This coming-of-age story focuses on faith, family, and forgiveness. Roberta Forest is a black poet who is gifted and Catholic and she’s questioning God and the adults in her life. She copes by reading about Malcolm X and through writing poetry. When she finds out she can’t participate in the school’s essay contest, she blows up and has a confrontation with her mother, which unearths some family secrets. Malcolm and Me is the story about an anguished teen who’s trying to make sense of the confusing world around her.
