Written by Malala Yousafzai with Liz Welch
ISBN 0316523658
Published by Little, Brown and Company, 2019
Genre Nonfiction/Autobiography
Awards and Honors
ALA Notable Children's Books - Older Readers Category: 2020
School Library Journal Best Nonfiction Books: 2019
YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: 2020
Reading Level: Grade 9 and up (Amazon)
Plot Summary: We Are Displaced brings to life the stories of refugee girls from around the globe. In Part 1, Malala Yousafzai recounts the peaceful childhood she had in Swat Valley of Pakistan, reminding the reader that she went to school, played with her friends and had a very typical childhood. She explains that the Taliban were far away, but they slowly encroached on Pakistan and her life. Malala describes how fear became the strategy of the Taliban and she recalls her last day of school, Dec 31, 2008, because it became illegal for girls to attend the following day. Having to evacuate Swat Valley was both unimaginable and inevitable, and she chronicles the day they left in astonishing and unflinching detail. They are able to return home after being away for three months only to find it much different than they had left it. She chronicles the changes in the SWAT valley and her own advocacy work for girls’ education leading up to the moment she was shot in 2012. She writes of her new life in England, her continuing education and her advocacy work for girls around the world.
"Malala took this photo of the Swat Valley from the helicopter on her
trip back to Pakistan. 'The most beautiful place Earth to me' she wrote
on Twitter" (Yousafzai, 2019, loc. 1509).
Part 2: Malala uses her voice and fame to highlight the stories of other displaced girls. We hear from Zaynab and Sabreen, two sisters who are refugees from Yemen, tell us in their own words about their harrowing experiences. Muzoon, a refugee from Syria living in a camp in Jordan, explains how she advocated for girls in the camp to attend its school so that they wouldn’t be caught in an endless cycle of poverty. Najla, a Yazidi girl from Sinjar, Iraq, who demanded an education and, even after losing her home and having fled to escape a genocide at the hands of ISIS, she taught younger childeren how to read and write. She found hope in education. Maria, who had to flee her family’s farm when she was 4 and has never felt at home anywhere since. Analisa who left Guatemala as a teen to try to cross illegally into the US to live with her half-brother whom she had never met because she had no family left to take care of her. Marie Claire from Congo--they fled from violence only to be scorned and threatened in Zambia where they had taken refuge. They made it to PA where she finally graduated high school at the age of 19--the first one in her family. Jennifer, who Marie Claire refers to as her American Mom, recounts the story of Marie Claire and her family adjusting to American life. She reminds us of the pain and trauma that preceded their arrival to the US and that always undergirds their new lives. Ajida, a Rohingyan refugee in a camp in Bangladesh who can’t go back but can't leave either. Farah, the head of Malala’s foundation for girls, who was forced to leave Uganda when she was two. She didn’t know why her family fled until she was in her mid-30s.
Author Background: Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai is well known as an advocate for girls and their education. After she was shot in the face by the Taliban for her outspoken views, she and her family relocated to Birmingham, England for her medical care. Ironically, it was there that the world took notice of her, boosting her message.
Liz Welch is the co-author of The Kids Are Alright and I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives. Her articles have appeared in Inc., Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, Vogue and other periodicals (lizwelch.com, 2021)
Critical Evaluation: The first-person stories of these women introduce us to places in the world where many people have been forced from their homes. They are the stories we often see in the news but then our thoughts of them disperse as we change the channel or turn off the TV. This book forces us to sit in their points of view, to go with them step by step as they describe their lives before, during, and after being displaced. These stories are harrowing, heart-wrenching, and often brutal and humanize these realities for us in a way that a news story cannot. This book shows us that they are not "refugees" a group lumped together to indicate mass movement due to a crisis; instead, they are individuals whose lives have been permanently disrupted and yet they have still found ways to thrive.
Library Program: This book inspires me to host a writer's workshop in which the prompt would be to write about a time when you felt displaced, because this is a feeling that all of us have had in one way or another.
Speed-Round Book Talk: We have all felt out of place before, but have you ever known that you could never return home? Would you be able to dig deep and turn that experience into making positive changes for other girls and women? We Are Displaced will show you how it's possible to persevere and thrive through unthinkable hardship.
Potential Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation: I did not find any controversies surrounding this book nor can I imagine any challenges to it. There is some mention of violence but it is not graphic and is an integral part of many of the stories. This is no reason, of course, to exclude the book because libraries contain a myriad of books that contain violence.
Reason for Inclusion: Malala Yousafzai is a force to be reckoned with. The personal trauma she has suffered would keep most people from speaking out, but she has used her tragedy as a platform to help other girls around the world earning a Nobel Peace Prize and starting her own foundation along the way. We should all know her story, but teens in particular will find her story an inspiration due to her courage and perseverance.
References
About. Lizwelch.com. http://lizwelch.com
Jonathan Ball Publishers. (2019). We Are Displaced by Malala Yousafzai. [Video] Youtube.com.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8ckSNTOf0Y
Yousafzai, M., & Welch, L. (2019). We Are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls Around the World. Little, Brown and Company.
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