Taking credit for little beyond never "cutting her wings," Yousafzai-father of -Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani girl who was attacked by the Taliban in 2012 and later went on to receive the Nobel Prize-provides a time line of the events leading to the place Malala now occupies in world history. Long an advocate of fairer treatment of girls and women despite the patriarchal culture of his homeland, teacher Yousafzai encouraged Malala in her own educational and political aspirations. Here, with writer Carpenter, he provides a frank account of the toll this activism took on Malala and the family, particularly after the attack forced their relocation to the UK. Yousafzai reinforces his beliefs that change begins from within and may need to be incremental in nature but credits Malala herself for the extraordinary drive she exhibited even from an early age. Readers seeking further insight into what motivates Malala will find answers in this humble account. VERDICT Yousafzai's gracious acknowledgement of the role of others in helping his daughter launch her astonishing campaign to secure rights for women and girls in Pakistan is both refreshing and inspirational.-Thérèse Purcell Nielsen, Huntington P.L., NY © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Yousafzai, father of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, movingly tells his life story, focusing primarily on his journey from the Swat Mountains of Northwest Pakistan to Birmingham, England to protect his daughter. Rather than tell his own life story from childhood to fatherhood and beyond, Yousafzai divides it into sections focused on relationships: father, sons, wife and best friend, and daughter. This could be somewhat disorienting for readers less familiar with the history of the Taliban or his family's story (particularly the Taliban's attempted murder of Malala and his subsequent activism). The memoir also operates as a letter of fatherly pride to Malala, as well as a description of how she and his wife, Toor Pekai, formed Yousafzai's strong advocacy for women's empowerment and feminism."I only came to know the word feminist after living in the U.K.," he writes. "For more than forty years, I was living that word but not hearing it." Those interested in learning more about Malala's incredible life will be enriched by her father's deeply personal account of courage and perseverance during a life of activism. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.