Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
It was an interesting read.
As always, a lack of information leads to people making poor decisions.
I liked the characters, and each of the 4 Bees managed to feel unique, without being a caricature of a personality.
The book had both funny and heartbreaking moments, and was very engaging.
As always, a lack of information leads to people making poor decisions.
I liked the characters, and each of the 4 Bees managed to feel unique, without being a caricature of a personality.
The book had both funny and heartbreaking moments, and was very engaging.
reflective
tense
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:
Yes
This is the story of America; the story of immigrants.
This was a beautiful and hard read by a Haitian immigrant about Haitian immigrant Fabiola as her experience trying to find her footing in Detroit. It’s a story of family, culture, and what the American Dream means. It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel; it was so well-written and thoughtful. I loved Fabiola’s voice and seeing her experiences through her eyes.
Equal parts joy and heartbreak; it’s an American story. The story of our diverse country and the unique experiences and culture of all the people who make our nation whole. We are who we are because of all of the people who came here from around the world.
It’s a timely read, and a powerful one.
This was a beautiful and hard read by a Haitian immigrant about Haitian immigrant Fabiola as her experience trying to find her footing in Detroit. It’s a story of family, culture, and what the American Dream means. It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel; it was so well-written and thoughtful. I loved Fabiola’s voice and seeing her experiences through her eyes.
Equal parts joy and heartbreak; it’s an American story. The story of our diverse country and the unique experiences and culture of all the people who make our nation whole. We are who we are because of all of the people who came here from around the world.
It’s a timely read, and a powerful one.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
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:
Yes
In American Street, Ibi Zoboi tells the story of Fabiola Toussaint, a Haitian-American teenager caught in the crossfire of immigration policy and inner-city life. When her mother is detained at JFK, Fabiola is forced to continue alone to Detroit, where she moves in with relatives she's never met. There, she navigates the stark realities of poverty, violence, and fractured dreams while fighting to reunite with her mother.
Set in a frigid Detroit winter, the novel is both atmospheric and emotionally grounded. Zoboi doesn’t shy away from the systemic failures that push young people like Kasim and Dray into crime, or the complex choices Fabiola must make to survive. Written before the Trump era but still achingly relevant, American Street is a searing portrait of resilience, loyalty, and the cost of chasing the American Dream.
Unflinching and unforgettable, this is YA fiction with urgency and soul.
Set in a frigid Detroit winter, the novel is both atmospheric and emotionally grounded. Zoboi doesn’t shy away from the systemic failures that push young people like Kasim and Dray into crime, or the complex choices Fabiola must make to survive. Written before the Trump era but still achingly relevant, American Street is a searing portrait of resilience, loyalty, and the cost of chasing the American Dream.
Unflinching and unforgettable, this is YA fiction with urgency and soul.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Powerful read with this girl's worry and anxiety and thrill dripping off the page and into my heart in such a way that I had to walk away periodically. I have very intense travel anxiety and reading about her ending up here without her Mother and trying to navigate it according just gave me all kinds of panic attacks across the page!
Fabulous (😃) and heartbreaking YA read about immigrants from Haiti (or as 45 would say an expletive country). The narrator is truly phenomenal and the writing is beautiful.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
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:
Yes
Genuinely one of the best YA books out there. If you're tired of passive, spineless, conforming female protagonists, you will find Fabiola to be a breath of fresh air. Fabiola reads like a realistic teen who has a strong sense of identity, isn't stupid, but still very much a teenager who doesn't know everything and how to handle it all the time. She's headstrong and able to face situations in ways it makes sense for a street-smart teenager to think is right.
The prose is absolutely beautiful. Even if you're not a fan of first-person, this book will suck you in with its stunning descriptions and strong, well-developed character that laces those descriptions. The whole novel is very much enriched in real experiences, and it shows in how Zoboi writes. The racial themes and commentary, the contrast of Haitian culture with Fabiola struggling to understand American culture and her wish to not conform to it, they're all very real and grounded as you'd expect from a lived experience story.
What I especially want to give praise to and thank this book for is its inclusion and depiction of Haitian Vodou. With so much of Hollywood undermining this religion for decades, to be able to read an authentic story from someone of the culture is not only the most valuable research resource you can get for understanding what Vodou truly is in action, but is a much-needed tool to show the general population that Vodou is not evil. I can recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn or get in touch with distant roots. The magical realism employed to incorporate the Loa that help her along her coming-of-age journey really adds a lot to such a grounded tale to make it pop with color. Thank you Ibi Zoboi for sharing your culture in such a beautiful tale.
No notes. This book is amazing. Read it.
The prose is absolutely beautiful. Even if you're not a fan of first-person, this book will suck you in with its stunning descriptions and strong, well-developed character that laces those descriptions. The whole novel is very much enriched in real experiences, and it shows in how Zoboi writes. The racial themes and commentary, the contrast of Haitian culture with Fabiola struggling to understand American culture and her wish to not conform to it, they're all very real and grounded as you'd expect from a lived experience story.
What I especially want to give praise to and thank this book for is its inclusion and depiction of Haitian Vodou. With so much of Hollywood undermining this religion for decades, to be able to read an authentic story from someone of the culture is not only the most valuable research resource you can get for understanding what Vodou truly is in action, but is a much-needed tool to show the general population that Vodou is not evil. I can recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn or get in touch with distant roots. The magical realism employed to incorporate the Loa that help her along her coming-of-age journey really adds a lot to such a grounded tale to make it pop with color. Thank you Ibi Zoboi for sharing your culture in such a beautiful tale.
No notes. This book is amazing. Read it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Police brutality, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Classism, Deportation
It's pretty much what you'd expect for a story set in Detroit. The most severe of the warnings I would give to the domestic abuse- it talks quite a bit about a character in an abusive relationship getting hurt.
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Death of parent
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder
Minor: Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury
Wow. This novel was just incredible. Fabiola is a tough and lovable main character and Zoboi's inclusion of the Haitian tradition of voodoo was an authentic touch that added some magic and personality to the story. This is a powerful immigration narrative that deals with family, loss, and the idea the expectation of the American Dream doesn't always match up with the reality. My heart was broken by this book but I would definitely recommend it to anyone.