My mother was worried about me, but the Taliban had never come for a girl and I was more concerned they would target my father, as he was always speaking out against them.
-- Malala (Prologue paragraph 13)

Importance: Malala is introducing herself and her family to the reader. This is the first time she says that she never expected the Taliban to attack her, but she repeats that throughout the book though she admits to being threatened and sometimes being afraid. Malala also talks about her own message, that girls have a right to education. She says that she can’t believe that anyone would find a threat in that.

I was a girl in a land where rifles are fired in celebration of a son, while daughters are hidden away behind a curtain, their role in life simply to prepare food and give birth to children.
-- Malala (Chapter 1 paragraph 1)

Importance: Malala is explaining that girls are not revered...