Done completely in verse.  Amal Shahid has his life going for him, until he enter the wrong skate park at the wrong time.  Now sitting in prison for something he didn't do, he tells his story and shares his feelings through verse.

Partially based on  Yusef Salaam, who was accused of a crime he didn't commit and served almost 7 years in prison.

Told in verse, punching the air is a powerful, eye opening novel that shares a perspective not many of us will ever face or experience. 

Written by Ibi Zoboi in collaboration with Yusuf Salaam - one of the Exonerated Five - this story follows Amal, a young teen who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time which results in a devastating injustice.  

Amal’s experiences reflects some of those that Salaam himself experienced while he was wrongfully incarcerated. We get to see first hand how many injustices Amal faces in the prison system, and how institutional racism so easily allows for POC (specifically the Black community) to be targeted. 

The format of this book was poignant and provided such an impactful reading experience. Being told in verse, you were made to feel the emotions Amal was going through even more deeply than you would have otherwise. Seeing how art was used as a way for Amal to save himself will resonate with so many.

This book is an absolute must read. The audio version of this was truly phenomenal and the narrator did such a great job capturing Amal. I highly recommend!

Beautifully written, powerful in its simplicity of language.  This book encompasses all that is wrong with our society, our criminal justice system and the continued restrictions put on people of color who have never known the meaning of American equality.

I loved the narration of Punching the Air! The narrator brought the story to life. Amal’s story is so relevant and touching. I loved experiencing hope with him and finding his truth. This book is different from all others because it is inspired by Yusef Salaam. His experience informs the narrative and it makes the story more real.

Beautifully written account of life in a juvenile detention center. My heart broke for Amal and his situation, and the utter injustice of it all.

I’m really glad I got a chance to listen to this book and absorb the story.  The narrator was fantastic.  The emotion behind his voice was perfect for relating the authors message.  I didn’t know until I read other reviews that this was actually a book of poetry.  That made me love this book even more.  This book is important, poignant and devastating.  

Yusef Salaam, one of the exonerated five, co-authored this book.  It clearly draws on his experiences to help shape Amal and his strife.  Amal is a boy, in the wrong place at the wrong time.  He makes one mistake that leads to life changing consequences.  He speaks candidly of his experiences in jail, fighting for his dreams of poetry and art, and missing out on being a normal teenager.  The injustices faced are mirror what happens in the actual world.

4 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

Punching the Air has a strong start. It pulls the reader into the story of Amal , a wrongfully convicted teen, as he serves his prison sentence. This is another difficult read that shows how systematic racism impacts the prison system and the education system. This is a necessary read for people that want to understand mass incarceration and how the effects teenagers of color. At some points I found it difficult to stay engaged, but overall this is a good book. I listened to the audiobook version. The narrator was good.

The verse and the message in this book are both incredible. While this isn't strictly autobiographical, I loved how Yusef Salaam used his experiences in the Exonerated Five to bring Amal's story to life. The way that Amal explored himself and his identity through art throughout his wrongful imprisonment was incredible. The narrator of the audiobook also did a fantastic job. I just wish this had been longer so we could see more of Amal's journey, both before and after the book's arc. 

*Thanks very much to the publisher for providing my copy of the book via Netgalley!*

“words can paint black and white pictures, too
Maybe ideas have their own eyes
separating black from white as if the world
is some old, old TV show
our mind's eyes and our eyes' minds
see the world as they want to
Everything already illustrated
in black and white” 
― Ibi Zoboi & Yusef Salaam, Punching the Air

Do you ever read a book and wonder where has it been all your life? For me it’s this gem. Punching The Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam is a phenomenal novel written in verse, about Amal Shahif, a black teen artist, who is facing court and jail time for throwing a punch. As a white boy lies unconscious, the court builds a case of what they believed happened 

The story dives into topics of race/racism as well as how the justice  system in America fails and oppresses black people. We see Amal full of emotion and pain being forced into stereotypes that he is not by his white prosecutors such as “thug, criminal, animal etc” instead of a young boy who has a passion for art. 
The read was so impactful, you could feel every emotion of each page. 

There were so many standout moments in the story. One that really hit home is where it talks about Amal, black, portrayed as a full grown man, who has never “laughed at Elmo on Sesame Street” or “splashed in a puddle” or “been afraid of monsters” compared to the white victim being seen as a “boy” even though they are the same age. 

From the moment I started this gem, I knew it was going to be something special. It’s also based on the experience of the author Yusef Salaam, who was wrongfully imprisoned as a teen. I highly recommend this read: 5/5 stars. Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins for gifting me with this incredible read

I gave this book 4/5 stars. 
this story is about a young black boy who has been wrongfully arrested and sentenced. It deals with racism, anger, sadness and how the power of act and expression can be freeing. 
I loved the voice of this novel, it sounds like a teenager would sound full of raw and sometimes confusing emotion. The audiobook narrator captures this perfectly too. Like all poetry or novels written in verse there are certain poems and lines in here I found to be too cliché but I found they were mostly unique and powerful. I think everyone should read this story and look into the story and inspiration behind it (seriously listen to the afterwards)  and understand that things like this happen everyday. 
Overall, I may not connect with verse-style novels very well but this one took control of me, taught me things, and made me feel pain and joy. Also the audio book is amazing and so well done! It definitely enhanced the intensity of the story.

I really enjoyed listening to this title; the verse obviously lends itself well to being performed. The narrator was very soft-spoken. I would have preferred a stronger voice, as I felt that Amal's voice should have been a bit more confident.

