Punching the Air
| Category: | Book |
| By (author): | Salaam, Yusef |
| By (author): | Zoboi, Ibi |
| Subject: | YOUNG ADULT FICTION / General |
| YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Law & Crime | |
| YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Novels in Verse | |
| YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Social Themes / Prejudice & Racism | |
| Audience: | young adult |
| Publisher: | HarperCollins |
| Published: | September 2020 |
| Format: | Book-hardcover |
| Pages: | 400 |
| Size: | 8.25in x 5.50in x 1.25in |
- Our Price:
- $ 24.99
- Availability:
- In stock
Additional Notes
| From The Publisher* | From award-winning, bestselling author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five comes a powerful YA novel in verse about a boy who is wrongfully incarcerated. Perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds, Walter Dean Myers, and Elizabeth Acevedo. 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. |
| Review Quote* | "This book will be Walter Dean Myers's Monster for a new generation of teens. An important, powerful, and beautiful novel that should be an essential purchase for any library that serves teens." |
| Review Quote* | "Awardworthy. Soul-stirring. A must-read." |
| Review Quote* | "Prescient and sobering, Zoboi's book is a vital story for young readers in a tumultuous time." |
| Review Quote* | "The sympathetic, nuanced portrayal of this young man will have readers holding out hope until the novel's end." |
| Review Quote* | "Stories, at their best, will break something old in you or build something new. Remarkably, Punching The Air does both. Zoboi and Salaam have created nothing short of a masterwork of humanity, with lyrical arms big enough to cradle the oppressed, and metaphoric teeth sharp enough to chomp on the bitter bones of racism. This is more than a story. This is a necessary exploration of anger, and a radical reflection of love, which ultimately makes for an honest depiction of what it means to be young and Black in America." |
| Review Quote* | "Punching the Air is the profound sound of humanity in verse. About a boy who uses his creative mind to overcome the creativity of racism. About a boy who uses the freedom of art to overcome his incarceration. About you. About me. Utterly indispensable." |
| Review Quote* | "In this beautifully rendered book, we are reminded again of how brilliant and precarious our Black Lives are and how art can ultimately heal us." |
| Review Quote* | Praise for BLACK ENOUGH: "A poignant collection of stunning short stories by Black, rock star authors" |
| Review Quote* | Praise for BLACK ENOUGH: "A breath of fresh air…nuanced and necessary." |