Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Punching the Air

Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi, Yusef Salaam

13 reviews

justcallmeemily's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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carriepond's review

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Punching the Air is a YA novel in verse co-written by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam, who was wrongly convicted in the “Central Park jogger” case as a teen. Inspired by Salaam’s experiences, the novel follows Amal Shahid, a wrongly convicted teen who leans on his love for art, poetry, and books to sustain him and others during the demoralizing and dehumanizing experience of incarceration.

This book was so good— I read it all in one day. It touches on so much— the school-to-prison pipeline, mass incarceration, racism, and the power of art. It is heartbreaking but also hopeful. It is a powerful, beautiful YA book in conversation with other works on abolition and the inhumanity of our carceral system. Recommend.

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djimerson's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is tough. We follow Amal, a 16-year-old Black teen charge with a crime he didn’t commit. Using his art talent and poetry/ rhyming skills, we watch him struggle through this sudden turn of events that have up-ended his life. It’s a very power message, but it is also rage inducing because the reader is faced with another case of racial injustice.

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thewordsdevourer's review

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

reading this book was an experience. punching the air is neither too plot- nor character-driven - amal and the tide of his days and life are instead driven along by the oppressive system - but the emotions it's able to evoke from the reader are sth else.

zoboi and salaam masterfully use the verse form to their advantage, visually depicting the oppressiveness and sense of being trapped deeply felt by amal and many black boys and men everywhere under the american prison industrial complex. how the system and the white ppl who both consciously and inadvertently uphold it are illustrated w/ nuance and a keen eye, their ignorance and racism so ingrained they arent even aware of the power of their words or actions, and all of it maddening esp in the juvie setting. this book's also abt art and its power, and the structure and incorporation of drawing and many visual elements rly complement the aforementioned themes.

tbh the novel's content and msg arent anything unfamiliar, but i think what truly makes it unique is the whole absorbing experience the one feels reading it. the emotions it evokes are near total, and one feels strongly connected to amal and what he's going thru. perhaps the fact that salaam himself has been thru the very same thing as amal has sth to do w/ it, and he's able to channel it all very well here.

overall, this is a very emotionally absorbing and powerful book. it's not rly plot-heavy but its form and structure are surprisingly effective and impactful.

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