Publisher Description

Malcolm X lived in difficult times - when some thought that black people were inferior to white people. But Malcolm believed that black people should stand up for their rights and he preached this belief everywhere he went. His message became popular because it was one of hope and pride. But it also became dangerous, because some people didn't agree with him. In 1965, one of these people shot and killed him. Even though his life was cut short by hatred, Malcolm X's ideas still affect people of all races. Here is his amazing story.An ALA Notable Children's Book

Author Biography

Arnold Adoff has written over twenty-five books of poetry for young readers, including "Slow Dance Heartbreak Blues, " illustrated by William Cotton; and "Street Music: City Poems, " illustrated by Karen Barbour, both of which are available at your local library. He is the author of "Malcolm X, " illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez, and has also edited" The Poetry of Black America. "He has received the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children, and his trademark "shaped speech" writing style and his rhythmic poems have made him one of the most renowned children's poets of our time. Mr. A

Review

"This honest book introduces young readers to a remarkable man."-- "The New York Times Book Review""An honest, clear, unsentimental picture of a complex and remarkable black leader."-- "The Chicago Tribune"

Kirkus US Review

In effect a precis of The Autobiography, and as such potent: no one can evade the implications of the Klan attack on the Reverend Little's house shortly before Malcolm was born; of his father's accidental(?) death and his mother's committal to a State Hospital; of his stay in a detention home, treated kindly but condescendingly; of English teacher Ostrowski's advice to a top student to study carpentry. "He began to change inside" - and in practice sold marijuana, hustled for white gangsters and robbed apartments, served an extra-long term, embittered and destructive ("Satan") until he discovered books. "Malcolm read most about the life of the black man in Africa and America," and, through his brother, made contact with the Muslims. The course of his public career is specified, and what he preached: "that blacks must not let white people keep them from living as freely as other Americans." When he left the Nation of Islam, after his pilgrimage to Mecca, "he wanted to lead a movement in America of black Christians as well as Muslims." Whites Malcolm condemned not for their color "but for their deeds." "Today Malcolm X is loved every place that black people live." The resentment of "some Muslims" lead to threats, a firebomb, assassination. As an aggregate, this is a fair - meaning just - representation of Malcolm's achievement and beliefs minus the substantiation and reflection of The Autobiography. And to that extent more polemical in effect, although it is hard to see, today, how else Malcolm could be presented, even to young children, without being emasculated. (Kirkus Reviews)

Description for Library

This clearly written biography reflects the intense drama of the African American leader's life & death.

Details