Stephanie Jane reviewed Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi
Brilliant!
5 stars
Punching The Air is just brilliant! This novel-in-verse created such a shockingly emotional impact for me and, while thanks to memoirs such as Patrisse Khan-Cullors' When They Call You A Terrorist, I was already aware of the callous racism prevalent in America's justice system, reading Punching The Air made it feel as though someone I actually knew had been captured and trapped there. I understand that much of Amal's poetry was actually written by Yusef Salaam during his wrongful incarceration. I don't believe anyone could fail to be moved by his powerful words. His rage and pain leaps so vividly from every page.
While Amal's specific story is fictional, it always feels authentic and truthful. That such blatant injustice is commonplace should be horrifying to everyone, and that its main driver is corporate profiteering beggars belief. Amal is effectively unseen as an individual. A crime was committed by a black …
Punching The Air is just brilliant! This novel-in-verse created such a shockingly emotional impact for me and, while thanks to memoirs such as Patrisse Khan-Cullors' When They Call You A Terrorist, I was already aware of the callous racism prevalent in America's justice system, reading Punching The Air made it feel as though someone I actually knew had been captured and trapped there. I understand that much of Amal's poetry was actually written by Yusef Salaam during his wrongful incarceration. I don't believe anyone could fail to be moved by his powerful words. His rage and pain leaps so vividly from every page.
While Amal's specific story is fictional, it always feels authentic and truthful. That such blatant injustice is commonplace should be horrifying to everyone, and that its main driver is corporate profiteering beggars belief. Amal is effectively unseen as an individual. A crime was committed by a black boy. A black boy has been imprisoned for it. Catching the guilty black boy is apparently irrelevant and, in common with thousands of other black boys, Amal's life is seen ultimately only as fodder for prison labour. His potential is squandered before it has any chance to bloom.
Punching The Air is intended for a Young Adult audience and I hope it gains a wide young readership - across youths of all colours. However, as someone who is considerably older than the target readership, I would also highly recommend this book to all adult readers, American or not. I can only hope that Tory Britain doesn't plan to import the American 'justice' model alongside their healthcare.
