Malala Yousafzai signs $3 million book deal

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who survived being shot in the head by the Taliban in October 2012, has signed a book deal worth about $3 million.

Malala Yousafzai, 15, who campaigns for girls’ education, says the memoir is her own story and that of millions of others denied the chance to go to school.

She was shot by a Taliban gunman in her home region of Swat.

Malala Yousafzai and her family now live in the British city of Birmingham where she has been receiving treatment.

The book, titled I am Malala, is scheduled for publication in the autumn.

“I hope the book will reach people around the world, so they realize how difficult it is for some children to get access to education,” she said.

“I want to tell my story, but it will also be the story of 61 million children who can’t get education.

“I want it to be part of the campaign to give every boy and girl the right to go to school. It is their basic right.”

Publishers Weidenfeld and Nicolson say that her memoir will tell what happened on the day she was shot “and the inspiring story of her determination not be intimidated by extremists”.

The book will also be about the schoolgirl’s family, who “gave her remarkable courage”.

Malala Yousafzai writes in the memoir that Tuesday 9 October 2012 was “not the best of days as it was the middle of school exams – though as a bookish girl I don’t mind them as much as my friends do”.

At the time of the attack she was “squashed between friends and teachers on the benches of the open-back truck used as a school bus”.

The gunman walked onto the vehicle and shot her in the face at point-blank range.

Since the shooting and her recovery after treatment in Pakistan and the UK, Malala Yousafzai has received numerous peace awards around the world.

Her father has been appointed a UN educational advisor, and 12 July has been designated by the UN as Malala Day.

The Malala Fund, set up on behalf of her and her family, is dedicated to the education and empowerment of girls in Pakistan and around the world.

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