Elena Munk's Blog ASTU 100

The jacket design for Malala Yousafzai’s I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up For Education And Was Shot By The Taliban, is very powerful in it’s use of imagery. On the areas first visible to a potential reader, it includes two photos (front and back cover) with simple writing stating the title and authors. Most striking is the back cover which is typically dedicated to book reviews or a summary, but it is a picture of Malala and her father. In fact, no book reviews are included in the peritext of the book, the summary, however, is located on one of the inner flaps. It is possible the book reviews are excluded because the photo of Malala and her father pay greater tribute to the book than any review could. The picture is so effective because in the simplest sense as a reader who is viewing the book for the first time, it piques interest. While it could be assumed that he is Malala’s father his presence raises questions like what significance does he have? After reading the book, the decision in including him on the cover, reinforces the positive influence Malala describes him to have in her life throughout her writing (Yousafzai).  The specific picture and posing chosen reflects Malala’s admiration of her father for encouraging, supporting and advocating for her education, in addition to many other girls (Yousafzai). His proud smile and arm around Malala display his happiness over her work, the photo in general is charming. The picture would aid in sales because readers want to see the person behind the book and showcasing their (Malala and her father) relationship confirms what she has written.

Besides the covering, a particularly unique part of the peritext was that “A Note on the Malala Fund” was included after the acknowledgements (327). It talks about her hopes for education, mainly for girls and includes a link to the website (327). This page advertises her fund, but also showcases how she truly cares for the issues she has advocated for and despite setbacks, she will continue to work towards improving world education (327). As it is written in the first person, it seems like Malala chose to include this page in her book, which strengthens the reader’s opinion of her character. As well, that the book is not only about her personal struggles, but focuses on a larger purpose. Overall, the back jacket design and fund page are used to show Malala as a human being, who, regardless of being attacked, is still fighting for her beliefs (Yousafzai). They also expose two valuable aspects of her life-her father (and family) and her fund. These forms of advertisement portray Malala as ‘strong’ and ‘caring’ because her story while inspirational also features her as a past target (Yousafzai). She must be seen as confident, so the reader can then rally behind her.

Works Cited:

Yousafzai, Malala and Christina Lamb. I am Malala The Girl Who Stood Up For Education And Was Shot By The Taliban. Little Brown and Company, 2013. Print.