Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Awakening of Malcolm X

CWs: racial slurs, racism, mistreatment of prisoners, violence, drugs

This is a historically accurate (with some fictionalized elements) portrayal of Malcolm X's young adult life , specifically the period he spent in prison. During this time, he is introduced to the Nation of Islam through his family, and we follow him as he initially dismisses the religion they have joined, but is slowly drawn to Islam through his brothers and Elijah Muhammad.

The warden stands off to the side of the mess hall and cats become real quiet. One wrong move and he’ll throw all of us in the hole without a single care. Mack’s voice creeps in my head, and I try not to compare him to a plantation owner. We’re not slaves, but it’s hard to imagine this place as anything less than that type of hell. How does one live his life desiring to terrorize another?

The way prisoners, especially Black prisoners, were and still are treated is frankly depicted here, and it's even though it's horrible to read about, it's important to be aware of the structural racism within the prison system in the US.

I only know the barebones of Malcolm's history, so most of this was new to me and a very interesting read. Even though his relationship with Elijah Muhammad is still going strong by the end, we're already given hints that all is not well within the Nation of Islam. I also have to say I didn't know much about what the NoI entailed before reading this, and I'm definitely curious to find out more.

I really like this format, where we get to see the important events happen as they actually played out, but with a fictional narrative spun around it. It's a great way to learn more about history, and while I'm not sure I'm interested in the book that precedes this one, I do hope the authors continue to write about Malcolm's journey.

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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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tinytrashqueen's review against another edition

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challenging informative inspiring slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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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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ballgownsandbooks's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Thank you to Fierce Reads and Colored Pages Tours for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Malcolm X has always been a hero of mine: I read his autobiography when I was eleven, and again at sixteen, and I’ve always looked up to his incredible strength and determination. So I was absolutely thrilled that Colored Pages Book Tours have given me the opportunity to review this, a YA novelisation covering just his years in prison, the period of his life where he learned to be both Muslim and activist.

The first half of the book is incredibly tough to read. The bleak hopelessness of young Malcolm’s first few years in prison, interwoven with the utter dissoluteness of his earlier Harlem life (shown in a series of flashbacks as he dreams of the events that have led him here) are absolutely devastating, particularly knowing what he was capable of and what he would eventually become. All credit to Shabazz and Jackson’s writing: his emotions – guilt and anger and helplessness – are just suffocating.

A particularly visceral scene is one in which Malcolm chemically straightens his hair, fully in the knowledge that it will burn his scalp. The water pipes in his family’s Michigan home are frozen, leaving him unable to wash out the lye; his only option is to wash his hair in the toilet, and the moment is such a symbol of the degradation and pain that Black people have endured in an attempt to be accepted by white people.

But the second half of the book, once he finds Islam and starts learning about the oppression of Black people (his ‘awakening’, if you will), was… nothing short of glorious. The Nation of Islam was wrong about a lot of things (as X would come to realise in later life), but this book mainly focuses on the aspects of it that did align with true Islam, particularly prayer. Seeing his twin journeys towards connecting with God, and learning about the systematic oppression of Black people, was so powerful and inspiring.

Malcolm is resistant to Islam at first, and it’s desperation and hopelessness that ultimately drives him to start learning about it. His impatience to find out everything, learn the ritual prayers, practice as perfectly as he can, is almost childlike in its innocence and eagerness, and truly just made my heart so happy.

For him, spreading Islam within the Black community was one and the same with his anti-racist activism, and though he’d started re-learning to read before accepting Islam, it’s his acceptance of religion that turbocharges his drive to learn about Black history and racism. Really the main focus of the book is the fact that Black people descend from a lineage of incredibly rich and developed society in Africa, and the ways in which American society is set up so as to deliberately and systematically oppress Black people. Both points are reiterated over and over, but it never feels repetitive and it hits every time (and besides, given that the target audience is young YA, for whom this could well be their first introduction to structural racism in so many words, I think the approach of really driving it home absolutely works!).

I absolutely loved the messages of this book, and the way it depicted Malcolm’s thoughts and emotions in such an accessible and vivid way, and I can’t wait for more people to read it!

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