I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali

‘Compared to dreams, reality can be truly cruel. But it can also come up with beautiful surprises.’

I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced is a real life story about Nujood Ali. She was a ten year old girl living in Yemen, a country in the Middle East. The quote above sums up what the whole book is about. Nujood had so many dreams; seeing the ocean, learning how to read and having a better life. However, her reality is completely different. When she was only 10, her father forced her into marrying a guy three times her age! Because of this, Nujood had to leave school and her family to live with him. She then suffered physical, emotional and sexual abuse from her husband every single day. A few weeks after her marriage, she ran away and went to the court. Although child marriage is common in Yemen, she was one of the first to file for divorce. After a long time, she finally managed to get divorced and go back to school.

This book opened my eyes to the horrible things that happen in this world. The worst part is that this is a real story and is common in Yemen as well as some other countries. Nujood is so brave and inspirational and has encouraged other girls to speak out if they are going through the same problems. 

At first, I thought that this book was confusing because it changes time from before her marriage to the courtroom a few times in the book. It was written in 1^st person and you can see how Nujood changes from an innocent, little girl to mature and courageous throughout the book. She constantly refers to her husband as he or 'the monster' because that is how she sees him and, in my opinion, that’s what he is; nothing more than a cruel, horrible person. Even though, she has suffered so much, she is still just a little girl. We are reminded of this when she finally gets divorced and says, ‘I’d like some new toys! I feel like eating chocolate and cakes!’

The book finishes in a happy way, saying that she goes to school and feels like a normal schoolgirl. However, the story doesn't stop there. I researched more about her on the Internet and unfortunately things soon turned bad again. The money earned from the book was supposed to pay for Nujood’s education and help her become a lawyer. Instead, her father stole the money and got married to another two women and sold her younger sister to a man twice her age. How could someone be so greedy and cold hearted? After all she has been through; her father doesn't care about anything except for the money. It is sad to think that at the end of the book she was so happy, but that was quickly stolen away from her by her malevolent father.

This is a life-changing story that truly broke my heart to read. I wish life was like fairytales, always ending in a happy way. However, Nujood is only 15 years old and there is still a lot of time for good things to happen to her. I hope she follows her ambition to become a lawyer because I know she is a very strong and determined girl. She has changed the life of others by encouraging girls to be brave like she was and never be afraid of speaking out about their problems.