Ilyasah Shabazz

Apassion for social justice blossoms during the middle school years for the girl who grew up to become Dr. Betty Shabazz.

Loved but unwanted by her mother, 11-year-old Betty finds solace in friends and church. In 1945 Detroit, Betty’s African-American church community is a hub for activism in the face of Jim Crow racism, police brutality, and economic inequality. With renowned guests such as Thurgood Marshall and Paul Robeson coming to speak and perform, Betty and her friends are swept up in the fervor and demand for social justice that would become a movement. They volunteer for the Housewives’ League, a group that encourages the community to give its dollars to black-owned and -employing businesses. But the movement is also personal for Betty, who struggles to find her place in a world that treats brown-skinned black girls as lesser—less beautiful, less worthy, less deserving. Authored by her daughter Ilyasah Shabazz in collaboration with Watson, this moving fictional account of the early life of the late civil rights leader and widow of Malcolm X draws on the recollections of family and friends. The result is a heart-rending imagining of Shabazz’s personal challenges as well as a rare, intimate look at the complex roots of the American civil rights movement.

A personal, political, and powerful imagining of the early life of the late activist . (Historical fiction. 10-14)

-Kirkus Review… (mere)

STORY:

"'Maybe,' he says. 'If the world was fair. As it is, we got to look out for each other.' He looks at me slant, not smiling, but clearly tempted to. 'If you came from somewhere, you might know that'" (pg 48).

In X by Ilyash Shabazz (348 pages), There's not much I can say about this book without rambling, but I absolutely adored Malcolm's narrative. I just loved it. I could spread it on thick on whole-grain bread and have a sandwich it's that good. I hadn't expected Malcolm's previous girlfriends to have such a large focus, and I was mad disappointed to not read anything about Betty but I somewhat understand why.

Now, I knew about Malcolm X's adult life, but nothing about his younger years. This was also a fictional retelling of his story, so I'm not sure what parts are fictional or not.

OVERALL:
I adored the first half of the book, though I liked the last half a lot less (I just did not care about Sophia, Sammy, and West Indian Archie).… (mere)