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Betty Before X

Ilyasah Shabazz’s fictionalized account of her mother’s childhood, written with Renée Watson, emphasizes Betty’s resilience and compassion, showing signs of the remarkable woman she would become, as the wife of Malcolm X and in her own right. Abused and unwanted by her biological mother, young Betty spends the first six years of her life in the loving care of her aunt in Georgia. Following her aunt’s death, Betty joins her mother, Ollie Mae, and Ollie Mae’s husband and children in Detroit. In the late 1940s, Betty is a young teenager who loves and is loved by her younger sisters but mistreated by Ollie Mae. Betty eventually finds a home with Mrs. and Mr. Malloy, members of her church. Mrs. Malloy is active in the Housewives’ League, an organization that encourages African Americans to boycott businesses that refuse to hire them. When Betty joins the League as a junior member, her identity as an activist begins to emerge, and she gains a sharper—and painful—understanding of racism and oppression, as well as of the diversity of opinions within her community. Through it all, Betty delights in friendship and chosen family, while her relationship with Ollie Mae is contentious yet slowly evolving. Notes about 1940s Detroit, the characters, and the supportive Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church community, are included. ©2019 Cooperative Children’s Book Center

CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 8-12
Age Range: Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10) Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Format: Novel
Subjects: 20th Century Activism and Resistance African Americans Christian People Civil Rights Community Faith, Spirituality and Religion Families Foster Families Historical Fiction Mothers
Diversity subject: Black/African Christian

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Publish Year: 2018
Pages: 248
ISBN: 9780374306106

CCBC Location: Fiction, Shabazz

Betty Before X