Punching the Air is cowritten by Ibi Zoboi (author of American Street) and Yusef Salaam (writer, and one of the exonerated five). The audio is excellently narrated, and since this is a novel-in-verse, I think that audio was actually the best way to read it! This is a tough read, and while the authors make it clear that they want to imbue the novel with hope, there were often moments when it felt bleak. It's beautifully written -- the only downside to audio is that I don't get to linger on moving passages in the same way! The story follows wrongfully incarcerated teenager Amal (who's name literally means hope) who is an artist, finding his voice. It captures all of the raw emotion that he experiences in each of the visceral moments of this journey -- from the fight in the park, to the trial, to the everyday violence in jail. It captures that teenage impulsivity, and the way in which it has particular and extreme consequences for Black youth. If you enjoy Jason Reynolds or Elizabeth Acevedo's books, you'll enjoy this!

Excellent narration (sometimes they're not), superb writing. It is a story of educators who fail, a system that is failing, but above all, it is a story of the importance of art, written and visual, and the power of truth.

The narrator was fantastic and read with passion that made me connect to the story on a deeper level.

I'm still not sure how I feel about the story itself. It was mentioned in the author's note about how the protagonist was written to have a sense of hope, but I don't know how much I felt that as a listener. This book is not about one person but rather a series of larger systematic issues that harms a great number of people. At the same time, the protagonist made so many decisions that I, an adult with a world of different experiences, struggled with. I sympathize and my heart aches for him and all those he represents, but I also don't know what I'm suppose to do about it. No book should be expected to give all the answers, and I certainly don't fault the exceptionally talented Ibi Zoboi for not giving them to me, but I struggle.

Amal Shahid is an artist and a poet.  
But most people don’t see that.  
What they see is, that Amal is angry, Amal is disruptive, Amal is unmotivated, and Amal is troubled.   What they don’t see is that Amal is angry because the world he sees in school and in the newly gentrified neighborhood around him doesn’t reflect his life or the lives of his friends, Amal is disruptive because he is trying to question the bias he lives within and change the world around him, Amal is unmotivated only in the white dominated classes he is forced to sit through, Amal is troubled because he is being accused of a crime he did not commit. 

Partnering with prison reform activist and one of the now exonerated five, Yusef Salaam, award-winning author Ibi Zoboi has written a powerful novel in verse that illustrates how the prison system, especially the juvenile prison system, has failed our young people. 
This story takes us into Amal’s life and his wrongful incarceration.  At just 16, Amal is sent away to a juvenile detention center.  He admits to being a part of the incident that put a young white male into the hospital, he even admits he threw the first punch, but he also admits he didn’t throw the last.  He was a boy in the wrong place, who made a mistake. 

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is more than just a story of guilt or innocence. It raises that question of course - Has Amal done a thing worthy of imprisonment? He was in a fight, but was it criminal? The central question of the plot is bigger than a single teenager's guilt, though. It's a question about the entire system. About presumptions based on race. About the school system and the boxes it puts kids into. About cultural failures and violence. We expect kids to be tough but punish them when they fight. And then treat them as if they're dangerous forever after. We expect only a single time of behavior from them from early childhood and punish them for things they don't understand. Zaboi and Salaam suggest that the school system prepares boys for prison, even small infractions taking power from them It's noteworthy that the end of the book does not have Amal in a clear place. He doesn't have answers about his future,He's just thinking, educating himself, an looking for options to make better choices going forward. With such big societal questions being raised, this is an excellent book for discussion.

this was amazing. books written in verse don't always work for me, but this was really great. the writing is so beautiful and the story is really impactful.

Raw, emotional, elegant and powerful!

Amal Shahid tells his story in verse, a story of how the color of his skin led him to be imprisoned, branded a man at the age of sixteen, branded a thug by the media, branded guilty by society.  His voice- candid, aching, angry, scared... real. Author Ibi Zoboi worked with prison reform activist Yusef Salaam, who was wrongfully convicted and ultimately proven innocent and released from prison, to create this stunning and heartbreaking story of injustice and racism.  Narrator Ethan Herrise gives voice to Amal, perfectly capturing his creative mind, his emotional turmoil and his struggle to fight against a system that wants to beat him down.

This explosive cover introduces Punching the Air's powerful message. Inspired by the life and writings of Yusef Salaam, exonerated after serving almost seven years for a crime he did not commit, authors Zoboi and Salaam have joined forces to create an extraordinary novel in verse.

​Sixteen-year-old Amal Shahid is a young black man with a promising future. A talented visual artist, his large-scale works feature innovative design and bold use of color. He recently earned a coveted spot for a prestigious high school art exhibition. His talent is not limited to visual expression. He is also a poet.
One night he finds himself in a situation he never considered possible. A combination of wrong place, wrong skin, wrong time set him up for criminal conviction and subsequent incarceration that should never have happened. The only witness who knows the truth is in a comma.
Picture
As a young Black man falsely imprisoned, he experiences shock, confusion, despair, anger, discouragement, and mistrust. Over time his feelings slowly evolve as he meets people that he can trust and is given an opportunity to create meaningful art. He begins to hope. ​The change in Amal is evident throughout the book, revealing his developing self-awareness and literary skill.
Herrise’s narration is understated, allowing Amal’s "old soul"  to take center stage. Hearing the poetry read aloud magnifies its impact.
This is a story of pain and poor decisions, of circumstances that in an instant can change the trajectory of a life. Amal’s anguish bleeds through each phrase, each page. It’s raw. It’s real. Ultimately it is a story of overcoming impossible odds and holding on to hope. A must read.

I loved it. I don’t normally like books in verse, but this was real and gorgeously written. Even better that it is inspired by a true story & by the racial injustice we see running rampant. Highly recommend!