Summary: Chapter 13 (The Diary of Gul Makai)

Eleven-year-old Malala volunteers to write blog posts for a BBC Urdu website about what her life is like under Taliban rule. Writing under the pseudonym Gul Makai to protect her identity, she realizes the power of the pen. The situation at her school grows increasingly difficult as girls are pressured to drop out and single young women are pressured to marry. In January 2009, the New York Times makes a documentary of what will be Malala’s last day of school for a while. Adding to her sadness, Malala argues with Moniba. The closing of the girls’ school causes financial troubles for the Khushal School. Ziauddin and Malala continue to give interviews about the importance of education. 

Even though Malala’s mother, Toor Pekai, is worried for Malala, she does not ask Malala to hide her face during these interviews. Malala says that the Taliban can close schools, but that won’t stop students from learning, and she asserts that education is for all people. The BBC documentary Class Dismissed in Swat Valley draws the attention of Stanford University student Shiza Shahid, who is from Islamabad. Malala and her school friends are taken on a trip to Islamabad, where life is much freer. The trip helps them temporarily forgot the troubles in their homeland.

Summary: Chapter 14 (A Funny Kind of Peace)

Under pressure, Fazlullah decides girls ten and under can return to school. By pretending to be a year younger, Malala also returns to school. On the way there, she notes the emptiness of the streets. The army now outnumbers the Taliban, but the Taliban control the majority of Swat. In February 2009, the Taliban agree to an indefinite cease-fire in return for the government imposing sharia. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warns that the government is giving in to extremists.

The Pashtuns desperately want peace, but the Taliban only become harsher. Someone confronts Toor Pekai in the market for not wearing a burqa, and a video circulates of a Taliban member publicly flogging a teenage girl for leaving her house with a man who is not her husband. Some thirty or forty thousand people attend a public meeting with Sufi Mohammad, who proclaims that the Taliban will move on to Islamabad. President Obama becomes increasingly concerned about the situation in Pakistan and threatens to intervene. In May 2009, the army resumes its effort to drive the Taliban out of Swat. The residents of Mingora are told to evacuate.

Summary: Chapter 15 (Leaving the Valley)

In May 2009, Malala’s family becomes part of an exodus of almost 2 million Pashtun, the largest in history. Leaving behind her beloved schoolbooks, they travel to Shangla while Ziauddin goes to Peshawar to speak out about the terrible situation for the internally displaced persons (IDPs), like Malala’s family. At the end of their difficult two-day journey, Malala’s family almost doesn’t get through an army checkpoint. In Shangla, Malala goes to school; she is more assertive than the other girls and does not cover her face. The radio keeps her family informed about events in Mingora, where fighting occurs in the streets. The army finally gains control of the city. 

After six weeks, Malala’s family reunites with Ziauddin in Peshawar. Malala and Ziauddin attend a meeting in Islamabad with U.S. Special Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. Malala asks for Holbrooke’s help supporting girls’ education. Holbrooke tells her there are many other problems in Pakistan that need to be addressed first. In Abbottabad, Malala reunites with Moniba. Malala turns twelve, but she feels upset when she realizes her family forgot her birthday. For her birthday, Malala wishes for peace in Swat.

Analysis

In Chapter 13, Malala takes her activism to a new level, but terrorism fights back. She takes comfort in her knowledge that Islam gives girls the right to an education, not just boys. The Quran says that she should seek knowledge. In writing the diary, Malala has a chance to share these truths with the world. She can also explain what is happening in what feels like her abandoned country of Pakistan. Since she is well-educated, she writes well and confronts difficult topics with clear analysis. Malala already refused to stop going to school despite the Taliban’s threats, and the diary elevates her defiance against them. When newspapers across the world publish excerpts of the diary entries, Malala realizes that speaking out can be more powerful than the weapons of terror the Taliban uses.

The family spends much of this section on an intense emotional rollercoaster. Malala feels defeated when Kushal School closes. She also feels embarrassed because she did not think the Taliban would follow through on their threat to close the school so she told her friends it would stay open. Malala grieves for not only the loss of her education but also her second home, camaraderie with friends, and the freedom promised. The family felt a fleeting hope when Bhutto was to return to power, but this soon devolved into chaos. The later cease-fire is also short-lived. The Taliban only become more barbaric, forcing Malala and her family to flee Swat Valley. For Malala, the worst part of the exodus is leaving behind her books. It is as if she is leaving part of herself behind, as her education is so intertwined with her identity. Malala stays optimistic by finding reasons for hope amid distress. She admires her mother’s courage and the inspiring spirit of Pashtun hospitality. In a cynical, yet accurate observation, Malala is relieved that her incompetent government did not play a larger role in managing the exodus. If it had, there would have been much more death and illness.