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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
A 3.5. I really liked it, but it was hard to read. It's told well...way to much swearing for me. The narrator does an amazing job and it's a really interesting story.
CAWPILE: 7.57/10 - 4/5
Esta es una novela poderosa, que habla mucho acerca de fantasia/mitología de Haiti, de migración, superación, de familia, de drogas y superación.
La novela te quitará el aliento, te hará querer seguir leyendo y te hará creer en Fabiola desde la primera página, ver como su cariño ante su mamá la mueve y cuanto significa para ella fue hermoso de ver.
Es una poderosa historia con un final devastador.
Esta es una novela poderosa, que habla mucho acerca de fantasia/mitología de Haiti, de migración, superación, de familia, de drogas y superación.
La novela te quitará el aliento, te hará querer seguir leyendo y te hará creer en Fabiola desde la primera página, ver como su cariño ante su mamá la mueve y cuanto significa para ella fue hermoso de ver.
Es una poderosa historia con un final devastador.
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
For some reason, I did not realize this was an AL book when I began reading it, so my reaction was/is probably more negative than the book deserves. In the early chapters, I closed the book more than once and looked at the National Book Award Finalist decal on the cover and thought, "What am I not getting here?" Once I read some of the blurbs and saw the references to "young adults" and "young readers," and figured out that it was a National Book Award Finalist in the Young People category, I tried to readjust my reading mode to AL, but it must have been too late. I don't know why, but I am not a fan of the AL style of writing (although over the years there have been exceptions), so the shabby rating is probably more a reflection of me than of the book. To me, American Street just feels like S. E. Hinton warmed over.
Another one that’s been on my YA shelf for a few years that I finally got to. Loved it. An immigrant story from yet another new perspective mixing in Haitian culture with the Detroit inner city. This one was beautiful and gut-wrenching with a 1st person POV that really drove the story well. And that ending.
Reading this book, the whole time I had "Yes! This book!" Now that I've reached the end, I don't feel so victorious. I don't feel so happy. Don't get me wrong - I loved the book, cover to cover. It's just that... That ending was so real and honest that, while I wish it went differently (I even imagined certain events to make a more storybook ending), I'm so glad the author wrote it exactly this way.
I can't explain it. As a white girl, born and raised in America, I can't relate to our MC Fabiola in the slightest. I haven't lived a minute of her story. And yet I found her so relatable. It took awhile for the Fabiola in my mind to be a 16-17 year old. I kept imagining a 10-11 year old for the longest time. I can say this, though: regardless of her age in my mind's eye, I loved her from the jump. She is the epitome of capital B Brave. And endearing.
But so were each and every one of the characters. Even Dray. I want these people to be different than what they are, to become better versions of themselves as Fabiola grows in this story. And a lot of them didn't. Which is just so real.
The book has a lot of themes running through, but the one that resonated is the sense of home. Home is not necessarily a place, although it can be. It's a people. It's a sense of self. It's family. This book takes place in Detroit, Michigan. And, while I can't say I "grew up in Detroit" or anything like that, the mere name Detroit creates this little warm ball in my stomach. It's home, nonetheless.
In short, I was captivated by this story and will now read anything and everything Ibi Zoboi writes.
I can't explain it. As a white girl, born and raised in America, I can't relate to our MC Fabiola in the slightest. I haven't lived a minute of her story. And yet I found her so relatable. It took awhile for the Fabiola in my mind to be a 16-17 year old. I kept imagining a 10-11 year old for the longest time. I can say this, though: regardless of her age in my mind's eye, I loved her from the jump. She is the epitome of capital B Brave. And endearing.
But so were each and every one of the characters. Even Dray. I want these people to be different than what they are, to become better versions of themselves as Fabiola grows in this story. And a lot of them didn't. Which is just so real.
