LitPick Review
Malcolm Little wants to get away from his home town of Lansing after his mother was taken away and he and his siblings were left to fend for themselves. He decides to go to Boston. He discovers a new world of women, drugs, hustling, stealing, liquor, and other things his parents would never have approved of. Malcolm changes his name, his dressing style, and most of his moral values. Later he discovers what he truly believes and what he will do with his life as he becomes Malcolm X.
Opinion:
I found this book to be entertaining, but repetitive in a lot of places. I felt that Malcolm's perspective was well-written and helped me to understand his mindset when important events were going on in his life.
While I did find this book to be enjoyable, I also found aspects of it irritating. Malcolm's numerous poor decisions made me angry, but the book was interesting enough to keep me from putting it down. I felt it was the intent of the author for the book to be somewhat aggravating so that the reader would feel a sense of satisfaction when the book reaches its final pages.
The fact that this book is based on actual events presented a problem for me. I found myself constantly questioning which aspects of this story were real and which were fabricated, and it distracted me. I would recommend this book to students 15 and up if they're interested in aspects of black history, but not if they want an accurate representation of Malcolm X's life.
