Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary (Scholastic Focus) - Softcover

Myers, Walter Dean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1338309854 ISBN 13: 9781338309850

Publisher: Scholastic Focus, 2019

Synopsis

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.

About this title

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.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Scholastic Focus
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1338309854
• ISBN 13: 9781338309850
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224