I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb

★★★★★

I decided to read this book after inadvertently reading the Young Readers Edition. Mostly I was curious to see how the two versions differed.

If all you know of Malala Yousafzai is that "she's the girl who was shot by the Taliban", then the Young Readers Edition is an excellent, approachable introduction to who she is, how people have suffered under Islamist extremism, and what she hopes to accomplish with the Malala Fund. It's the 10,000-foot overview of her story, and it's a worthwhile read for anyone, regardless of age.

If you're interested in zooming in and getting more details, this book is exactly that. This edition provides significantly more information and context regarding Malala's family history, the Pashtun code, and the geography, religion, history, politics, and culture of both Swat and Pakistan. In this book, Malala also talks about U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan, and other things related to U.S.-Pakistan relations, which are mentioned only very briefly in the Young Readers Edition. Still, even with the many more names, dates, and places thrown in, the book is primarily a memoir, which makes it a very accessible read.

While on the whole this edition is much more thorough, the Young Readers Edition does have some additional personal reflections and anecdotes that are not included in this book, e.g., what it was like to meet President Obama and Jon Stewart, and the teasing exchange Malala shares with Moniba at the start of every Skype call, about who has forgotten the other more. This book is certainly more informative, but I think the Young Readers Edition actually gives you a more complete and intimate impression of who Malala is as a private person.

There was one very minor, interesting difference I noticed between the two books... In the Young Readers Edition, Malala's best friend Moniba came across to me as kind of volatile, full of drama and quick to become jealous and angry. It wasn't clear to me why Malala was such good friends with her. But in this book, their friendship doesn't seem overshadowed by their spats, and Moniba is much more fleshed out and likable.