We Are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls around the World by Malala Yousafzai (review)

In this collection of personal narratives, including her own, activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Yousafzai aims to tell the human stories behind the staggering statistics on refugees, emphasizing that a person fleeing violence or war in their country also leaves behind a home and the life they had built there. Yousafzai tells of her own displacement in the first section, forgoing the details of the assassination attempt on her life in 2012 and instead relaying how deeply painful it was to watch her home fall to violence and war, even before she became a target for the Taliban. She then introduces readers to nine girls and women, all of whom have been displaced in some way, from countries ranging from Yemen to the Democratic Republic of Congo to Colombia, all with tales of devastating trauma and undeniable strength. It’s the small, personal details that truly humanize their experience—Malala’s brother is grief stricken upon finding their baby chickens dead when they return home; Yemeni sisters Zaynab and Sabreen FaceTime while Sabreen waits to be granted a visa to the U.S.; Guatemalan Analisa recalls seeing crocodiles slip into the river that she crossed to reach the Guatemala/Mexico border. This is a snapshot of the refugee experience, as these girls and women reckon with finding themselves in a future they never saw for themselves and grieving a home that would not keep them safe. The bios in the back show that the contributors flourished despite their trauma, and a few resources are provided for readers who would like to learn and do more about the refugee crisis.