Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Awakening of Malcolm X by Tiffany D. Jackson, Ilyasah Shabazz

5 reviews

laurenb1917's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This book gave us insight into Malcolm X in a way many other books have not.
Written by his own daughter, this follows his younger years, the time before he became the Malcolm we know. The book actually ended with him dropping his family name Little and officially going by Malcolm X.
This is one of those books that everyone should read to understand 1) how horrible the prison system is, 2) how deeply ingrained racism is in both black and white people, and 3) that even power houses like Malcolm X have to start somewhere.
It was a quick read for me on audio - highly recommend it that way.
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yeojinqueen's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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decklededgess's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

trigger warnings: incarceration, assassination, forced institutionalization, racism, physical violence, grief, death of parent, medical trauma, police brutality

This was a slow build book. I was very confused and disoriented by the switching timelines early on because I did this in audio but once I caught on, I was hooked. As someone who is only familiar with Malcolm X through what I have learnt in recent anti racist research, this was a great starting point for me to start digging into his writings more and more. 

I thought this was a really great piece of work to introduce high school kids to Malcolm X outside of the "he was violent" narrative that the education system pushes and has pushed for decades. I hope this book gets integrated into curriculum asap so that kids can start seeing history through a more antiracist lens.
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thetealdeal's review against another edition

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4.5

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sidbookreviews's review

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challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The Awakening of Malcolm X is an impactful and reflective historical fiction book that I think did an amazing job of exploring the (fictionalized) thoughts and transformation of Malcolm X during his years in prison. The writing in this book is especially moving and perfectly conveys the full range of emotions, from the atrocities of prison to the spiritual awakening. I also loved the Malcolm X quotes at the start of each chapter, which I think really tied the specific chapters to Malcolm X's later work. This book is certainly sure to leave readers of all ages inspired, curious and eager to further explore Malcolm X's work! I highly recommend this one!

Full review to come on my blog.
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