakistan and England

• Moniba is the best friend who is always there to guide her and give her hope

• Writing a book is a blessing but also a challenge

• Karolina Sutton is thanked for literary agency and caring aspects

• She would not have met Karolina Sutton if it wasn't for Shiza Shahid

• Shiza Shahid is thanked for helping to set up the Malala Fund

• Shiza Shahid is thanked for working to deliver the message and grow the campaign for education every day

• Patricia McCormick is thanked for working with her to tell her story

• Patricia McCormick is attributed to patience, compassion, and a yoga lesson.

• Farrin Jacobs is thanked for her hard work in editing

• Even though Farrin Jacobs' name isn't on the book jacket, she did a lot.

• Farrin Jacobs made her work hard, but was always working right alongside her

• This memoir would certainly not exist without the book

• The men of Fazlullah carried guns and walked menacingly through the streets

• Even without seeing him in Mingora, his presence was felt

• In May 2007, Fazlullah signed a peace agreement with the government

• Included in the agreement, Fazlullah would stop campaigns against polio vaccinations, girls’ education, and attacks against government property

• The government would allow him to continue his broadcasts as part of this agreemenr

• Everything changed in July

• The Pakistani Army led a siege of a women’s madrasa in Islamabad around her tenth birthday

• A group of militants active against the government had taken hostages inside the madrasa of Lal Masjid, or the Red Mosque

• Fazlullah called for people to rise up in violence after the army's attack

• The peace treaty he had signed became nothing more than a memory

• The government ignored Fazlullah

• The people in Swat were angry with both the government and terrorists

• Her father suggested that the family should do its best to ignore them as well

• The girls played a game called Wedding by a stream

• They chose a bride, preparing her for the ceremony

• This involved draping her in bangles and necklaces, and painting her face with makeup and her hands with henna

• They would pretend to give her to the groom and would stroke her hair, telling her not to worry when "she would pretend to cry"

• Life for women in the mountains included no proper shops, no universities, no hospitals or female doctors, and no clean water or electricity

• Many men left their villages to work on mines and road crews, sending money home but sometimes not returning

• Women of the village hid their faces and were illiterate

• The women could not meet or speak to men who were not their close relatives

• Most girls in the village didn’t go to school which included most of her own cousins

• Some fathers don’t think of their daughters as valued because they will be married off at a young age

• Some men wondered, "Why send a daughter to school?"

Prologue - Mingora

• Mingora was a city surrounded by chaos with its honking horns and factory noises
• The children worked silently, bent over their papers in concentration
• Moniba and she liked to stay on for the second trip bus to chat a little longer after their tests
• There was a strange, gnawing feeling that something bad was going to happen
• One night, there was a wondering about death, what being dead was really like and how it would feel
• She was alone in her room and turned toward Mecca
• She asked God, "What happens when you die?"
• She wanted to be able to tell people what it felt like if she died
• She asked God if she could die a little bit and come back, so she could tell people about it
• The next day dawned bright and sunny
• The tests had gone well
• So Moniba and she did what they always did: We had a good gossip
• The girls wondered what face cream was being use, and if it really did cure baldness
• They also discussed how difficult was the first exam and how difficult the next would be
• When our bus was called, we ran down the steps

Purdah

• The women existed in a different world of sights and sounds
• The women's headscarves and veils were gone which made their pretty faces, made up with lipstick and henna, lovely to see
• She had observed women observing the code of purdah daily
• Some simply draped scarves over thier faces; this is called niqab
• Others wore burqas, long, flowing black robes that covered the head and face
• burqas made it so people could not even see their wives
• Some wives were required to walk a few paces behind their husbands
• Some women were forced to lower their gaze when they encountered a man
• Older girls disappeared behind veils as they became teenagers
• Seeing women chatting casually was to see a whole new world
• It was unfair and uncomfortable to live under wraps
• She had told parents that no matter what

2001

• Al-Qaeda attacks the World Trade Center and Pentagon on 9/11
• US bombing of Afghanistan starts, the Taliban government is overthrown and Osama bin Laden escapes to Pakistan
• Pakistan publicly allies with the United States in the war against terror amid international pressure
• Because of the shared border with Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden covertly enters Pakistan

2004

• The Pakistani army starts operation against militants in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas)

• The first attack on Pakistan by a US drone occurs and Zardari goes into exhile

• FATA is populated by Pashtun tribes that maintains leadership with minimal intervention

• These areas share a border with Afghanistan, al-Qaeda may be able to hide and use as staging ground

• Encouraging teachers allow her to feel free

• It is hard to be truly free because of the public role she has

• It is important to always act in the way people expect

• Her life is busy with books, documentaries, speeches, meeting people, social media campaigns, and humanitarian work

• There is lots of exciting travel which makes keeping up with my studies and exams hard

• She is only human and gets tired sometimes

• Sometimes, she wishes could sit on the couch and watch Mind Your Language or Skype with friends

• Although she doesn't have a best friend here, like Moniba, there are rivals like Malka-e-Noor

• The girls at her new school invite her to go bowling, the movies or to their birthdays

• The new friends are lovely, kind, and fun

• It is not the same as back home where she was just Malala not "Malala, the girl who was shot by the Taliban"

• At first, she wondered how she could ever be friends with these girls

• She has seen and experienced things they couldn't even imagine

2008: What Terrorism Feels Like

• Teachers instill belief in girls

• Teachers like Miss Ulfat in primary school made her heart fly when they would say, "Excellent!" or "Well done!"

• In a society where people believe girls are weak, a teacher made her think, "I am something!"

• The teachers instill talent to make her feel worthy

• Madam Maryam was her bright, independent, upper-school headmistress who earned wages

• In the upper school she took algebra, chemistry, and her favorite physics

• Classes were taught with only a blackboard and chalk

• The girls were free to let curiosity take them.

• During chemistry one girl asked, "If everything is made up of atoms, what are atoms made of?"

• Another asked, "If electrons are constantly moving, why isn’t this chair I’m sitting on moving?”

• The teacher put aside the day’s lesson plan and let the girls ask questions

• The army and the Taliban were the central topics of conversation

• The people of Swat were caught in the middle

• It was the happiest day when finding out she did well in A levels (more UK tests)

• Then she planning to study politics and philosophy at university

• She still hopefu she can return to Swat and see friends, teachers, school, and house again one day

• Her dream is to return to her country and become an influential politician to serve the people

• Sadly, Maulana Fazlullah, the man who ordered the attack on her, is still the head of the whole Pakistan Taliban

• It has made it even riskier for her to return

• Education will allow her to learn more about history, meet interesting people and listen to others' opinions

• Education will allow her to continue fight against ignorance and terrorism

• Her health is good thanks to the doctors in Birmingham

• When she came out of hospital she did physiotherapy once a week which helped her heal and she needed a lot of support

• Her facial nerve is now up to 96 percent recovered

• The cochlear implant has helped the hearing which the doctors said has been helped

• There will be even newer better technology in the future

• She stopped having headaches and can now play sports, although people still take care not to throw a ball at my head!

• She’s fairly good at some sports, like cricket and rounders (which is similar to baseball) but her brothers disagree because they are competitive

• Atal makes everyone laugh and often uses dramatic

This lesson explores Malala's challenges balancing her public role with her personal life, her evolving relationships, and internal conflicts. It examines her recovery journey and future academic pursuits. It also highlights her unwavering commitment to fighting ignorance and terrorism.