NEW YORK – Malala Yousafzai is a bit of a troublemaker.
You may not expect it, given the solemn tone of her public persona. She was only 15 years old when she was shot by the Taliban, targeted for her advocacy for girls’ education. But growing up in Pakistan, she loved adventuring with friends and getting into mischief. By the time she woke up from a coma in a British hospital, she was instead known as the shy, serious and brave face of women’s rights activism. By 17, she became the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Now, the woman who needs no introduction is reintroducing herself again at the age of 28 in her new memoir, “Finding My Way” (out now from Atria Books).
It’s been an “extraordinary journey” to feel like a normal 20-something, Yousafzai tells USA TODAY. She never thought she was allowed to be the funny version of herself. Now she sits our New York studios, cracking jokes about toxic boys and the study motivation memes of her on TikTok.
“I want to introduce the real me, the funny me, the messy me, the sad and the annoying me. All of that is me,” Yousafzai says. “I know that my story has been out there in media in the public for a very long time, and some people still read the old story of a 15-year-old girl being shot by the Taliban, and she's defined as brave and resilient and all of that. But I want the true story to be out there. I still do what I believe, and I still advocate for girls’ rights, but I am a human in the end. I also needed friendships and love and mental health support in my life that all of us need for us to be better in what we want to do.”
