Malala to launch new book on refugees next week
KARACHI: After her memoirs I Am Malala and a children’s book Malala’s Magic Pencil, youngest Nobel Prize laureate and education activist Malala Yousafzai is ready to launch her third book.
The latest title We are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls Around the World is set to be released on Jan 8. It will be published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers — the publishers of her debut book.
In the new book, Malala has shed light on her unique experiences as well as the struggles of other young refugee girls she has met on her journey. She talks about first being internally displaced in Pakistan as a child, followed by her struggle of not being able to return to her home country.
“It’s titled ‘We Are Displaced’ because together we want to help others better understand the refugee crisis and how they can help,” said Malala in an interview with Parade magazine.
In the book, Malala introduces other girls who are the refugees behind the statistics we read and hear about every day and their heartbreaking journeys. Two of these are Zaynab and Muzoon’s stories. “They are leaders in the communities they’ve been granted asylum in. And they never shy away from an opportunity to challenge the social norms and global policies currently keeping girls out of school and refugees without aid,” said the young activist.
“I hope Zaynab and Muzoon’s stories remind readers that refugees are so much more than staggering statistics or tragic headlines,” she optimistically told the publication.
Another idea that Malala explains in her book is the concept of a homeland. “I hear girls say they want to get an education so that one day they can return home to rebuild what conflicts or natural disasters have destroyed it,” said Malala.
Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2019