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"I Am Malala" by Malala Yousafzai, Part Three

Thu Jul 23 10:53:20 EDT 2015
By Vocabulary.com (NY)Visual Thesaurus Moderator
An ordinary Pakistani girl is shot by the Taliban while fighting for her right to an education. Co-written with Patricia McCormick, in this memoir, Malala Yousafzai, the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, tells her story.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Prologue–Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four–Epilogue
waver
Day or night, my father’s courage never seemed to waver, despite receiving threatening letters as well as warnings from concerned friends.
pronouncement
“After the fifteenth of January, no girl, whether big or little, shall go to school. Otherwise, you know what we can do. And the parents and the school principal will be responsible.”
That was the news that came over Radio Mullah in late December 2008. At first, I thought it was just one of his crazy pronouncements.
correspondent
I had never written a diary before and didn’t know how to begin, so the BBC correspondent said he would help me.
pseudonym
I didn’t want to change my name, but he was worried about my safety. That is why he chose a pseudonym for me: Gul Makai, which means “cornflower” and is the name of a heroine in a Pashtun folk story.
preoccupied
And I suppose I have to admit that I’m a lot like all those people who were so preoccupied with my appearance. I suddenly noticed all kinds of things about my looks — things that had never much bothered me before.
significant
The boys’ school would reopen after the winter holiday, but the closing of the girls’ school meant a significant loss of income, which he needed to pay teachers their salaries and the rents for the buildings.
elated
When I got to school that morning, I was more elated than ever to walk through the gate.
relent
Best of all, the Taliban had relented on the question of girls’ schools. Even older girls could return to school.
accost
The Latin noun "costa" originally meant "rib, side" and later expanded to refer to a coast or shore. The verb "accostare" means "come up to the side" and originally described the approach of enemy warships. This menacing overtone is seen in the example sentence. When the muscular Talib blocked her way to speak, his words were, "I could beat you, you know, for leaving your home without the proper burqa."
One day, when my mother went to the market to buy a gift for my cousin’s wedding, a big, burly Talib accosted her and blocked her way.
plight
The New York Times documentary had aired and brought even more attention to the plight of girls in Swat, and we started receiving messages of support from people all over the world.
exodus
Few people knew where they were going; they just knew they had to leave. Two million people were fleeing their homes. It was the biggest exodus in Pashtun history.
intact
The building across the street had been hit by a missile, but, miraculously, the school was intact.
torrential
The summer of 2010 brought torrential rains — a monsoon that flooded the valley, sweeping away everything in its wake.
futile
I tried to tell myself this terrible letter was just the futile and parting shot of a defeated Taliban.
advocacy
I could scarcely believe what it said: I had been nominated for the international peace prize of Kids Rights, a children’s advocacy group based in Amsterdam.

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