Betty Before X
(OverDrive Listen)

Book Cover for "Betty Before X"
Your Rating: 0 stars
Star rating for

Average user rating: 5 stars
User ratings:
5 star
 
(1)
4 star
 
(0)
3 star
 
(0)
2 star
 
(0)
1 star
 
(0)
Lexile measure:
810L
Status:
Available from OverDrive

Also in This Series

More Details

Published:
Macmillan Audio 2018
Format:
OverDrive Listen
Edition:
Unabridged
Street Date:
01/02/2018
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781427293695
Accelerated Reader:
MG
Level 4.9, 5 Points
Lexile measure:
810

Reviews from GoodReads

Loading GoodReads Reviews.

Copy Details

LibraryOwnedAvailable
Shared Digital Collection22

Citations

APA Citation (style guide)

Ilyasah Shabazz. (2018). Betty Before X. Unabridged Macmillan Audio.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Ilyasah Shabazz. 2018. Betty Before X. Macmillan Audio.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Ilyasah Shabazz, Betty Before X. Macmillan Audio, 2018.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Ilyasah Shabazz. Betty Before X. Unabridged Macmillan Audio, 2018.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.

Staff View

Grouped Work ID:
8717dc62-a337-751f-d869-1959858cc504
Go To Grouped Work

API Extraction Dates

Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Jan 30, 2018 17:18:31
Date Updated:
Jan 30, 2018 17:18:31
Last Metadata Check:
Jun 22, 2025 06:57:55
Last Metadata Change:
Jun 22, 2025 06:57:55
Last Availability Check:
Jun 22, 2025 06:57:56
Last Availability Change:
Mar 15, 2025 05:59:50
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Jun 26, 2025 05:07:19

OverDrive Product Record

sortTitle
Betty Before X
crossRefId
3303037
images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/1493-1/{9E1195C1-A330-4366-BADC-1B8204639C31}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/1493-1/{9E1195C1-A330-4366-BADC-1B8204639C31}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/1493-1/9E1/195/C1/{9E1195C1-A330-4366-BADC-1B8204639C31}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/1493-1/9E1/195/C1/{9E1195C1-A330-4366-BADC-1B8204639C31}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
formats
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9781427293695
            • type: 8
            • value: macmillan_audio#9781427293695
      • name: OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
      • id: audiobook-mp3
      • identifiers:
            • type: 8
            • value: macmillan_audio#9781427293695
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9781427293695
      • name: OverDrive Listen
      • id: audiobook-overdrive
mediaType
Audiobook
primaryCreator
    • role: Author
    • name: Ilyasah Shabazz
id
9e1195c1-a330-4366-badc-1b8204639c31
title
Betty Before X
starRating
5
dateAdded
2018-01-30T15:56:00-05:00
contentDetails
      • href: https://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=426&titleID=3303037
      • type: text/html
      • account:
          • name: Wake County Public Libraries (NC)
          • id: 1893

OverDrive MetaData

isPublicDomain
False
formats
      • duration: 04:16:01
      • fileName: multipart.odm
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 122889193
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9781427293695
            • type: 8
            • value: macmillan_audio#9781427293695
      • name: OverDrive Listen
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: audiobook-overdrive
      • onSaleDate: 1/2/2018
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: audiobook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=9e1195c1-a330-4366-badc-1b8204639c31&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
keywords
      • value: Biography
      • value: books on tape
      • value: protesting
      • value: audiobooks
      • value: Malcolm X
      • value: children
      • value: audio books
      • value: Civil Rights
      • value: African American
      • value: Kids
      • value: for girls
      • value: betty shabazz
      • value: washington post best books of the year
      • value: black girl magic
      • value: best childrens books of 2018
      • value: grades 6-9
      • value: six seven eight nine
creators
      • role: Author
      • fileAs: Shabazz, Ilyasah
      • bioText: Ilyasah Shabazz, third daughter of Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz, is an educator, activist, motivational speaker, and author of multiple award-winning publications, including her books, Betty Before X and X: A Novel. She is also an active advocacy worker and an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.
      • name: Ilyasah Shabazz
      • role: Author
      • fileAs: Watson, Renée
      • bioText:

        Renée Watson is a #1 New York Times bestselling author. Her novel, Piecing Me Together, received a Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award. Her books include the Ryan Hart series, Some Places More Than Others, This Side of Home, What Momma Left Me, Betty Before X, cowritten with Ilyasah Shabazz, Watch Us Rise, cowritten with Ellen Hagan, and Love Is a Revolution, as well as acclaimed picture books: Summer Is Here, Maya's Song, The 1619 Project: Born on the Water, written with Nikole Hannah-Jones, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen, and Harlem's Little Blackbird, which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Renée splits her time between Portland, Oregon and New York City.
        www.reneewatson.net
        @reneewauthor

      • name: Renée Watson
      • role: Narrator
      • fileAs: Shabazz, Ilyasah
      • bioText: Ilyasah Shabazz, third daughter of Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz, is an educator, activist, motivational speaker, and author of multiple award-winning publications, including her books, Betty Before X and X: A Novel. She is also an active advocacy worker and an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.
      • name: Ilyasah Shabazz
imprint
Macmillan Young Listeners
publishDate
2018-01-02T00:00:00Z
edition
Unabridged
isOwnedByCollections
True
title
Betty Before X
fullDescription

*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 Magazine
Activist, 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 Renée 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

gradeLevels
      • value: Grade 3
      • value: Grade 4
popularity
774
links
    • self:
        • href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/L1BLQAAAA2a/products/9e1195c1-a330-4366-badc-1b8204639c31/metadata
        • type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json
    • shareInLibby:
        • href: https://link.overdrive.com/share?q=fWYyAAWUhr4
        • type: text/HTML
id
9e1195c1-a330-4366-badc-1b8204639c31
images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/1493-1/{9E1195C1-A330-4366-BADC-1B8204639C31}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/1493-1/{9E1195C1-A330-4366-BADC-1B8204639C31}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/1493-1/9E1/195/C1/{9E1195C1-A330-4366-BADC-1B8204639C31}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/1493-1/9E1/195/C1/{9E1195C1-A330-4366-BADC-1B8204639C31}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
isPublicPerformanceAllowed
False
languages
      • code: en
      • name: English
subjects
      • value: African American Fiction
      • value: Juvenile Fiction
      • value: Juvenile Literature
publishDateText
01/02/2018
mediaType
Audiobook
shortDescription

*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 Magazine
Activist, 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...

sortTitle
Betty Before X
lexileScore
810
crossRefId
3303037
classifications
    publisher
    Macmillan Audio
    bisacCodes
        • code: JUV004020
        • description: Juvenile Fiction / Biographical / United States
        • code: JUV011010
        • description: JUVENILE FICTION / African American & Black
        • code: JUV039120
        • description: Juvenile Fiction / Social Themes / Prejudice & Racism

    Formats

    OverDrive Listen
    Need Help?
    If you are having problem using our eCollection, please visit our support center.