Shabazz, Ilyasah, with Kim McLarin. Growing up X; a memoir by the daughter of Malcolm X.

Ballantine, One World. 235p. illus. c2002. 0-345-44496-5. $13.95.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is frequently required reading in high school courses, and certainly this memoir by one of his six daughters, complete with a section of b/w photographs, will interest many. Ilyasah was two years old when her father was gunned down. Her mother, pregnant with twins, covered little Ilyasah with her own body that horrible day. It is this mother. Betty Shabazz, who is the real focus of Ilyasah's memoir. She died in 1997, burned by a fire started by the 12-year-old troubled grandson who lived with her. Ilyasah honors her enormous courage and strength, raising six little girls alone, keeping alive the memory of her beloved husband, developing her own career and urging her daughters to fulfill their own destinies. The family members are devout Moslems, but they certainly don't fit any stereotypical notions about what this means in modern America.

Betty Shabazz wanted her daughters to get the best educations possible, and this generally meant that the girls attended private schools with predominantly white students. Ilyasah describes the complications of these experiences, doubly challenging, perhaps, because the other students and teachers knew she was the daughter of Malcolm X. Ilyasah doesn't go into great detail about the tragic events in her sister Qubilah's life. (Qubilah was arrested for plotting the murder of Louis Farrakhan, believing that he had been responsible for the assassination of her father.) Ilyasah, herself, has had many difficulties: she was raped as a teenager; she had several heartbreaking love affairs as a young woman; and she lost her mother in terrible circumstances. Just as her mother had raised her, she has found her own strength to face tragedies and difficulties. She is smart, beautiful, and strong--a tribute to the love and nurturing of her parents. Claire Rossen, KLIATT