Winner of the 2016 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for Youth/TeensA 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
Cowritten by Malcolm X’s daughter, this riveting and revealing novel follows the formative years of the man whose words and actions shook the world.
Malcolm Little’s parents have always told him that he can achieve anything, but from what he can tell, that’s a pack of lies—after all, his father’s been murdered, his mother’s been taken away, and his dreams of becoming a lawyer have gotten him laughed out of school. There’s no point in trying, he figures, and lured by the nightlife of Boston and New York, he escapes into a world of fancy suits, jazz, girls, and reefer. But Malcolm’s efforts to leave the past behind lead him into increasingly dangerous territory. Deep down, he knows that the freedom he’s found is only an illusion—and that he can’t run forever.
X follows Malcolm from his childhood to his imprisonment for theft at age twenty, when he found the faith that would lead him to forge a new path and command a voice that still resonates today.
Ilyasah Shabazz, third daughter of Malcolm X, is an activist, community organizer, motivational speaker, and the author of Growing Up X, for which she received an NAACP Image Award nomination. She says, “My father and I both lost our fathers to assassination at an early age, but my father’s voice, his beliefs, and his lessons remained a vital part of my childhood. I consider it an honor and a privilege to tell the story of his life and work.”
Kekla Magoon is the author of several young adult novels, including The Rock and the River, for which she received the 2010 Coretta Scott King—John Steptoe New Talent Author Award and an NAACP Image Award nomination. Kekla Magoon lives in New York City.
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