Malala sees herself for the first time since being shot. She reacts surprisingly calm. She doesn't feel as sensitive about her looks now. She was angry with the Taliban, not because they shot her, but because she didn't get to speak to them. I am angry about both. She wants to know how soon she can go home.
Malala had received a green teddy bear, only to find out it was really white. Malala constantly worries about her family and keeps thinking of them and worrying over them. They are not with her in Birmingham. Malala cannot talk because of a "tube in her throat" which I believe may or may not actually be there. She gets to call her father, and she does not want to cry. She hears her father's voice and she realises he was trying not to cry, too. He says they will be with her in two days.
Malala wakes up on October 16, very confused. The doctor speaks to Malala in Urdu, which I guess it turns out everyone is wrong by saying Spanish is the most important language to learn. Malala is in a hospital in Birmingham, England.
Malala's little brother is giving the bus driver trouble on the way home from school and Malala is thinking of her exam the next day, hoping she'll be the best student in class. Then, men stop the bus, asking if it was Malala's school and which girl Malala was. Malala was then shot in the face.
Malala turns fifteen in this chapter, and she is considered an adult. She wants to continue fighting for children's education. She states that just because she is allowed to go to school again does not mean she has lost interest in the cause. I am glad she still fights for what she believes in. One of her father's close friends had been shot in the face, but survived, and Malala's father decides to take extra precaution in keeping himself and her safe. Malala starts to worry for her own life and have nightmares about being attacked.
Malala's mother is learning to read! She is working with one of the teachers at Malala's father's school. Malala's mother first learned Urdu (a Hindustani language) and then English. After a field trip to the White Palace, a man appears at Malala's door with a photocopied picture for her father, claiming that his school was "vulgar and obscene". Malala says "the Taliban may have been defeated, but their beliefs were spreading".
A journalist from Alaska comes to meet Malala and informs her father of something. Malala is dying to know what is being said, and then her father Googles her name and gets a Taliban report saying she should be killed. I would hate to see this girl killed. This girl is so bright, creative, and filled with wonder and passion. Malala has no fear towards this threat, and I feel shocked at this. Her father doesn't want her to continue campaigning for a while. Malala decides against hitting a Taliban threatener with her shoe. She decides to say what she wants which is "an education, for herself, for all girls, for his sister, his daughter, and for him.".
Malala had been nominated for an award for the international peace prize of Kids Rights. She gives a speech and tells about the girls in Swat going to school secretly and claims the girls of Swat are not afraid of anyone. I admire her bravery, but I do not think it was wise to reveal this while the Taliban are still so close. Malala now has a determination to be a politician, to fight for the things she believes in.
Malala feels that being short holds her back while speaking in public, and being short is something I completely understand, sadly. Things keep getting better in Swat, until a suicide bomber kills a man who was outspoken against the Taliban and a political man, who was critical of the Taliban. By 2011, the Taliban was sadly going back to blowing up schools. They really do hate schools, I guess. Malala talks about Osama bin Laden being killed in May that year. Malala's father receives a note claiming he is not a good Muslim. It was from the Taliban, and Malala feels as if they really never left, which is probably true. They are like cockroaches, nasty, disgusting, hard to kill, and hard to get rid of.
Malala and her family finally make their way home and are disappointed to see the condition the river and valley is in. Malala gets home and sees her books are still where she left them, but the school is trashed with wrappers and cigarette butts. A missile had hit the building across the street from the school, and perhaps it was meant for the school. They find out the army had been staying there, after seeing anti-Taliban things written on the wall and on the chalkboard. The army had left a letter for Malala's father, saying Swat should have never let the Taliban take control, when in all honesty, it wasn't the people of Swat's fault.
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