A review by nerfherder86
The Awakening of Malcolm X by Tiffany D. Jackson, Ilyasah Shabazz

4.0

I enjoyed listening to this excellent audiobook on the young adult years of Malcolm X, which fictionalizes his years of incarceration as a young man and his gradual conversion to the Nation of Islam while in prison. (The audiobook narrator is terrific; he has a deep, resonant and smooth voice that was a joy to listen to, and he was excellent at altering it to create various characters.) While the situations were rough to read about--racist guards, rough treatment, very poor conditions for prisoners--it was an uplifting story and a meaningful one for many who may not be familiar with Malcolm X's life story and early influences. Readers will be appalled at what he endures while in Charlestown Prison and cheer when he is transferred to the much more livable Norfolk Prison Colony, where he is able to educate himself in the prison library. Great book for teen readers; content warning for the "n" word used by prison guards and others.