Punching the Air audiobook

Locking you up isn’t enoughfor them        They will tryto crush your spirit untilyou’re nothing but—Dustwe both say togetherAnd what does dust do, Amal?What did Maya Angelou say about dust?Umi asksIt rises, I whisperThis verse novel is incredible. And devastating.I really wish publication could be moved up for this book because, while I'm certain it's story will be no less relevant in September, it very much complements the discussions happening right now. It is a book about race and the way the judicial system and prison system in America disproportionately fails and oppresses black people. It talks racial profiling and prison abolition, but also poetry and art. Amal Shahid has been forced into all kinds of stereotypes by his white prosecutors-- thug, criminal, monster --but what he really is, is a boy and an artist.I will pick up anything Ibi Zoboi writes and I highly recommend Pride and, especially, American Street. But when she teamed up with Yusef Salaam, one of the now-exonerated Central Park Five, I knew this book was going to be something special. The two have created a new character with Amal, but there's no doubt that his experiences have been heavily-inspired by Salaam's.I've been seeing authors do some incredible things with verse novels lately. In the past, I've felt like verse authors have just rearranged fragments of text on the page to be quirky but, with authors like Elizabeth Acevedo and Ibi Zoboi, that seems to be changing. These poems are painfully-honest, clever, and powerful. Maybe ideas segregate like in the days ofDr. King and no matter how many marchesor Twitter hashtags or Justice for So-and-Soour mind’s eyes and our eyes’ mindssee the world as they want toEverything already illustratedin black and white With it being such a quick read, I don't want to give too much away, but I do want to highlight a couple of standout aspects. One was the way the book talks about how Amal, the black defendant, is portrayed as a fully-grown man, who has never "laughed at Elmo on Sesame Street" or "splashed in a puddle" or "been afraid of monsters", in contrast with the white victim who is a "boy". They are the same age.Another is that Punching the Air really explains how the prison system in America is a form of legal slavery-- it is written in the Constitution. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. That's the Thirteenth Amendment, known for being the abolition of slavery. Except it didn't abolish slavery. Slavery still exists. If you are looking to explore this more, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption is a must-read. For a look at the historical context of this issue, I also suggest reading Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (or Kendi's longer, more in-depth version: Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America).Until Black Lives Matter, no, all lives do NOT matter.Facebook | Instagram

I appreciate the theme that this book-in-verse narrated.A young black boy struggling in jail for being wrongly convicted of a crime. This book addresses racism, coming of age, police brutality, discrimination against the black community, family dynamics, the so called law that handles such cases, the injustices and the consequences that follow. I love the family dynamic representation the most. Umi is one such great mother. A strong woman. It's her character (though the book isn't told from her perspective) that kept me glued till the end. The writing part didn't do much. The poetry lines, the verse didn't work for me. It felt like it was trying too hard but it did its job well of telling the story of the boy. It presented well the angst, the confusion, the loneliness, the beliefs of the narrator but I didn't get that connected to the character. I wanted to feel so much more for tthe character and the story. The highlight for me turned out to be the schooling system for such 'troublesome' kids while being behind the bars. Choices are given to them but I feel far better choices and more choices must be made available for them. I mean poetry and that stuck up teacher?! The inmates are already struggling. Have some compassion towards them. There's no point in failing your students again and again. No one improves like that. Constant sarcasm and belittling the students don't do anyone good. Instead of being understanding and getting to the root problem, constantly doubting the students do more harm. In general, yes, teachers! Can you be less cranky and not make your classes feel like someone else has punished you to do your job and in turn shove that hatred towards your students? I mean both parties hate classes because of this. And not all students are the same. Some are introverts and some can act well to get credits. It's your job to see into that and make out the difference yourselves. I haven't met a kind and wonderful teacher in my life till date. I find teachers in movies and books (nonfiction, memoirs, autobiographies) far more inspirational. And yes, this book made me actually see that. I just wish this book had a better ending.*The notes at the end of the book made up for everything!Fighting!👍

ARC received in exchange for an honest review. I don't think I can express how important, poignant and devastating this novel was to read. Written in collaboration with Yusef Salaam, one of the exonerated five, this clearly draws heavily in Salaam's own experiences to help shape the main character of Amal. Amal is simply a boy, in the wrong place, who makes one mistake that leads to devastating consequences. Being black, Amal speaks candidly of his experiences in jail, of never getting to simply be a kid, and giving up on his dreams of poetry and art because he knows that's not in his expected future. It was heartbreaking to read, and also made me so angry. The injustices that Amal faces are mirrored with what happens in the actual world. This is also written in verse, and I think it lends itself very well to the text - giving Amal a more human, emotional connection to the reader as we get to experience Amal's life from his deepest, most inner thoughts. The prose are beautiful, and the imagery is perfectly pitched to match Amal's feelings of regret, remorse and grief at the loss of his future. Such a timely and incredibly important read.

