The Awakening of Malcolm X
A Novel
Square Fish · Print & ebook · January 3, 2023
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- Who it’s for
- A prison-era coming-of-age story brings questions of race, faith, politics, and justice into close focus.
- Themes
- Race, politics, religion, and justice, Prison reform, Civil rights
- Pacing
- Steady
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Start with this bookAbout this book
The Awakening of Malcolm X is a powerful narrative account of the activist's adolescent years in jail, written by his daughter Ilyasah Shabazz along with 2019 Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe award-winning author, Tiffany D. Jackson. No one can be at peace until he has his freedom. In Charlestown Prison, Malcolm Little struggles with the weight of his past. Plagued by nightmares, Malcolm drifts through days, unsure of his future.
Continue reading
Slowly, he befriends other prisoners and writes to his family. He reads all the books in the prison library, joins the debate team and the Nation of Islam. Malcolm grapples with race, politics, religion, and justice in the 1940s. And as his time in jail comes to an end, he begins to awaken -- emerging from prison more than just Malcolm Little: Now, he is Malcolm X. Here is an intimate look at Malcolm X's young adult years. While this book chronologically follows X: A Novel, it can be read as a stand-alone historical novel that invites larger discussions on black power, prison reform, and civil rights.
Ideas Under Pressure
A prison-era coming-of-age story brings questions of race, faith, politics, and justice into close focus.
Come here for
- Malcolm X’s formative years, told as an intimate historical novel
- A character’s changing outlook shaped by reading, debate, and connection
Expect
- Serious reflection on freedom, civil rights, and prison reform
- A sustained narrative rooted in Malcolm X’s young adult years
Where it sits
| African American YA | 99% |
|---|---|
| 20th-Century US YA | 57% |
| Prejudice & Racism for Teens | 55% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- 20th-Century US YA
- African American YA
- Prejudice & Racism for Teens
- Authors
- Ilyasah Shabazz, Tiffany D. Jackson
- Publisher
- Square Fish
- Published
- January 3, 2023
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Race, politics, religion, and justice · Prison reform · Civil rights
- Reading lane
- 20th-Century US YA