Malcolm X: A Graphic Biography by Andrew Helfer and Randy Burke

Who was Malcolm X? A rebel? An innovator? A world-changer? Through this engaging graphic novel written by Andrew Helfer, with graphics by Randy Burke, you are given the facts to help you make your own decision. Malcolm X’s life is told in graphic detail (no pun intended) from his humble birth as the son of a homemaker and a Baptist minister with ties to Marcus Garvey to his tragic death on the Audubon Ballroom floor in Washington Heights, New York. The crisp, detailed, life-like drawings are a great accompaniment to the text.

The novel is based on the autobiography of Malcolm X, which was taken from interviews with and written by Alex Haley the author of the critically acclaimed book Roots. This graphic novel is a worthy equivalent for teens and adult readers who may struggle with reading large amounts of text. Teens will welcome the concise format in which the text and graphics are used to tell in detail the events of Malcolm X’s life. Adult readers will also welcome this format as the novel gives the entire history of Malcolm X in a format that is straight forward.

This novel was like reading a comic book, but much more, which is why it will appeal to young adult readers. The novel is in book form rather than comic book form which is usually a thin magazine type format. The author does not short change the reader by providing more text than pictures or more pictures than text. Each page has enough text to give information and enough graphics to add visual details to the story. I would recommend this novel to young adult readers from grades 5 through high school. The verbiage is not too advanced for young readers nor is it too simplistic for older or advanced readers. Also, I would suggest this book for the required reading list for the aforementioned grades as well as an accompaniment to a history or social studies class, Black/African American history class.