Author of I am Malala

Malala Yousafzai is more wildly known for her own biography titled I am Malala. Yes that's right, she wrote her own biography at the age of 16. I can barely get through writing a 3 paragraph blog post while she writes a 263 paged book. She completely raises the bar on everything. She is also known for being the girl who survived being shot in the head by the Taliban. Like I said before ,she is truly unstoppable.

Malala was born on July 12, 1997 in Mingora, Pakistan. She was aware of woman's rights at a young age, and standing up for them too. Her father owned a school that enrolled both boys and girls. It was a vey successful school too, as many kids were enrolled. This school got many threats form outsiders who did not support education for girls, and for the most part wanted to see an end to it. Her father, Ziauddin was an advocate for everyone getting an education so he became a well known speaker in his country for rights which were being taken away. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree I guess you could say, because as Malala grew up she began to join with this opinion of unfairness with rights. She started to speak for Women's rights and education for girls. She would give speeches such as one called ,"How Dare the Taliban take away my rights to an education?". Along with this she began to secretly blog about living in Pakistan and her conditions that she had to go through. This is one of the reasons the Taliban went after her. She was on her way to school on her school bus when to men stopped the vehicle and stepped inside. They asked who Malala was, and in cold blood they shot her in the head. She had to be flown England for better medical treatment from a more prestigious hospital.

As she was straddling the moments between life and deaths, her story became known worldwide. Everywhere, people became outraged at the thought of  a 15 year old girl getting shot in the head by the Taliban. As Malala began to heal, important figures worldwide began to show up to meet her. Her family began to realize just how influential Malala was. On her 16th birthday, Malala gave a speech in front of the United Nations about the rights that were being taken away from the girls, and about her own story. After her speech, she got a standing ovation. Today, Malala has her own biography titled I am Malala. She also was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and was the youngest person to ever win this award. Her story and her stamina for equality is what gives many young girls inspiration today. Malala Yousafzai is the definition of a role model.

From the Book to the Real World

Malala Yousafzai is a role model for young girls everywhere. I'm sure you already know her; maybe you've read about her from my last blog post or even read her own memoir, I am Malala. Her memoir starts off with the day she got shot. In the head. By the Taliban. Yes that's right, she is one tough cookie. If you don't already know about her background, I'll tell you.

 She is a 17 year old girl who at a young age, was aware of the lack of rights girls had in her country. Her father created his own successful school, where Malala was enrolled. There were boys and girls enrolled in the school, but in Pakistan, giving a girl an education was frowned upon. The Taliban were against girls rights, as they felt it went against what their religion stated. Malala and her father were outraged by the inequality given to a girls rights to an education, so they both became public speakers against the Taliban's reasoning. You have to understand how big of a deal this is as the Taliban would kill anyone who opposed them as a threat and would even go and bomb schools that went against them. As Malala started to become more famous in her country as a Woman's rights activist, she also became a target. One morning on the way to school, men from the Taliban stopped the bus and demanded for Malala. They shot her in the head in cold blood. But this isn't the end of her story, as she is still alive and fighting for her rights today. She is a strong role model for girls everywhere as she teaches us the lesson that its okay to not always stick to the status quo, and to fight for what you believe in. Not only is she a published author with her memoir, but she is also the youngest person to ever be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, and the youngest to ever win this award.

While reading this book, I got a really strong sense of the importance of education in peoples lives. Malala's father owned and operated his own school, where she and her brothers also attended. He made sure that anyone that wanted to go to school could; often giving away free tuitions to people in need. As Malala began to grow up, she always loved to learn and was the top of her class. But, the government didn't support a girls education so they soon forbid them from going to school. Malala and her family were furious with this, as they all loved to learn and go to school everyday to fulfill their dreams.

This idea of education can really be found worldwide. I became interested with how different an education is for girls at different parts of the world. I came across an article that was about a woman (Ann Cotton) who won an award for launching a campaign for education for girls who are less privileged, such as in Africa ( I'll
put the link to the article below). What really interested me about this story was how in places like Africa, girls will grow up without an education. But with people like Ann, who really believe for making these girls rights better by letting them go to school and be anything they want to be in the future. I believe that there should be more people like Ann and Malala in the world today, or at least more people who can learn from their example. These two ladies really never let anyone stop them from helping to get people out of harsh situations, and this is what truly will make a difference in the world today.

Link to Article : http://www.bbc.com/news/education-29880500

Update on my book & Finished??

