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Shabazz, Ilyasah , Jackson, Tiffany D.

The Awakening of Malcolm X

336 pp. | Farrar | January, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-0-374-31329-6 $17.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-0-374-31331-9 $10.99
(2) YA In 1946, twenty-year-old Malcolm Little, later known as Malcolm X, was sentenced to eight to ten years in prison for a crime set in motion by his white girlfriend. Shabazz (X: A Novel, rev. 5/15; Betty Before X, rev. 3/18) and Jackson (Monday's Not Coming, rev. 7/18; Grown, rev. 9/20) depict his experience in a narrative interspersed with real-life quotes from the activist, fictionalized letters from his family and his then-mentor Elijah Muhammad, and dictionary definitions Malcolm records as he educates himself. Abrupt transitions from warm and empowering dreams and childhood memories (his Garveyite parents raised him to live in "self-love. Self-reliance. Unity") to scenes of inhumane prison life lend themselves to an intensely intimate look into the mind of young Malcolm, where the phrases "Wake up, Malcolm" and "Up, up you mighty race!" are repeated frequently. While an author's note explains that "creative liberties" were taken in this fictionalized retelling, the extensive back matter also includes information about the Nation of Islam, Charlestown State Prison, and the Norfolk Prison Colony, as well as a timeline and reading list.
Reviewer: Eboni Njoku | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2021

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