X: A Novel

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - North Yarmouth Academy, Yarmouth, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: March 7, 2016

Review

Co-written by Shabazz, Malcolm X's daughter, and Kekla Magoon, this YA novel pulls no punches. Drawing from biographical sources of Malcolm's childhood and pre-jail life, the book presents a picture of the revolutionary as a confused, angry, sometimes desperate, and mostly disillusioned gangster in his teens and early adulthood. Flashbacks to his childhood in Lansing, MI depict a heart-wrenching story of loss, first his father at the hands of an "accident" by white townspeople, and then of his mother to a system that found it all-too-easy to declare her mentally unstable to raise her 7 children alone. Determined to succeed, Malcolm escapes MI for Boston where he stays with his half-sister and connects with some smooth-talking, two-bit hoodlums. Malcolm is drawn to the life and music of black Roxbury though he starts to see the cracks in the social order when he steps outside of the insular neighborhood. The book follows him through Boston, to Harlem in NY, and back to Boston, where he is eventually arrested for breaking-and-entering and selling stolen merchandise and sent to jail. Malcolm has to face the harsh reality of being black in America and he must reconcile the early lessons of his parents that he is valuable and that African Americans have worth with the bigotry, racism, and violence he sees and experiences first-hand. This book uses the n-word frequently, and mentions non-graphic sexual situations and drug use. A gut-wrenching look at the treatment of blacks in America in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s (which begs the question is it better today?), and a brilliantly recreated telling of the early days of Malcolm X. The book ends with his conversion to the Nation of Islam and includes historical notes at the end that are well-worth reading. This book should be in every collection that serves YA audiences and adults who will read a YA book.

Recommend for Cream

Overall Book Score: excellent