I have just finished reading the book 'I Am Malala' by Malala Yousafzai. It was a great book and very inspirational. She is a very accomplished woman already at the age of 17. She is taught by everyone around her to only aspire to be the perfect wife and mother. Only by her family and some close friends is she told to aspire to the perfect her. That means to strive for whatever ambitions she wanted, even if people try to shoot down her ideas. Later, she finds out that people would literally shoot her down. She has been an avid supporter of women's rights for a long time. Before she was noticed by the rest of the world, she had to voice her opinion, but in a way that she could protect herself from the Taliban. After she recovered from being shot, she came back stronger and more passionate than ever before. Also now with the rest of the world watching she could make an even bigger difference for her people, and women everywhere without proper rights. 

   Malala Yousafzai is now known as a staple for women's and children's rights. She still voices her opinion even after she was shot by the Taliban. She is a strong, inspiring woman. She, at 17, has won the Nobel Peace Prize. She is the youngest person to ever win it. In her speech she explains how the award isn't only for her, but for the women and children who didn't have a voice. This link is to her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmqF9Y2Yq1U

I am currently reading 'If I stay' by Gayle Forman. I am reminded of 'The Fault in Our Stars' when I read this book. I feel like I have been let into someones life story when I read these books. I feel like I am in their head knowing what they think about things before you hear what they say about things definitely gives you insight. Hazel and Mia also have a lot of the same traits. They are both very grown up, knowing how to take in their surroundings. They were both forced into the situations they are in causing them to grow up faster than their peers. Hazel has lung and thyroid cancer, while Mia is in a coma having to make the decision to live or die. They are both strong, female protagonists. In each of their stories, Mia and Hazel find ways to come out on top, defeat their demons. The books also have similarities. The tone of each book is undeniably known by each reader right when they read the summary. The tone is realistic with ups and downs, just like life. In 'The Fault in Our Stars' Hazel's dose of the harsh real world, is having her life revolving around the fact that she has cancer. Hazel doesn't let the fact that she has cancer stop her from making her own adventures. She finds Augustus and they fall into their own real life daydream together. In 'If I Stay' Mia is in a coma fighting with herself, deciding if life is even what she wants anymore. She goes through her life, her happiest moments, and her saddest, to see what she really truly wants. Even after loosing her parents she remains strong, deciding her fate. 

   At the moment I am reading the book 'If I Stay' by Gayle Forman. I have a promise with myself that if a book I have been hearing about but haven't read yet, gets turned into a movie that I have to read the book first. It is true when people say the book is better than the movie, so why cheat myself out of half of it? In the book I am at the part where Mia is describing how she and her friend Kim became friends. I see how it will affect me, when I finish the book, seeing her life story and then she just has a choice about whether it keeps going, or if it stops dead in it's tracks. I am only in the beginning of the book, but she has a lot of things going for her. I don't understand why she would want to give up everything she has worked so hard for. I can see how she doesn't want to have to move on from her parents, but I don't think she could make her decision based on only what she has thought about in the pages I have read. The cello is a huge part of her life so I decided to try reading this book while listening to the cello. I do understand when she says "There is something so human and expressive about it." I agree, the music from the cello sounds almost human, like it has emotions. I had almost felt like I was completely surrounded by someone telling me a story.

   This week I started reading 'Wicked' by Gregory Maguire. I had seen the musical before so that is what made me pick up this book when I saw it. I hadn't known that the musical was based off of a book. I was intrigued at first because I though it was the musical straight into a book, but it was actually the original version of the story 'Wicked'.  I got excited, I wanted to see if the two versions of the story were different. I read about a quarter of the book and I had to put it away. I expected a great story that was thrilling and witty. All I got were large words and a story that put me to sleep. Even the parts that were supposed to be exciting, were boring. I don't think that this book is meant for the younger ages but it still doesn't seem like it would interest anyone. The first word that comes to mind when I think of this book is dull. The wording makes it hard to understand at times and sound like it was written 100 years ago. I still love the musical, but the book kind of disappointed me because I thought that I wasn't going to want to put the book down, but that was all I wanted to do. I don't want to put the book in a terrible place though. I still think the musical is wonderful, and it's story line was derived from the book, so it can't be completely awful. I still wouldn't recommend this book to read.