These are the four inspirational reads for September 2025! If any one of them inspires/interests you, please go check it out!
──── I Am Malala ────
by Malala Yousafzai, with Christina Lamb
“I had decided very early I would not be like that. My father always said, ‘Malala will be free as a bird.’ I dreamed of going to the top of Mount Elum like Alexander the Great to touch Jupiter and even beyond the valley. But, as I watched my brothers running across the roof, flying their kites and skilfully flicking the strings back and forth to cut each other’s down, I wondered how free a daughter could ever be.”
– Malala Yousafzai, ‘A Daughter Is Born’
Genre: Nonfiction | Biography | Memoir
Age Rating: 12+ (mentions of blood, society, war)
Series: Standalone
Malala Yousafzai was born in Pakistan, where gender inequality between men and women took place. Despite these social stereotypes, her parents both supported her education and treated her as an equal to her brothers. Because of this upbringing, she grew into an outspoken and determined young woman, passionate about advocating for women’s rights and their access to education.
Her memoir starts from the stories of her childhood, gradually evolving into where the Taliban takes control of the Swat Valley. Malala starts writing about her life under the Taliban and her efforts to speak out for girls’ education. However, this puts her in grave danger, leading to a life-threatening incident…
──── A Long Walk to Water ────
by Linda Sue Park
“Salva had never been so hungry. He stumbled along, somehow moving one foot ahead of the other, not noticing the ground he walked on or the forest around him or the light in the sky. Nothing was real except his hunger, once a hollow in his stomach but now a deep buzzing pain in every part of him.”
– Salva Dut, ‘Chapter Four, Southern Sudan, 1985’
Genre: Historical Fiction | Young Adult
Age Rating: 10+ (mentions of injury, death, fighting)
Series: Standalone
Salva Dut never knew what could happen, but when the war reached his village, his life was changed forever. And all it resulted in were long walks, empty stomachs, and many eventful encounters with others. Throughout his journey, he struggles with grief while searching helplessly for his family.
Nya has always spent nearly half of her day to walk to a distant pond in order to collect water for her family, a long and exhausting journey. So when strangers arrive in their village, claiming that they can bring clean water closer to their homes, she is doubtful.
At the end of the story, Salva and Nya meet through his well, full of water, hope, and a new beginning.
──── The Thing About Jellyfish ────
by Ali Benjamin
“But of course her words didn’t make sense. There were a million reasons they didn’t. They didn’t make sense because it hadn’t been that long since I’d seen you, and you were as alive as anyone then. Her words didn’t make sense because you were always such a good swimmer, better than I was from the instant we met. They didn’t make sense because the way things ended between us was not the way they were supposed to end. They were not the way anything should ever end.”
– Suzy Swanson, ‘sometimes things just happen’
Genre: Young Adult | Realistic Fiction
Age Rating: 10+ (mentions of emotional loss, grief, coping mechanism)
Series: Standalone
After her best friend Franny Jackson drowned over the summer, seventh grader Suzy Swanson has been trying to cope with all the grief, and undergoes a process of ‘not talking’. During this time, she becomes convinced that a jellyfish sting is what caused Franny’s death, and immerses herself into researching.
Throughout the story, there are flashbacks about Suzy and Franny’s relationship, while Suzy also manages to start healing slowly with time and research, making new friends and eventually adjusting to the loss.
──── Scythe ────
by Neal Shusterman
“It is the most difficult thing a person can be asked to do. And knowing that it is for the greater good doesn’t make it any easier. People used to die naturally. Old age used to be a terminal affliction, not a temporary state.”
– From the gleaning journal of H.S. Curie (after ‘No Dimming of the Sun’)
Genre: Fantasy | Young Adult | Dystopian | Sci-Fi
Age Rating: 13+ (mentions of death, dystopian)
Series: Book 1 of ‘Arc of a Scythe’
The year of 2042 was when humans conquered death, and when ‘the cloud’ evolved into ‘the Thunderhead’. Because the world overflowed with population, people were chosen as scythes to ‘glean’ others based on their profiles and actions.
Citra Terranova and Rowan Damisch never wanted to be scythe apprentices. But after they were set up together by the Honorable Scythe Faraday through a mysterious letter, he took them under his wing, which was an act against the commandment (to have two apprentices).
As their apprenticeship progresses, Citra and Rowan learn tons of new things and build a relationship. But after one fateful night, they are re-apprenticed, respectively, to the Honorable Scythe Curie and the ruthless Scythe Goddard. While Citra adapts to her new mentor and her surroundings, Rowan struggles to learn Scythe Goddard’s extreme methods. Throughout the story, there are difficult choices to make and intense, shocking events at conclaves, but in the end, one becomes ordained, while the other flees after a little ‘accident’.
That’s it! Thank you for reading, and have a nice day/night!
9/1/25 ♡
Sources:
Works Cited
“I Am Malala.” Thuprai, https://thuprai.com/book/i-am-malala/. Accessed 1 September 2025.
“A Long Walk to Water.” TRIPLE CROWN AWARDS, https://www.triplecrownawards.org/books/lamplighter/a-long-walk-to-water. Accessed 1 September 2025.
“Scythe.” Simon & Schuster, https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Scythe/Neal-Shusterman/Arc-of-a-Scythe/9781442472426. Accessed 1 September 2025.
“Thing about Jellyfish.” amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Jellyfish-Turtleback-School-Library-Binding/dp/0606402187. Accessed 1 September 2025.
