Malcolm and Me: A Novel

Philly native Roberta Forest is a precocious rebel with the soul of a poet. The thirteen-year-old is young, gifted, black, and Catholic—although she’s uncertain about the Catholic part after she calls Thomas Jefferson a hypocrite for enslaving people and her nun responds with a racist insult. Their ensuing fight makes Roberta question God and the important adults in her life, all of whom seem to see truth as gray when Roberta believes it’s black or white.

An upcoming essay contest, writing poetry, and reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X all help Roberta cope with the various difficulties she’s experiencing in her life, including her parent’s troubled marriage. But when she’s told she’s ineligible to compete in the school’s essay contest, her explosive reaction to the news leads to a confrontation with her mother, who shares some family truths Roberta isn’t ready for.

Set against the backdrop of Watergate and the post-civil rights movement era, Malcolm and Me is a gritty yet graceful examination of the anguish teens experience when their growing awareness of themselves and the world around them unravels their sense of security—a coming-of-age tale of truth-telling, faith, family, forgiveness, and social activism.

Robin Farmer is the author of the debut novel Malcolm and Me, a 2019 winner of the She Writes Press and SparkPress Toward Equality in Publishing (STEP) Contest. She is a recipient of residencies at the Rowland Writers Retreat, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Djerassi Resident Artists Program. A national award-winning journalist, her work led to a Knight-Wallace Fellowship at the University of Michigan, among other honors. A freelance writer since 2009, she lives with her husband near Richmond, Virginia, where she works with organizations to empower writers. Learn more and sign up for her newsletter at www.robinfarmerwrites.com.