Betty Before X
Publisher
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication Year
2018
ISBN
9780374306106
Pages
256 pages
Genre
historical
Format
chapter book
Item Type
Fiction
Annotation
Raised by her aunt until she is six, Betty, who will later marry Malcolm X, joins her mother and stepfamily in 1940s Detroit, where she learns about the civil rights movement.
Grade Level
3-5; 6-8
Lexile Measure
810L
Diversity Topics
Family Relationships; Racial Diversity; Kinship care; Step parent; Family member death; Race discrimination; aunt raising niece; step father; step siblings; death of an aunt; racism; prejudice
Main Character
female child
Race/Ethnicities
Black
Family Formation
mother and step father; aunt
Awards
Cybils Awards, 2018, Nominee, Middle Grade Fiction
Best Books for Kids, 2018
Choices, 2019 Children's Fiction
Kirkus Book Review Stars, 2017
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2019 Grades 6-8
Keywords
Detroit, Michigan; Malcolm X; civil rights movement; lynching; church; church choir; activists; volunteering; Jim Crow
Diversity Impact
direct
STARS Citation
Shabazz, Ilyasah and Watson, Renée, "Betty Before X" (2018). Diverse Families. 1971.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/1971