Malala’s story

Malala is only 11 years old when she decides to speak up against the Taliban regime, writing, for the BBC, a blog in Urdu that denounces the life of Muslim girls who are prevented from attending school once the Talibans take over. And she is 15 when, a day like many others, while riding the school bus with its fluttering green canvas with her friends, the Talibans try to kill her. “The symbol of the infidels and obscenity”, for remaining extremists, Malala represents a threat: she is the living testimony that women can be heard. And therefore, that voice must be silenced. Paolo D’Altan's illustrations welcome young readers by opening a door at the beginning of each new chapter. The author, Viviana Mazza, retraces with determination and accuracy the main historical events Malala lived through, tracing the Yousafzai family's daily life up to their escape from the Swat Valley in Islamabad to the father's hideaway in Peshawar and finally to Birmingham. A journey through wrecked states and cities that is, at the same time, a journey into Malala's soul, witnessing the intense, growing belief that silence is no longer an option – a certainty that, after the assassination attempt, makes her even stronger. Winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace and several other honours, today Malala follows the steps of Benazir Bhutto (the first woman Prime Minister of Pakistan, whose same headscarf Malala often wears), and continues to be the voice of over 66 million children to whom freedom, education and childhood is still denied, lending the strength of her voice to those who demand their rights, demand peace, demand protection. La storia di Malala Viviana Mazza Mondadori Ragazzi, 2013