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A review by edshara
Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi, Yusef Salaam
4.0
This is beautifully written and it made me emotional. Since it’s written in verse, I listened to the audiobook while following along in my copy and it’s nicely narrated. With all that said this book is a good read and I’d definitely recommend it, however, I do have an issue.
I know the target audience is young adult so with that in mind I know it’s important to show them how things are. My main issue though is most POC’s walk around with a simmering rage or some underlying anger or frustration, that tends to bubble up or boil over when we hear about incidents like this on the news. Most POC’s can feel and identify this pain, frustration and sense of injustice, young or old. So I wish instead of focusing on the before and the during, that they would have explored the possible after. How does one truly navigate the world, when all is said and done? I wanted some joy, some restoration, a big finale. Instead, even though it’s great, it just feels like the same old thing.
I know the target audience is young adult so with that in mind I know it’s important to show them how things are. My main issue though is most POC’s walk around with a simmering rage or some underlying anger or frustration, that tends to bubble up or boil over when we hear about incidents like this on the news. Most POC’s can feel and identify this pain, frustration and sense of injustice, young or old. So I wish instead of focusing on the before and the during, that they would have explored the possible after. How does one truly navigate the world, when all is said and done? I wanted some joy, some restoration, a big finale. Instead, even though it’s great, it just feels like the same old thing.