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Hot new releases and under-the-radar gems for adults and kids.
Staff Pick
Sixteen-year-old Amal has been wrongly accused of a crime he didn’t commit, simply for being in the wrong place in the wrong time. Brilliantly written in verse by National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five, Punching the Air is an impactful and necessary book for young adults, families, and educators trying to understand the injustice of systemic racism. Recommended By Kim T., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
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?
Review
"Zoboi and Salaam together
craft a powerful indictment of institutional racism and mass
incarceration through the imagined experience of Amal, a Black, Muslim
16-year-old facing imprisonment." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Review
"Award-worthy. Soul-stirring. A must-read." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Review
"Prescient and sobering, Zoboi's book is a vital story for young readers in a tumultuous time." Booklist (Starred Review)
Synopsis
New York Times and USA Today bestseller * Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor * Walter Award Winner * Goodreads Finalist for Best Teen Book of the Year * Time Magazine Best Book of the Year * Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year * Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year * School Library Journal Best Book of the Year * Kirkus Best Book of the Year * New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
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. A must-read 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, because of a biased system he's seen as disruptive and unmotivated. 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 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.
About the Author
Ibi Zoboi holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her novel American Street was a National Book Award finalist and a New York Times Notable Book. She is also the author of Pride and My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich, a New York Times bestseller. She is the editor of the anthology Black Enough.
Born in Haiti and raised in New York City, she now lives in New Jersey
with her husband and their three children. You can find her online at
www.ibizoboi.net.
Dr. Yusef Salaam
was just fifteen years old when his life was upended after being
wrongly convicted with four other boys in the "Central Park jogger"
case. In 2002, after the young men spent years of their lives behind
bars, their sentences were overturned. Now known as the Exonerated Five,
their story has been documented in the award-winning film The Central Park Five by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon and in Ava DuVernay's highly acclaimed series When They See Us.
Yusef is now a poet, activist, and inspirational speaker. He is the
recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from President Barack Obama,
among other honors. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife,
Sanovia, and their children. You can find him online at
www.yusefspeaks.com.