punching the air by ibi zoboi and yusef salaam

The court scenes and Amal’s musings of not being considered or treated like a human being remind me of Steve Harmon in Walter Dean Myers’ YA novel Monster (adapted into a Netflix film). The title of the book appears many times in reference to Amal clinging on to hope and fighting back on the walls and world closing in on him. His family and friends never give up on him, neither do some of the people he encounters while inside. He draws butterflies, which represent freedom to him, even drawing wings on himself and his friends on a mural that he draws. He clings to his love of art, often rapping/reciting his own poetry. The novel doesn’t end with a happily-ever-after of Amal getting out, but there is a note of hope. By how own admission, the young poet is more skater boy than baller, but that doesn’t mean that teachers at his school and the correctional officers at the facility don’t view him as a thug or a troublemaker.īecause I listened to the audiobook, I didn’t get to enjoy the layout of this novel-in-verse narrated by Ethan Herisse, who did a great job emoting.

Throughout the novel, Amal flashes back to the day of the fight in the gentrified neighborhood and other aspects of his school career. He is charged with aggravated assault and battery. The novel is also co-authored by Haitian-American writer Ibi Zoboi.Īmal Shahid a Black Muslim teen serving time in a juvenile detention center after a group street brawl leaves Jeremy Mathis hospitalized and in a coma. You think about all headlines of Black boys and teens trapped in the system and wonder about the ones you never hear about.

Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five (formerly known as the Central Park Five), your heart will hurt even more. Considering that Punching the Air is co-written and loosely inspired by true life experiences of Dr. If you’re like me, as you read this novel-in-verse, you can’t help but to think and feel empathetic for all the Black boys and teens who end up trapped in the system.

Punching the air by ibi zoboi and yusef salaam