X: A Novel

A 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book

Cowritten by Malcolm X's daughter, this riveting and revealing novel follows the formative years of the man whose words and actions shook the world.

Malcolm Little's parents have always told him that he can achieve anything, but from what he can tell, that's a pack of lies--after all, his father's been murdered, his mother's been taken away, and his dreams of becoming a lawyer have gotten him laughed out of school. There's no point in trying, he figures, and lured by the nightlife of Boston and New York, he escapes into a world of fancy suits, jazz, girls, and reefer. But Malcolm's efforts to leave the past behind lead him into increasingly dangerous territory. Deep down, he knows that the freedom he's found is only an illusion--and that he can't run forever.

X follows Malcolm from his childhood to his imprisonment for theft at age twenty, when he found the faith that would lead him to forge a new path and command a voice that still resonates today.

Author: Ilyasah Shabazz, Kekla Magoon
Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
Published: 01/06/2015
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 8.80h x 6.20w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9780763669676
Audience: Young Adult

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4
Point Value: 11
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 170999 / X: A Novel


Award: National Book Awards - Nominee
Award: Tayshas Reading - Commended
Award: Coretta Scott King Award - Honor Book
Award: Michigan Notable Books - Winner


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 10/27/2014
Kirkus Reviews 11/01/2014
School Library Journal 12/01/2014 pg. 144
Shelf Awareness 01/06/2015
Essence 02/01/2015 pg. 66
Voice of Youth Advocates 02/01/2015 - Recommended - Better Than Most
Booklist 02/01/2015 pg. 45
New York Times Book Review 02/08/2015 pg. 23
New York Times Book Review 02/15/2015 pg. 26
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 01/01/2015
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 02/01/2015 pg. 331
Horn Book Magazine 05/01/2015 pg. 117
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2015 pg. 138 - Outstanding, Noteworthy In Style
PW Best Children's Books 11/02/2015 pg. 53
PW Children's Starred Reviews 12/02/2015 pg. 116
Booklist Ed Choice Youth 01/01/2016 pg. 14

About the Author
Ilyasah Shabazz, third daughter of Malcolm X, is an activist, producer, motivational speaker, and author of the critically acclaimed Growing Up X and the picture book Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X. She lives in Westchester County, New York.

Kekla Magoon is the Margaret A. Edwards Award-winning author of more than a dozen books for young readers, including Fire in the Streets and How It Went Down. She is also the coauthor, with Ilyasah Shabazz, of X: A Novel, which was long-listed for the National Book Award and received an NAACP Image Award and a Coretta Scott King Honor. Kekla Magoon grew up in Indiana and now lives in Vermont, where she serves on the faculty at Vermont College of Fine Arts.