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A review by reneephan
American Street by Ibi Zoboi
2.0
No shade here, but I'm the type of person who judges by the book cover, especially the blurb. When I picked up this book from the library, I found out it was one of the top books of 2017. This interested me and I started to read the blurb.
Talking about immigration basically summarises one of the most important social issues in the world. And this book talks about it! No shocker, but that got me hooked. As I started to read the book, I tried my best to be optimistic on the fact that the main character is trying to brave the new world without her mom but with relatives around her. Just like the book 'Home of the brave' by Katherine Applegate, I assumed the worlds would be similar.
Turns out, I may have just missed it, but I did not really know the age of this character, assuming she was just a young girl struggling to cope without her mother. As I got deeper into this story, I started to change my viewpoint and started to become slightly confused. Was this girl a teenager in middle school or high school? Usually, I do fine with these books, because this book's reading level is slightly easier than my normal books.
Soon after the intro, the book started to become too cliche. For example, the main character gets a boyfriend, assists police on drug connections, all because she wants her mother released from the detention center for immigrants. I know what you're thinking. Very weird indeed.
To summarize, I thought the social issue was very well displayed, it just let a reader like me lose heart after the beginning as the story was too cliche as well as it was not really much of a relatable situation lots can deal with, considering the police, immigration and drugs are all in one picture.
( I would not recommend this book to younger readers as this book contains mature content. ) - These kinds of books should have a stamp on it to let readers know before they pick it up on the bookshelf don't you think?
- Renee
Talking about immigration basically summarises one of the most important social issues in the world. And this book talks about it! No shocker, but that got me hooked. As I started to read the book, I tried my best to be optimistic on the fact that the main character is trying to brave the new world without her mom but with relatives around her. Just like the book 'Home of the brave' by Katherine Applegate, I assumed the worlds would be similar.
Turns out, I may have just missed it, but I did not really know the age of this character, assuming she was just a young girl struggling to cope without her mother. As I got deeper into this story, I started to change my viewpoint and started to become slightly confused. Was this girl a teenager in middle school or high school? Usually, I do fine with these books, because this book's reading level is slightly easier than my normal books.
Soon after the intro, the book started to become too cliche. For example, the main character gets a boyfriend, assists police on drug connections, all because she wants her mother released from the detention center for immigrants. I know what you're thinking. Very weird indeed.
To summarize, I thought the social issue was very well displayed, it just let a reader like me lose heart after the beginning as the story was too cliche as well as it was not really much of a relatable situation lots can deal with, considering the police, immigration and drugs are all in one picture.
( I would not recommend this book to younger readers as this book contains mature content. ) - These kinds of books should have a stamp on it to let readers know before they pick it up on the bookshelf don't you think?
- Renee