Review by New York Times Review
it would be fascinating to get Malcolm X's take on the current surge of racial tension in America. At first glance, we seem to have made great strides toward equality since the civil rights movement. We elected Barack Obama, a black man, president. Twice. We almost universally condemn outright racism. But is it possible that racism (most notably against African-Americans) hasn't receded so much as it has evolved and become more refined? "The elegant racist," Ta-Nehisi Coates has written, "knows how to injure nonwhite people while never summoning the specter of white guilt." Housing segregation, for instance, is both devastating and hard to detect. And according to the Sentencing Project, a group that advocates for prison reform, racial minorities are more likely than whites to be arrested, to be convicted and to face stiff sentences. With recent racially charged events like the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in New York City - as well as the rising plea for more representation of minorities in children's literature from the We Need Diverse Books movement - I can't think of a more appropriate time for a book about the early years of Malcolm X. Malcolm's own daughter llyasah Shabazz ("Growing Up X") and Kekla Magoon ("How It Went Down") have written just such a book, choosing, as Shabazz explains in a thorough and thoughtful author's note, to use the novel form as opposed to straight nonfiction for the sake of cohesion and the chance to take a few artistic liberties. "X" follows a teenage Malcolm Little as he escapes Lansing, Mich., and follows a trail that leads him to Boston, then to Harlem, back to Boston, and ultimately to prison after years of crime catch up to him. Not surprisingly, the most interesting journey of the story is the one that takes place inside Malcolm's mind and heart. On his first bus ride out of Michigan, Malcolm sees a black body hanging from a tree near the side of the road. An older black man sitting nearby tries to shield Malcolm's eyes, but Malcolm has already seen it, and his thoughts go directly to his own father, an activist who may have met a similar fate back when Malcolm was just 6. Years later, when Malcolm is in Harlem and committed to his new life as a hustler, he hears Billie Holiday sing "Strange Fruit," that haunting song about lynching. It hits young Malcolm at his core. He sits there in silence long after Holiday has left the stage. But Malcolm isn't quite ready to process the depth of this hurt. Instead of reflecting on his father this time - the fascinating evolution of his relationship with his dead father, incidentally, is one of the book's highlights - he muses: "Got to have some reefer after that. A little whiskey." Skillfully rendered moments like this are what make the novel so successful. Shabazz and Magoon expertly guide the reader by presenting loaded scene after loaded scene, often making us watch young Malcolm choose the wrong path or opt for the buzz of the street over the pull of family and principle. The result is a satisfying (and appropriate) complexity. Malcolm's love for his mother, father and siblings is palpable, even when he's pulling away from them or sabotaging those bonds. THE NOVEL ELUDES any neatly tied bows at the end, as well. Instead of closing with Malcolm well on the way to fame, "X" leaves us with the beginning of his awakening while he was still in prison, where he shows a growing interest in books and converts to Islam (a return to his roots, the novel is careful to point out). In one climactic moment Malcolm reflects, "I am my father's son," and instead of being part of what's wrong with the world, he vows to fight against the wrongness. There are a few minor missteps. The pacing is off in places - in the first third of the book we're unnecessarily yanked back and forth in time - and I longed for more reflective depth from Malcolm, especially given the major historical events taking place around him, like the Great Depression and World War II. Still, "X" is a powerful, honest look at the early years of one of our country's most important civil rights leaders. Most exciting of all is the prospect that his story will awaken a new generation of young activists, inspiring them to step into what remains a vital fight. ? MATT DE LA PEÑA is the author of several novels, including "Mexican WhiteBoy" and, most recently, "The Living," which has just been released in paperback.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [February 1, 2015]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Malcolm X's third daughter collaborates with award winner Magoon (The Rock and the River, 2009) to offer a fictionalized biography of Shabazz's late father, the powerful human rights leader. The authors depict an impoverished childhood of turmoil and trouble marked by the death perhaps the murder of Malcolm's proud father and the forced institutionalization of his mother, followed by the dissolution of the family as Malcolm and five of his seven siblings are placed in foster homes. Shifting backward and forward through time, the story follows Malcolm from his home in Lansing, Michigan, to Boston, where he becomes a self-described creature of the street. Then it's on to drug abuse, getting caught in the numbers racket, and, ultimately, at age 23, landing in prison, where he discovers the Nation of Islam and comes to terms with his father's oft-quoted lines from Marcus Garvey, Up, up, you mighty race; you can accomplish what you will. Shabazz and Magoon bring energy, immediacy, and emotional power to Malcolm's first-person, present-tense voice. Often painfully candid, the authors effectively depict Malcolm's lifetime of racial slurs and casual injustices, symbolized by the image of a lynched man hanging from a tree. It's a satisfyingly complete, never simplistic story of one young man's journey through trouble to the promise of a life of purpose and meaning.