Malcolm and Me
Book Feature - Malcolm and Me by Robin Farmer
HBL Note: Have I got a book for you! This YA novel confronts racism and hypocrisy during Watergate. Written by a 2019 winner of the She Writes Press and SparkPress Toward Equality in Publishing (STEP) Contest and a national award-winning journalist who specializes in narrative nonfiction projects, Malcolm and Me couldn’t be more timely.
Author’s Note: It just so happens that what’s unfolding in the Oval Office at this time reminds many citizens of the Watergate scandal. The burgeoning Black Lives Matter protest reminds me of the Black Power Movement of my youth and the fierce pride it evoked. I can recall crossing the schoolyard thinking, “There’s no better time to be a Black girl.” I dug my Blackness. That attitude mirrors the current “Black Girl Magic” mindset. Roberta’s ability to lead a successful protest at school also reflects the increasing social justice activism on the part of students nationwide.
Scroll down to read more.
Book Feature - Malcolm and Me by Robin Farmer
Book Feature - Malcolm and Me by Robin Farmer
From the publisher:
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.
Book Feature - Malcolm and Me by Robin Farmer
