Tuesday 21 May 2013

Malcolm X



Malcolm X and the Fight for African American Unity
Gary Jeffrey, ill. Emanuelle Boccanfuso
New York, David West, 2013, 22p

I have a very limited knowledge about Malcolm X - in British school, the focus of the Civil Rights movements tends to be around Martin Luther King Jr. So this was an interesting read, both in terms of content and style.

Malcolm X is a graphic novel about the struggle for unity amongst African Americans in the 1950s. It outlines the youth of Malcolm Little, and his transformation into one of the world's most passionate advocators for equality. Whilst in prison, Malcolm X joined the Nation of Islam, where the fight for black power began. However, Malcolm X found himself in conflict with the idea that all white people are evil, so separated from the Nation of Islam in order to work with white people for equality.

I am trying to offer the students at my school more non-fiction literature, especially if it matches with the Accelerated Reader quizzes. I have also found that graphic novels are very popular, both in terms of the speed at which they can be read, and the ease of understanding text when it is alongside an picture or image. This particular book is great because it also has a glossary and index at the end, so can be used for fact-finding. The only thing left to do is to shift some teachers' perceptions that graphic novels are not suitable reading materials...

1 comment:

  1. The Harriet Tubman biography from the same series is also excellent. I'd never heard of her, but I got it as a freebie from a supplier.

    Turns out she was all kinds of badass, smuggling slaves accross the border to Canada (ON FOOT IN WINTER) Nursing wounded Unionists during the War, espionage, building care homes and schools. Awesome woman.

    I might do a review of it now...

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