As a fourteen-year-old, he was Malcolm Little, the president of his class and a top student. At sixteen, he was hustling tips at a Boston nightclub. In Harlem, he was known as Detroit Red, a slick street operator. At nineteen, he was back in Boston, leading a gang of burglars. At twenty, he was in prison. It was in prison that Malcolm Little started the journey that would lead him to adopt the name Malcolm X, and there he developed his beliefs about what being black means in America—beliefs that shook America then and still shake America today. Walter Dean Myers' classic biography sheds light on a black man whose beliefs changed America.
1 of 1 copy available
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Creators
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Publisher
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Awards
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Release date
December 1, 2012 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780792793311
- File size: 124873 KB
- Duration: 04:20:09
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Languages
- English
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Levels
- Lexile® Measure: 1050
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Reviews
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JD Jackson's narration of this 1994 biography has the understated assuredness of a master and keeps the focus on Walter Dean Myers's beautiful text. Occasionally, Jackson's voice resonates with pain, as it does during the tragedies of Malcolm's childhood. Overall, Jackson's voice is like a steady wind steering the story on a perfectly charted course. The text doesn't shy away from the controversial or painful truths surrounding the civil rights leader. It asserts the validity of anger in the face of oppression without romanticizing it. Likewise, it deals with the comparisons made between Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X by digging deeper into the larger dialogue within the struggle for civil rights and showing the two leaders' different perspectives to be parts of a larger whole. A.M.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine -
December 29, 1997
" seamlessly fuse historical notes on the era with the activist's story... carefully researched portrait of a deeply devoted individual," said PW in a starred review. Age 10-up. -
January 4, 1993
In his preface, Newbery Honor book author Myers ( Scorpions ; Fallen Angels ) notes that Malcolm X's pivotal impact on the civil rights movement of the '60s was the result of his distinctive, dramatic approach: ``It was Malcolm's anger, his biting wit, his dedication, that put the hard edge on the movement, that provided the other side of the sword, not the handle of acceptance and nonviolence, but the blade.'' Appropriately, it is with incisive, precise prose that the author chronicles the labyrinthine path of Malcolm's life, from his 1925 birth in Omaha to his assassination in Harlem 40 years later. Seamlessly fusing historical notes on the era with the activist's story, Myers tells of Malcolm's childhood, which was greatly influenced by his father, a disciple of Marcus Garvey; his life as a youth on the streets of Harlem and Boston, where he was convicted of burglary; his self-education while imprisoned for more than six years; his crucial role in and eventual split from the Nation of Islam; and his pilgrimage to Mecca, which inspired his Organization of Afro-American Unity, established ``to unify Africans on an international basis.'' The inclusion of quotations from Malcolm X's eloquent autobiography brings an added dimension to Myers's account and successfully rounds out this carefully researched portrait of a deeply devoted individual. Ages 10-up. -
January 4, 1999
In a starred review, PW admired this "carefully researched biography," which, "with incisive, precise prose... chronicles the labyrinthine path of Malcolm's life." Ages 10-13. (Jan.) r -
January 12, 2004
In this excellent picture-book biography, Myers focuses on the challenging childhood of Malcolm Little, who would grow up to be Malcolm X, and draws upon the man's own words to illustrate his leadership qualities. Jenkins's lifelike portraits and often clashing color combinations effectively convey the unrest of the man and his times. Ages 5-8.
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