A humanizing, resoundingly effective portrait showcasing history as a blueprint for radical change.
Scholar and award-winning author Kendi offers a thoroughly researched biography that examines the life of the activist, intellectual, and Muslim minister.
Born Malcolm Little in Nebraska in 1925, he grew up in a household that openly defied white supremacy. In 1931, his dad died in an incident the police ruled accidental; his mom, however, believed her husband was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan offshoot called the Black Legion. Traumatized, Malcolm engaged in criminal behavior and developed a deep mistrust of white people. At 20, after being sentenced to prison for burglary, he was exposed to the teachings of the Nation of Islam. When he was released, 27-year-old Malcolm had been transformed. But over time, Malcolm began to reconsider his beliefs, eventually exposing the moral hypocrisy of leader Elijah Muhammad. By the end of his life, Malcolm had traveled extensively, including an enlightening trip to Mecca, gaining a global perspective. Meanwhile, Elijah sowed the discord that led to Malcolm’s assassination in 1965. Using archival documents and photographs, Kendi frames the revolutionary’s story as a “chronology of changes,” offering enough historical background to orient readers without making the narrative excessively complex. Kendi traces Malcolm’s journey from troubled but brilliant youth to divisive Black nationalist to human rights trailblazer. The short, accessible chapters compellingly contextualize global issues, speaking directly to readers and breathing new life into a critically relevant historical figure.
A humanizing, resoundingly effective portrait showcasing history as a blueprint for radical change. (source notes, image credits) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9780374311865
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change.
Testa’s connection to and respect for nature compelled her to begin championing animal causes at the age of 10, and this desire to have an impact later propelled her to dedicate her life to fighting plastic pollution. Starting with the history of plastic and how it’s produced, Testa acknowledges the benefits of plastics for humanity but also the many ways it harms our planet. Instead of relying on recycling—which is both insufficient and ineffective—she urges readers to follow two additional R’s: “refuse” and “raise awareness.” Readers are encouraged to do their part, starting with small things like refusing to use plastic straws and water bottles and eventually working up to using their voices to influence business and policy change. In the process, she highlights other youth advocates working toward the same cause. Short chapters include personal examples, such as observations of plastic pollution in Mauritius, her maternal grandparents’ birthplace. Testa makes her case not only against plastic pollution, but also for the work she’s done, resulting in something of a college-admissions–essay tone. Nevertheless, the first-person accounts paired with science will have an impact on readers. Unfortunately, no sources are cited and the lack of backmatter is a missed opportunity.
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22333-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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