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alivemagdolene) wrote2011-11-13 06:50 am
alivemagdolene) wrote2011-11-13 06:50 am
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Book-It 'o11! Book #54
The Fifty Books Challenge, year three! (Years one and two, just in case you're curious.) This was a library request.
Title: X: A Biography of Malcolm X by Jessica Gunderson, illustrated by Seitu Hayden
Details: Copyright 2011, Coughlan Publishing
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "Someone was trying to kill Malcolm X, and he knew who it was. From his troubled youth to his days as spokesman for the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X had much to say about race arid civil rights.
But when he split with the Nation of Islam, the charismatic black leader made one powerful enemy. Join him on his life-altering pilgrimage to Mecca where he discovers the power of brotherhood and the cost of racial divides. "
Why I Wanted to Read It: In my fevered search for more graphic novels from my local library, I stumbled across this book, and given my cursory look, I didn't realize it was for children. Given the cover, it's a pretty common mistake, right?
How I Liked It: The book is, as you would expect, a fairly quick, smooth read.
While the dialog is a bit stilted (after an attempt on his life, an interviewer with a handy fedora with PRESS tucked in the band and the requisite notepad and pen inquires "Malcom X, who would want to kill you?"), it's pretty much excusable and the book actually offers a surprising amount of vocabulary for an "eight and up" book (a handy glossary is found in back, including phonetic pronunciations).
The book offers a decent overview of the life of Malcolm X despite being told in a non-linear fashion (the first scene takes place during a 1964 visit to Mecca). A curious omission, though: his wife and children are never actually mentioned, although we see him expressing his frustration and disillusionment with Elijah Muhammad and his philandering to what is presumably his wife and later, after his house is firebombed, he comforts his wife (who the reader learns is named Betty) and laments the cost of his activism as he draws his children near.
What really stands out is the quality of illustration. Seitu Hayden's line work and use of color are absolutely phenomenal and the ability to perfectly capture expressive poses (from Malcolm X peering out his window anxiously for trouble to Bond-villainesque posture of Elijah Muhammad as he takes in Malcolm X's public denouncement of him via the shadows of his television to the lifelike faces of the "extras" in just about every crowd scene) is nothing short of astounding.
Hopefully the quality will pay off and this book will serve as the valuable teaching tool it was created to be.
Notable: When skimming the glossary, I found a not-entirely accurate passage.
While this makes sense in the context it's used in the book, it's not the actual definition.
From Dictionary Dot Com:
Flipping the tables of the situation, if Elijah Muhammed claimed, say, that fathering numerous children with numerous women was natural and should be encouraged and that monoamory isn't a reasonable idea (Dan Savage, anyone?) then he would be a hypocrite to be only sexually with one woman (his wife) and therefore not practicing what he preached. While it could be argued that in such a situation Elijah Muhammed was suggesting that having multiple sexual partners while married to one person and fathering children with several different women was the route of good and he's therefore personally taking the route of "bad" by not following through with those actions himself, it's still too much of a stretch, particularly when trying to explain the meaning to a kid.
Thus is the concern of a (sometime) fanatic for semantics.
Title: X: A Biography of Malcolm X by Jessica Gunderson, illustrated by Seitu Hayden
Details: Copyright 2011, Coughlan Publishing
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "Someone was trying to kill Malcolm X, and he knew who it was. From his troubled youth to his days as spokesman for the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X had much to say about race arid civil rights.
But when he split with the Nation of Islam, the charismatic black leader made one powerful enemy. Join him on his life-altering pilgrimage to Mecca where he discovers the power of brotherhood and the cost of racial divides. "
Why I Wanted to Read It: In my fevered search for more graphic novels from my local library, I stumbled across this book, and given my cursory look, I didn't realize it was for children. Given the cover, it's a pretty common mistake, right?
How I Liked It: The book is, as you would expect, a fairly quick, smooth read.
While the dialog is a bit stilted (after an attempt on his life, an interviewer with a handy fedora with PRESS tucked in the band and the requisite notepad and pen inquires "Malcom X, who would want to kill you?"), it's pretty much excusable and the book actually offers a surprising amount of vocabulary for an "eight and up" book (a handy glossary is found in back, including phonetic pronunciations).
The book offers a decent overview of the life of Malcolm X despite being told in a non-linear fashion (the first scene takes place during a 1964 visit to Mecca). A curious omission, though: his wife and children are never actually mentioned, although we see him expressing his frustration and disillusionment with Elijah Muhammad and his philandering to what is presumably his wife and later, after his house is firebombed, he comforts his wife (who the reader learns is named Betty) and laments the cost of his activism as he draws his children near.
What really stands out is the quality of illustration. Seitu Hayden's line work and use of color are absolutely phenomenal and the ability to perfectly capture expressive poses (from Malcolm X peering out his window anxiously for trouble to Bond-villainesque posture of Elijah Muhammad as he takes in Malcolm X's public denouncement of him via the shadows of his television to the lifelike faces of the "extras" in just about every crowd scene) is nothing short of astounding.
Hopefully the quality will pay off and this book will serve as the valuable teaching tool it was created to be.
Notable: When skimming the glossary, I found a not-entirely accurate passage.
“hypocrite (HIP-uh-krit) -- someone who pretends to be loyal, honest, or good” (pg 30)
While this makes sense in the context it's used in the book, it's not the actual definition.
From Dictionary Dot Com:
“hyp·o·crite [hip-uh-krit] noun
1. a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.
2. a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, especially one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.”
Flipping the tables of the situation, if Elijah Muhammed claimed, say, that fathering numerous children with numerous women was natural and should be encouraged and that monoamory isn't a reasonable idea (Dan Savage, anyone?) then he would be a hypocrite to be only sexually with one woman (his wife) and therefore not practicing what he preached. While it could be argued that in such a situation Elijah Muhammed was suggesting that having multiple sexual partners while married to one person and fathering children with several different women was the route of good and he's therefore personally taking the route of "bad" by not following through with those actions himself, it's still too much of a stretch, particularly when trying to explain the meaning to a kid.
Thus is the concern of a (sometime) fanatic for semantics.