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam is a fantastic book about race. This is one of those books I wish everyone would read. I rate this along with The Hate You Give. I absolutely loved Punching the Air. I felt so much during this book. I felt all the injustice for Amal. The writing style made me become instantly attached to Amal. Amal go through all the injustices his faced in juvie and leading up to then as well as childhood made me so sad.I highly recommend Punching the Air for everyone.Full Review: https://justreadingjess.wordpress.com...

Punching the Air is such a raw and heartbreaking story about Amal Shahid who was wrongfuly convicted for assaulting a white boy; raising important questions about how Black youths are treated and the severe constraints of America's failure in punishing forms of justice. “we were in the wrong placewe were in the wrong skinswe were in the wrong timewe were in the wrong bodieswe were in the wrong countrywe were in the wrongthey were in the right placethey were in the right skinsthey were in the right timethey were in the right bodiesthey were in the right countrythey were in the right” What I love the most about this book, even seeming inorganized is definitely the pattern of how the verses were written besides the abtract arts put in between. This exactly depicted the poet and artist in Amal besides permitting readers to also feel their internal voices acknowledged as well as rejuvenating the Muslim faith.This book also offers readers Amal's six years experiences of being imprisoned and how it has affected him. Which brings me to point how critical it is for us to adress the heavy-handed of systemic racism and structural violence that are still happening today. As a matter of fact, the topic of racial injustice is still a concept that is complex to expound even to adults (else why it's still happening) and let alone to youngsters. But this book accomplished so beautifully, making it so potent and remarkable.

I'm sure you all knowthe rule of law -Innocent until proven guiltyBut with us, it'sguilty until proven innocentPunching the Air is a YA novel written in verse about a Black boy convicted for a crime he did not commit. The book starts just before the jury sentences Amal, who is 16 at the time, to several years of prison for allegedly attacking a (white) boy and beating him into a coma. The book discusses the many systems put in place by white Americans that disadvantage and discriminate against Black people. There's prisons, which rather than reeducate only punish and make matters worse. There's laws and juries that pass "legal" sentences because someone is Black and not because they're guilty. And there's teachers and neighbours and your best friend's parents who rather than seeing a human, they see a criminal. Because in the US (and let's face it, around the world), Black and guilty might as well be synonyms.The book is creative, hopeful, unexpectedly uplifting. The characters were drawn well and had depth, even though some only appeared in a few lines. It was a super quick read (one thing I love about verse novels), and an infuriating one. However, I needed the authors to play my emotions more, and I felt that the romance aspect aka the love letters were super corny. Otherwise an amazing book.Find more of my books on Instagram

Hands down, a must-read.I cried several times reading this book. And then cried some more after I was done. This is a beautiful and devastating story that will stay with me for a long time.

While this is fiction, it tells the harsh realities faced by many young black men and boys in this country. It's poetry that bleeds. Written in conjunction with Yusef Salaam, one of the Exonerated Five, this story weaves a nonfiction experience into a heartbreaking tale of Amal, involved in a fight that left another boy in a coma. Amal is sentenced to a detention center where he learns to fight for his life and his sense of self. What I liked about this story was it didn't stand on a pedestal of right and wrong. It addressed that mistakes for one choice do not set in stone a person's value or destiny. The main character isn't without fault but the crime he was charged with wasn't his to own.

No words - other than the fact that this is gut-wrenching, magnificent, and just so... tangible in its raw emotion. This is a must-read.

Painful and beautiful verse novel. I recommend.

But there’s no future in these four walls four walls boxing me in boxing me in so I punch the air The authors of Punching the Air Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam says this book is “the power of art, faith and transcendence un the most debilitating circumstances. It is out hope that all readers will experience the journey of a boy who finds himself in a heated moment where one wrong move threatens his future and how he uses art to express his truth, THE TRUTH.” What a beautiful, heart-wrenching, infuriating but hopeful journey. The story is about a teenage Alam who went against his gut instinct ended up in a situation where he made one wrong move that changed the course of his entire life. While this is not the story about Yusef Salaam, a prison abolitionist and one of the Exonerated Five, it does draw on some things that he experienced when he was wrongfully imprisoned. I was a bit worried when I saw that the entire book was told in verses because it can be either a hit or miss for me. I cannot begin to tell you how each of these verse punches you in the gut again and leave you feeling helpless about the injustice faced by Alaam and real-life imprisoned people. The writing was raw, layered, beautiful, honest, angering, hopeful, hopeless and so many other different emotions. Please read this work of art.