Punching the Air
Ratings18
Average rating4.5
15
Ratings18
Average rating4.5
The story that I thought
was my life
didn’t start on the day
I was born
Amal Shahid has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, he’s seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. Then one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood escalates into tragedy. “Boys just being boys” turns out to be true only when those boys are white.
The story that I think
will be my life
starts today
Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal’s bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and sent to prison. Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words, his art. This never should have been his story. But can he change it?
With spellbinding lyricism, award-winning author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam tell a moving and deeply profound story about how one boy is able to maintain his humanity and fight for the truth, in a system designed to strip him of both.
source: https://www.harpercollins.ca/9780062996503/punching-the-air/
Reviews with the most likes.
Thanks to #NetGalley for the eARC, as this has been on my most-anticipated list this year! Written by the incomprable Ibi Zoboi with Dr. Yusef Salaam, of the Exonerated Five, this novel in verse is POWERFUL, Rarely do authors get to have a say in their cover, but they managed to convey such emotion just with that image alone. I'm already ordering a set to use with our English 1 teachers, as there is so much for students to unpack, discuss, write about, and grapple with. I appreciated most of all that Amal's story is so nuanced and emotionally raw, dealing with such humanity and powerful, real, themes, and leaving space for readers to form opinions and sit and think about what's happening in the story, all the way to the end. A top pick of the year and likely making next year's ProjectLit list.
First a clarification - I thought going in that it was based on the actual story of the Central Park 5, which it isn't, but Amal's story is an echo of thousands of real stories.
I want every person, and especially every American, to read this book. It is a beautiful, well-titled gut punch that emptied me out. I cannot find words to put to the emotions it carries. All I can say is, this book left me hungry for justice, and that is a good hunger to have.
I'm going to go cry now.
I LOVED IT!!
TW: Racism, Police brutality, Violence, Whites using the N-word (-er).
thank you netgalley for the advanced audio arc.
This was such a raw and emotional book. Showcasing the truths of the american justice system. A system that is unjustly against black bodied people. Though it may have been a work of fiction, it is very much the hard truth for many that have been (and still are) unjustly incarnated. Between the beautiful poetic writing style that packed a punch in every chapter. And Amal's character and story arc that left you hopeful for justice. I can see this book making such an impact in so many lives.
I definitely recommend this book to every one!!
