Malcolm Little

October 28, 2013
Shabazz (Growing Up X) pays affectionate tribute to her father, Malcolm X, and his parents in this account of the activist’s childhood, which relies on family lore to reimagine Malcolm’s conversations and thoughts. The dense narrative mixes down-to-earth observations (Malcolm “was full of questions, a natural leader, and a fun-loving prankster”) with sometimes protracted metaphors; among the lessons Malcolm learned from his mother’s garden was that it “was an entire world of its own, where even the most sluggish of ladybugs and the fastest scurrying ants were all equally treated like esteemed and welcomed guests at a family Sunday brunch.” What Shabazz relays more precisely is Malcolm’s resolve to succeed and remain true to his parents’ values after he loses his father “to the brute force of racism and the narrow-mindedness of the Ku Klux Klan,” and his mother is deemed “no longer fit to care for her children.” Ford’s (My Daddy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) oil paintings render joyous and desolate moments with equal skill. Ages 5–10. Author’s agent: Jason Anthony, Lippincott Massie McQuilkin. Illustrator’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

November 1, 2013
The childhood of the controversial African-American activist was shaped by parental love and white racism. Writing with the fervor and intensity of a motivational speaker, Shabazz recounts her father's early years, which were filled with the loving support and teachings of his parents as well as the hate and destruction of the Ku Klux Klan. His mother nurtured a love of learning and nature, and his father--a follower of Marcus Garvey--taught him self-pride before being murdered by the KKK. Shabazz concentrates her lengthy text on her father's youth; she writes about his racist English teacher but does not mention his imprisonment, work for Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam or conversion to Islam anywhere in the text or in her three-page author's note. With the passion of a preacher, she celebrates love, respect, tolerance and education without restraint, producing an overwritten text laced with an excess of flowery images. In a description of the garden that Malcolm's mother shared with her children, she writes that it "was a testament to true and unconditional brotherhood from the earth on up to the sky, a daily lesson in acceptance and equality." Ford's oil paintings, framed on the page, are lush and filled with detail. A daughter's proud but overwrought tribute to her father and his parents. (Picture book/ biography. 7-10)

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January 1, 2014

Gr 4-7-The author of this handsome, inspirational offering is Malcolm X's daughter-an educator, activist, and motivational speaker. Though the book does provide anecdotes from the subject's childhood, it is largely the story of Malcolm's parents, Earl and Louise Little, and how they helped shape their son's character and ideology. His mother was part of the Marcus Garvey movement and was dedicated to the idea of international freedom and equality. His father was an impassioned speaker: "his words had the power to move people, to make them laugh, cry, feel, and think." At the age of four, Malcolm and his family watched their house burn at the hands of people who disagreed with the family's beliefs. While young Malcolm is described as a mischievous prankster from a large, close-knit family, the haunting fire and traumatic events that followed left him "sad, lonely confused...broken." Still, Malcolm's story ends triumphantly in the seventh grade when he, the only African American at school, is elected class president. Ford's oil paintings are accomplished and historically accurate; images of the Littles courting and Earl preaching are painterly and realistic while images of the Little children are more stylized. Dense pages of text make this offering more suitable for upper-elementary or middle-school students.-Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools

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