*Winner of a Parents' Choice Silver Award*"In clear, measured tones, the author recounts Betty's discomfort with her home life and her work with the Housewives League...Shabazz differentiates between Betty and her mother, Ollie Mae Sanders, through pitch and projects the latter's frequent annoyance, showing why Betty often felt underappreciated. An afterword helps young listeners understand Betty Shabazz's importance in American history and and provides additional discussion on the other people in the narrative." — AudioFile MagazineActivist, motivational speaker, and daughter of Malcolm X Ilyasah Shabazz celebrates her mother's idealism and strength of character in a touching new YA audiobook. Betty Before X is the story of Dr. Betty Shabazz before she became a figurehead for the Civil Rights Movement. In Detroit, 1945, eleven-year-old Betty’s house doesn’t quite feel like home. She believes her mother loves her, but she can’t shake the feeling that her mother doesn’t want her. Church helps those worries fade, if only for a little while. The singing, the preaching, the speeches from guest activists like Paul Robeson and Thurgood Marshall stir African Americans in her community to stand up for their rights. Betty quickly finds confidence and purpose in volunteering for the Housewives League, an organization that supports black-owned businesses. Soon, the American civil rights icon we now know as Dr. Betty Shabazz is born.Inspired by Betty's real life--but expanded upon and fictionalized through collaboration with novelist Renee Watson--Ilyasah Shabazz illuminates four poignant years in her mother’s childhood with this audiobook, painting an inspiring portrait of a girl overcoming the challenges of self-acceptance and belonging that will resonate with young listeners today.This title has Common Core connections.More praise for Betty Before X:"...the soul of this book is Betty’s more personal battle to be loved by a mother who rejects her, and the redemption she finds in the home of a couple who takes her in. This universal theme makes the book moving as well as educational, and the reading by Shabazz — not an actress, but an experienced motivational speaker — is clear and sincere." — Providence Journal
Shelia P. Moses is a National Book Award Finalist who has brought to life the story of Dred Scott, a man born into slavery in the 1700s. In 1846, Dred Scott and his wife, Harriet, filed a lawsuit for their freedom. After 11 years of debate, the case...
Narrator: Peter Jay Fernandez Published: 01/28/2005
Dan Gutman has won a wide and growing audience among young readers, who have eagerly devoured all the books in the sports-loving author’s Baseball Card Adventure series. In Ted & Me, time-traveling Stosh has finally been found out by the FBI. ...
In a heartwarming first-person account, dePaola retells his experiences at home and in school when he was a boy. 26 Fairmount Avenue is full of humor, drama, suspense and just the day to day ups and downs of a little boy's life.
Sarah Miller's accomplished debut presents a fictionalized account of Anne Sullivan's life and her time as Helen Keller's teacher. Arriving at Ivy Green in 1887, Anne was a partially blind orphan who had been tasked with teaching the difficult blind...
Charlotte Parkhurst was raised in an orphanage for boys, which suited her just fine. She didnt like playing with dolls, she could hold her own in a fight, and she loved to work in the stable. Charlotte had a special way with horses and wanted to spe...
The year 1940 is a very big year for Tomie-it's the start of first grade, and it's his first birthday in the new house at 26 Fairmount Avenue. It's also the first year that Tomie gets to go trick-or-treating with his older brother, Buddy. Then the h...
When Sacagawea's son asks her about her life, she isn't sure where to begin. Does she start with her birth as a Shoshoni? Her kidnapping by an enemy tribe at age eleven? Or her role as the famous guide for the Lewis and Clark expedition? She's se...
Tomie is overjoyed because his baby sister, Maureen, is finally strong enough to come home from the hospital. Over the next months, he is in a dance recital and he gets to go to the World's Fair. Soon, the school year is at an end. Summer is full of...
When a young man’s body is found by the railroad tracks, the murder and its mysterious circumstances threaten the peace and security of a small Florida town. Zora believes she knows who killed Ivory, and she isn’t afraid to tell anyone w...
