Finding My Way

Before you opened the book, what was your mental picture of Malala? Tell us what you expected the voice on the page to sound like.

Where did you do most of your reading of this one, and did it turn into a curl-up-with-tea book or a read-in-snatches book?

Malala writes about being far from home and craving the specific comforts of it. What is the food, sound, or smell that instantly means home to you, and when did you last miss it?

So much of this book is about ordinary young-person things (friendships, roommates, figuring out laundry) happening to someone with an extraordinary public life. Which small, ordinary moment made you smile the most?

Her family is a constant warm presence across distance. What did the way she writes about her parents and brothers stir up for you about your own family?

There is real humor woven through a serious life. Was there a line or moment that made you laugh out loud, and did that surprise you?

Carrying other people's expectations is a quiet weight in this book. When have you felt the pull between who people needed you to be and who you were actually becoming, and what helped you breathe?

Without giving anything away, by the final pages Malala sounds different from the person who started the book. What shift did you feel in her, and did it leave you feeling comforted, hopeful, or something else?