What is looked upon as an American dream for white people has long been an American nightmare for black people. Malcolm X - born Malcolm Little - experienced that nightmare firsthand even as a small boy, when white supremacists firebombed his family home. Such terrifying moments, along with years of daily racist insults and barriers, shaped Malcolm's life, transforming him into one of the most articulate and rousing black nationalist leaders of all time.
Beatrice Gormley, a prolific author of biographies for young people, captures Malcolm X's growth: his youth as a petty criminal; jailhouse conversion to the Nation of Islam; marriage to Betty Shabazz, which yielded four children; break with Elijah Muhammad and embrace of traditional Islam; and assassination in Harlem's Audubon Ballroom.