Malcolm X: by any means necessary

 
Malcolm X: by any means necessary 
A biography by Walter Dean Myers
c 1993, 210 p.
Reading Level: 8+
Interest Level: Grades 5 and up

Walter Dean Myers is a well known and prolific African-American author who writes books for the tween and YA set. In this biography of Malcolm X, he effectively combines the readability of his fiction books with facts, creating a biography that is compelling and one that I think most won’t want to put down.

Myers sets the stage for Malcolm X’s beliefs by showing us who his parents were and what their beliefs about the role of Blacks in America were. Through this lens, we are shown the injustices that Malcolm- and African Americans in general- faced and path that Malcolm traveled due to those injustices. 


The thing I appreciated most about this book is that it covers a part of the Civil Rights Movement that is often glossed over. Myers does not sugar coat nor apologize for the grittiness of Malcolm X’s rise to the leader of the Nation of Islam. Instead, he provides an insight as to why the circumstances in which he was raised created the man he became.