Punching the Air

Written by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

Narrated by Ethan Herisse

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Sep 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9780063025707

Ibi Zoboi

Ibi Zoboi is the New York Times bestselling author of American Street, a National Book Award finalist; Nigeria Jones, a Coretta Scott King Award winner; Pride; My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich; Star Child; Okoye to the People; the Walter Award–winning Punching the Air, cowritten with Exonerated Five member Yusef Salaam; and the Coretta Scott King Honor–winning picture book The People Remember. She is also the editor of the anthology Black Enough. Born in Haiti and raised in New York City, she now lives in New Jersey with her family. You can find her online at ibizoboi.net.

Reviews for Punching the Air

[Artista Hairston · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Our “wonderful” judicial system. Nothing rehabilitating about it. This book gives a firsthand look at the injustices

[Katie Tharp · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing in every way. Wow. So well written and powerful.

[Kristine Lopez · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

beautifully written and beautifully narrated. a must read - especially considering our current social climate.

[Day Andnight · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was left speechless. It is truly an eye-opening story.

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

audiobook teen novel in verse inspired by real people/stories (wrongful incarceration of Black Muslim artist/poet teen, story of hope)

[holdenkillfield · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Powerful and an absolute must-read for children and adults. I'm still thinking about this book trying to organize my feelings into a coherent thought. It was very impactful and takes the reader on an emotional journey.

[ewyatt_16 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Amal tells his story of a fight gone wrong, an arrest, trial, and his time in juvenile detention. A promising artist - he uses his art and words as a way to tell his truth and try to stay free. But people around him keep putting him in boxes. With a strong correlation between school and jail, Amal tries to adjust to his current reality. His supportive family feed his spirit and mind. But it's hard. The poetry is sparse and powerful. Yusef Salaam brings his experience as a partner in this collaboration to this story.

[ecataldi-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book gets you RILED up - the injustice of it all will have readers angrily turning pages and looking for the hope and beauty in an impossible situation. Written in poetry and prose with art interspersed throughout - Amal's story of how he became incarcerated is powerful and painful. A young Black teen in the wrong place at the wrong time he is now paying the ultimate price. He's unfairly convicted of a crime that he didn't commit and it's hard to keep from drowning in the biased, uninspiring detention facility. Why is the system stacked so hard against him? Will art and poetry save him or will it just drag him down? I would LOVE to discuss this book at a juvenile detention facility - the kids in there would relate so hard to this book. I hope that after covid this book is an option I can bring to the table - their insight and personal experiences would bring so much to the table. A fantastic and powerful book.

[hccpsk · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A gorgeous piece of art, Punching the Air deserves all the accolades and attention it is receiving. Acclaimed YA author Ibi Zoboi and Exonerated Five member Yusef Salaam have collaborated to write this beautiful novel-in-verse that tells the story of Amal, a Muslim teen accused of attempted murder during a street fight. The authors push the boundaries of free verse and storytelling in the best way, and the results are emotional and a painful exploration of our white supremacist judicial system.

[sjgirl-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As is often the case with books in verse, I was so impressed with the level of depth the authors achieved with so few words. There’s something of a mystery unfolding through this novel as gradually Amal reveals what happened the night of the alleged crime that sent him to juvenile hall, but for the most part this is the story of life in juvie, it’s as tough to read about as it should be, just as the narrative is as honest as we all need to be about the inequities in the justice and education system (his art history teacher is particularly maddening). So yeah, generally, this is not a fun read, but it is a thoughtful and thought-provoking read. While Punching The Air features plenty of heavy subject matter, Amal does experience moments of light as well through a handful of people who truly care about him (from his life before prison and his life inside), through books, and most importantly to him, through poetry and art, as hopeless as parts of this book can feel, there is some genuine joy in the rare occasions when Amal has the freedom to create, what a difference even a broken crayon makes to his day, how it lifts him up even if only for a moment, it’s a beautiful thing in a story about how ugly world can be.

[librarianryan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was fantastic. It’s a collaboration between Ibi Zobi and Yusef Salaam, best known as an inspirational speaker and one of the exonerated five. This is not Yusef’s story, but it has similarities. Amal was wrongfully convicted. A mediocre lawyer and another boy in a coma lead to his guilty verdict and time in a juvenile facility. The words flow so well. It’s almost a shame I didn’t read this novel in verse, but the lyrical quality of the audiobook is like the best song ever heard. The reader is enveloped in the story. We follow Amal through the court battle, and then through his time locked up. My guy is a corrections officer and found himself just as engaged as i was. He freely said, it’s sad, but many institutions are like this. And Tattoo should be the first staff member “defunded”. Uggghhhh. To think people like that work with juveniles. I love that Amal didn’t give up. That he kept learning, both by books, and about himself. Amal was not a “thug”, but a student of life at the wrong place and the wrong time. This was a fantastic listen, and I am sure the read is just as great. This will be on many best of best lists, as well as genre and subject lists for years to come.