The book has a lot of themes running through, but the one that resonated is the sense of home. Home is not necessarily a place, although it can be. It's a people. It's a sense of self. It's family. This book takes place in Detroit, Michigan. And, while I can't say I "grew up in Detroit" or anything like that, the mere name Detroit creates this little warm ball in my stomach. It's home, nonetheless.
In short, I was captivated by this story and will now read anything and everything Ibi Zoboi writes.
Amazed. Enthralled. Shocked. All words to describe how I feel after reading this book. Zoboi did a phenomenal job with this piece, I can’t wait to read her next novel.
“Creole and Haiti stick to my insides like glue—it’s like my bones and muscles. But America is my skin, my eyes, and my breath.”
A gritty, yet quite lovely, immigrant coming-of-age story...definitely a good listen.
A gritty, yet quite lovely, immigrant coming-of-age story...definitely a good listen.
This book is incredible. Zoboi is a talented storyteller and her characters are heartbreakingly real. But don't make the same mistake I did - I started this book in the evening and had to stay up all night reading!
I read the opening chapters and I couldn't get into it, put it down and when I started it again, I was sucked in. This is YA street lit. I wouldn't expect white people to get it because it's about a very urban, very black environment. AND the MC is a black immigrant on top of that. You're not going to find politically correct, super pro-feminist ANYTHING in this type of story. The language is coarse, the girls hate other girls, there's abusive relationships, there's criminal behavior - this is based on real-life and it's not pretty. This is a very authentic and realistic snapshot of life in a particular socioeconomic group. I was floored by how much Fabiola's high school experience mirrored mine. I knew/know of many, many people like the characters in this book. I appreciate the way she showed us - black, urban people - even if it wasn't us putting our best face forward necessarily.
As for the actual plot, my goodness. The suspense was driving me up the wall. I was on the edge of my seat the worse it got. Yes, the primary goal in the start of the book was to get her mom out of detainment. Y'all. The mama was in another state, doing nothing but probably sitting in a cell. Our MC has been thrown into an environment where she's struggling to acclimate herself. How the fuck was the book supposed to focus entirely on her getting her mom out of detainment? The MC is a teenager, the MC has to go to school, the MC has to deal with culture shock, the MC has a 1000 things on her plate and I liked that even though everyone else seemed to have forgotten about her mom, the MC never did even in the midst of so many overwhelming things. Everything came back around to freeing her mother in the end and doing what she could where she could. That also felt like real-life to me.
Was this book perfect? No. I don't think she gave us a solid visual of Fabiola or the cousins. I struggled to picture Fab in my mind the whole time I was reading. I also hated that we got so little of the other character's backstories, except for that awful plot twist(s?) towards the end. But other than that, I thought she did a great job. I didn't even know going into it that it was magical realism. That was almost like the icing on the cake for me. I just felt the need to defend this book and it's content from a lot of the culturally ignorant reviews here.
As for the actual plot, my goodness. The suspense was driving me up the wall. I was on the edge of my seat the worse it got. Yes, the primary goal in the start of the book was to get her mom out of detainment. Y'all. The mama was in another state, doing nothing but probably sitting in a cell. Our MC has been thrown into an environment where she's struggling to acclimate herself. How the fuck was the book supposed to focus entirely on her getting her mom out of detainment? The MC is a teenager, the MC has to go to school, the MC has to deal with culture shock, the MC has a 1000 things on her plate and I liked that even though everyone else seemed to have forgotten about her mom, the MC never did even in the midst of so many overwhelming things. Everything came back around to freeing her mother in the end and doing what she could where she could. That also felt like real-life to me.
Was this book perfect? No. I don't think she gave us a solid visual of Fabiola or the cousins. I struggled to picture Fab in my mind the whole time I was reading. I also hated that we got so little of the other character's backstories, except for that awful plot twist(s?) towards the end. But other than that, I thought she did a great job. I didn't even know going into it that it was magical realism. That was almost like the icing on the cake for me. I just felt the need to defend this book and it's content from a lot of the culturally ignorant reviews here.