Very recently I've finished my book Fudge Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke. From the front to back cover I loved the book, and to say the least I devoured it (get my pun?). I wish I could say that I could read it whenever I found time, but to be honest I sat down and finished it in probably 4 hours. Guilty bookworm, I know. It now joins the collection on my bookshelf, with others who share the battle scars of bent covers, wrinkled pages, and creased spines. Not sure if I should be proud of the next part but I've managed to pick up a few other books from the series that have found themselves onto that shelf too.

Fudge Cupcake Murder follows the main protagonist Hannah Swensen. Hannah owns a bakery called the Cookie Jar but always manages to mix herself into trouble. The story takes starts off in the high school of the small town in Minnesota. This time she finds the sheriffs body outside by the dumpster, and the investigation leads to her brother in law! All of the facts seem to lead to him as he was running for Sherriff against Sherriff Grant and a recent fight seems to make him the main suspect.  So the natural thing to do in this case is to investigate on her own, right? Well that's just what she does, with he help of her family to clear her sisters husbands name and to hopefully find the real person who was behind this crime.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone else who is obsessed with mysteries, along with me. The reading level isn't that hard in this book but it is a bit long, which might be a turn off. You may be wondering what you would say this book is related too. Or better yet how would you compare this to other popular books/movies/stories. I would say that it is a mix of Nancy Drew meets NCIS meets Scooby Doo. If you aren't familiar with these to say the least, LOOK THEM UP.

From my last post I mentioned my first impressions of it, and after finishing it I still have very positive views towards it. I completely agree with a quote on the cover of the book from The Midwest book review , in which they say,

"Fudge Cupcake Murder should not be read on an empty stomach because there are mouth watering recipes and descriptions of desserts in almost every chapter."

 I mean there was a total of probably 10 recipes in this book, which I made me extremely hungry while reading it. This fact alone just gives it 2 extra stars, but there are more reasons in which this book deserves 5 stars. One star goes to the fact that Fluke manages to keep the plot going through and not slow and sloppy. This is a really great thing too, as this book has over 300 pages and usually books that have this many pages tend to get slow and boring at parts. Another star goes to the fact that I could relate to the characters and their stories. I found myself holding my breath through a part when the character did the same and that's a great quality in a book. And the last star goes to the great mystery that this book follows. I've always loved a good mystery and over the years have developed a knack for knowing who did the crime halfway through the book. But I'm happy to say that in this book, I didn't see it coming, and I enjoyed that. So that is all of the 5 stars.

 

 



 

 

Fudge Cupcake Murder: Why I picked up this book

At first when I was exploring Barnes and Nobles I was overwhelmed with all of the teenage dystopian novels. Don't get me wrong, I love those kind of books like The Hunger Games and Divergent. But now it just seems like those plots are being repeated over and over again; so much so it just felt boring and predictable. As I go through the rows of books all stacked up on one another, I come across the mystery section. Suddenly a light bulb seemed to come on in my head. I didn't realize it but this was the exact genre that I was looking for. Growing up I've always loved mysteries from Scooby-Doo to And Then There Were None. Getting excited I scour through the section, seeing anything that caught my eye. This was when I found Fudge Cupcake Murder. Reading the back of the book I couldn't help but become hooked as it involved two things that I love- mysteries and food. I grab 2 books out of that series hoping to come back and get more.

The mystery aspect really caught my eye when I picked up this book. By the time I read the first paragraph of the synopsis on the back I was reeled in. It said, 

" Bakery Owner Hannah Swenson just cant keep her hands out of the batter when murder stirs things up in Lake Eden, Minnosota, leaving the sheriff dead, a deputy accused, and a killer on the loose...".

Of course I couldn't just put down the book and walk away because there were so many questions swarming in my head by that point. Who is the sheriff? How is the main character Hannah involved? Do they find the killer? What I really liked about that synopsis is the clever word play; I mean cant keep her hands out of the batter (she's a baker)! I personally always appreciate a good puny joke so that was just frosting on the cake (pun intended).

If the summary on the back didn't make me want to buy the book, it was definitely the front.

(SO CLEVER!)

 

The cover itself is very simple, which I surprisingly like because you don't have to be overwhelmed by everything on the cover. I actually didn't notice this detail until after I bought the book, but on the cupcake, there are small little skulls hidden in the sprinkles! That subtle little detail just made me really happy because it was a nice touch to the cover. Another touch to the book that I feel really sets it apart from other books is the fact that the author included the recipes that are used in the story so you can make it yourself. Not that I can bake, but it still adds a fun touch. I'm excited to start reading this book so I can figure out how Hannah gets herself out of this situation that's definitely not a piece of cake.