Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary (Scholastic Focus)

by Walter Dean Myers

Overview

A classic and highly acclaimed biography of civil rights activist Malcolm X, ever more relevant for today's readers.

As a 14-year-old he was Malcolm Little, the president of his class and a top student. At 16 he was hustling tips at a Boston nightclub. In Harlem he was known as Detroit Red, a slick street operator. At 19 he was back in Boston, leading a gang of burglars. At 20 he was in prison.

It was in prison that Malcolm Little started the journey that would lead him to adopt the name Malcolm X, and there he developed his beliefs about what being black means in America: beliefs that shook America then, and still shake America today.

Few men in American history are as controversial or compelling as Malcolm X. In this Coretta Scott King Honor Book, Walter Dean Myers, winner of a Newbery Honor and four-time Coretta Scott King Award winner, portrays Malcolm X as prophet, dealer, convict, troublemaker, revolutionary, and voice of black militancy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338309850
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	12/26/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	117,011
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

The late Walter Dean Myers was the 2012-2013 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. He was the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of an award-winning body of work which includes Somewhere in the Darkness, Slam!, and Monster. Mr. Myers has received two Newbery Honor medals, five Coretta Scott King Author Book Awards, and three National Book Award Finalist citations. In addition, he was the winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award.

Read an Excerpt

A police official approached Malcolm X and told him bluntly that he would have to move his people away from the hospital.Malcolm refused, saying that the members of the Nation of Islam were standing peacefully, within their constitutional rights, and harming no one. The police officer looked at the men standing in ranks, and walked away. Malcolm sent one of the men into the hospital to check on the condition of Hinton.The crowd behind the formation was growing more restless and more police were summoned. Soon there were two lines of men facing each other, one white, the other black. The policemen were not sure of what was happening. The men of the Nation of Islam were motionless.The police official returned to Malcolm and told him that the crowd behind his formation was shouting at the police and acting in a manner that he could not tolerate.Malcolm said that he would control the members of the Nation of Islam, and that the rest of the crowd was the problem of the police official. Again, the police official backed off.The man that Malcolm had sent into the hospital returned. He told Malcolm the doctors had assured him that Hinton was getting the best care possible. Malcolm signaled the formation of men and they moved silently away.That night and the next morning the community was filled with talk of “the Muslims,” and how they had confronted the police. The police talked about the incident as well and wondered exactly what challenge the Muslims presented to them and exactly who was this man who called himself Malcolm X.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary:

A Coretta Scott King Honor BookAn ALA Notable Children's BookAn ALA Best Book for Young AdultsA Horn Book Fanfare Honor List selectionA Library of Congress Children's Book of the Year

"A fervent portrait." — Kirkus Reviews

* "Incisive, precise prose... [A] carefully researched portrait of a deeply devoted individual." — Publishers Weekly, starred review

From the Publisher

"If one can choose only one book about Malcolm X, this is the book of choice".--VOYA.

VOYA

In a starred review, PW admired this "carefully researched biography," which, "with incisive, precise prose... chronicles the labyrinthine path of Malcolm's life." Ages 10-13. (Jan.) r

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 5 Up-- Myers organizes Malcolm X's life into four stages: his childhood; his adolescence; his period of working under Elijah Mohammad; and his life after breaking with the Nation of Islam. Throughout, his experiences and actions are presented in a broader social context, from the beliefs of Marcus Garvey, who exerted such an influence upon Malcolm's parents, to the culture of adolescent black males in the 1930s and 1940s, to the contrasts between the Nation of Islam's views and those of Martin Luther King, Jr, with all the shadings in between. The author discusses the evolution in Malcolm's character, as his belief in Islam gradually taught him that not all whites were the enemies of African-Americans. He strikes a good balance between his subject's personal life and broader social issues and movements. Myers does not judge whether or not Malcolm X's views were better than those of King, but rather shows how both appealed to specific audiences and contributed to the struggles of the 1960s. Surprisingly, though, there is very little discussion of current controversies that have emerged from the two points of view. Black-and-white photographs and a reproduction of a page from Malcolm's extensive FBI file help readers to visualize the key personages and events in America's past. Myers's evenhanded approach will provoke thought and discussion among reluctant readers, who may find Jack Rummel's fact-laden Malcolm X (Chelsea, 1989) slow going. --Lyn Miller-Lachmann, Siena College Library, Loudonville, NY

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