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Punching the Air

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Punching the Air

By: Ibi Zoboi, Yusef Salaam
Narrated by: Ethan Herisse
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About this listen

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 YOTO CARNEGIE MEDAL

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 the Noughts & Crosses series and The Hate U Give.

One fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighbourhood escalates into tragedy. ‘Boys just being boys’ turns out to be true only when those boys are white.

Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal Shahid’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.

©2020 Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Crime Literature & Fiction Multicultural Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Fiction

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Critic reviews

"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." (Jason Reynolds, award-winning, best-selling author of Long Way Down)

"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." (Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award-winning and number one New York Times best-selling author of Stamped and How to Be an Antiracist)

"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." (Jacqueline Woodson, award-winning, best-selling author of Brown Girl Dreaming)

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It is beautifully written. It's a powerful story of finding hope in a world of injustice.

My review.

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This is a powerful and moving book made even better by the superb narration by Ethan Herisse. It tells the story of Amal who is sent to a juvenile facility after seriously injuring another boy in a public brawl. The problem is that he might have thrown the first punch but certainly not the one that put the other boy into a coma. The book focuses on institutional racism and everything that works to tear black boys down. Highly recommended

Superb narrator

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A powerful book that exposes some uncomfortable truths about our shared humanity. The narration is measured and compelling.

Excellent narration

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My first book on audible- I have never listened or read such a book written in a way to sound as prose- beautifully written and really creates a connection with the character

Thought provoking

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Loved this book, found the writing utterly compelling aided by the mesmeric narration. Thoroughly recommend this book to everyone.

Beautiful

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