Take a photo of a barcode or cover
platinumwishes 's review for:
American Street
by Ibi Zoboi
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.