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This fictionalized account of the boy who became Malcolm X maintains a suspenseful, poetic grip as it shifts among moments in his life between the years 1930 and 1948. The first-person, present-tense narrative emphasizes the experiences that affected Malcolm from early childhood to his eventual imprisonment. Memories, such as a favorite teacher telling him, "Be as good as you want in the classroom, but out those doors, you're just a nigger," or his sighting of a lynched man, trigger a sense of hopelessness that leads to self-destructive choices. Significant people in Malcolm's life offer different messages: his white lover, Sophia, fears being seen with him, while his siblings believe he has the potential for greatness. Shabazz (Growing Up X), one of Malcolm X's daughters, and Magoon (How It Went Down) capture Malcolm's passion for new experiences, the defeatism that plagued him, and the long-buried hope that eventually reclaimed him. Author notes expand on historical context and the facts behind this compelling coming-of-age story. Ages 14-up. Agent: (for Shabazz) Jason Anthony, Lippincott Massie McQuilkin; (for Magoon) Michelle Humphrey, Martha Kaplan Agency. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up-Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little. The story opens with his departure from Michigan as a teen, though there are flashbacks to his younger years. It follows Malcolm through his time in Boston and Harlem, culminating with his conversion to Islam and his decision to change his name while in prison in 1948. The story does contain some gritty situations, most notably the use of the "n" word, non-graphic sex, drug and alcohol abuse, and criminal behavior. This was the reality of Malcolm X's early life, and make the later scenes that more authentic. While the novel stops prior to his rise as a civil rights leader, the excellent back matter provides historical context, bibliography, time line, family tree, and a note from the author (who is also the third of Malcolm X's five daughters). This is an eye-opening look at an important historical figure. The author's honesty about his early troubles serves to convey that it is possible to rise through adversity to make a positive difference in this world. A worthwhile addition to any collection.-Kristin Anderson, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, OH (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Shabazz, Malcolm Xs third daughter, and YA author Magoon (Fire in the Streets, rev. 9/12; How It Went Down, rev. 11/14) team up to present a vivid, immediate fictionalized portrait of the civil rights activist and the forces that shaped him. Readers are immersed in young Malcolms world, from his fractured and tragic Depression-era childhood in Lansing, Michigan (father killed, mother committed to an asylum, siblings placed in separate foster homes), through his heady teen years in Boston and Harlem (where everythings a hustle, and I got my own hustle now), through his conviction and imprisonment for larceny, ending with his conversion to Islam in his mid-twenties. Thanks to the strength of the intimate first-person voice, readers experience right along with the adolescent Malcolm his thirst for excitement, the seductive siren call of 1940s Roxbury and Harlem street life, his increasingly risky and dangerous choices, and finally his growing awareness of the impact of racism on his and his familys past and on his present and future. In prison: The guard who knocks me down and puts his foot on my facehe didnt build these walls. He didnt invent the word nigger, however well hes learned to throw it. Its all so much bigger, and so built-in. The direct cause-and-effect connection between Malcolms epiphany that he doesnt need to fight Papa anymore and his acceptance of Islam feels imposed, but theres very little else that doesnt ring true in this powerful, compelling work of historical fiction. Extensive back matter includes a bibliography that steers young people toward further reading about Malcolm X and black history. martha v. Parravano (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Teaming with veteran Magoon, the third daughter of Malcolm X draws upon history and family stories to create a novel about her father's life before the "X." Malcolm Little grew up in Lansing, Michigan, during the Great Depression. Though times were hard, Malcolm felt that "when Papa was alive, I believed that I was special." But Papa was murdered, his mother entered a mental institution, and the broken family was scattered among foster homes. The unusual but effective chronology of this completely absorbing novel finds Malcolm frequently looking back from 1945 Harlem to specific years in Lansing, trying to make sense of the segregation he faced, a teacher's dismissal of him as "just a nigger" and his father's legacy. Boston was meant to be a fresh start, but Malcolm soon became "a creature of the street," and the authors' evocation of the street hustler's life is richly gritty indeed. Of course the street catches up to him, and ironically, it's in prison where he begins to remake himself. He becomes a reader, corresponds with Elijah Muhammad and, on the final page, signs a letter to Elijah Muhammad as Malcolm X. The author's note carries Malcolm's story further and discusses the significance of his voice in American history. Readers for whom pre-civil rights America is ancient history will find this poetic interpretation eye-opening and riveting. (notes about characters, timeline, family tree, historical context, bibliography) (Historical fiction. 14 up) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
