Absolutely superb. Very enjoyable and it will be an absolute hit with young adults and I think a great class text.

To aware and educate myself more on Black lives matter, their history and people, I have been reading quite a few books and watching movies or TV shows related to these topics. I watched When They See Us series on Netflix and I don’t think I have cried so much watching anything else. I was devastated, broke and just speechless. So obviously I researched a bit more on the internet about the Central Park Five/ Exonerated Five. So when I saw One of the fives Yusef Salaam was a co-author, I have been wanting to read this book.

This book is about a teenage boy Amal Shahid who happened to be in the wrong place at wrong time and is sent to the juvenile for the crime he didn’t commit. The book is explained through poetry and drawings. It’s a really sad story and absolutely heartbreaking. Being a black kid, Amal talks about the differences he had to face just because of the race or color of his skin. Also, how his dreams of art and poetry had to be given up and the injustices he had to face outside or within the jail.

I received an earc. Thankyou to Netgalley and HarperCollinsUK! I would definitely love to get a physical book to see the art illustrations properly as I read the book on my kindle.

Sometimes you just read a novel that is so beautiful and aching and phenomenal, that you must just sit in silence and absorb it. This is that kind of novel. It's told in verse, about a Black teen artist named Amal Shahid, who is facing court and jail time for throwing a punch. A white boy lies unconscious in hospital and a white court is building a case of what they think happened. It's so much about racial profiling, about misunderstanding, about blatant and cold racism. Amal is a boy of emotion and raw pain and feelings and explosive art -- and the entire world has coded him as bad for it.

The poetry is so beautiful, the imagery, the lines that just hit so hard. It will haunt some readers and encourage others. There's so much emotion on every page (also illustrations) and the storytelling style just added so many layers to it.

This is also based off experiences from one of the authors, Yusef Salaam, who was wrongfully imprisoned as a teen and lost 10 years. The authors' note also says this:
"Yusef and I wanted people to know that when you find yourself in dark places, there’s always a light somewhere in that darkness, and even if that light is inside of you, you can illuminate your own darkness by shedding that light on the world."
That's the heart and soul behind this book.

These authors have given the world a gift of colour amongst horror and it was truly an incredible read.

A beautifully written book about a heart-wrenching subject. I was drawn to this book because of the input of Yusef Salaam, one of the ‘Exonerated Five’ or ‘Central Park Five’ - a group of kids who were wrongfully convicted of aggravated assault and rape after being coerced into making false confessions after lengthy police interrogations. I wanted to learn more about institutional racism and its affect on those who are discriminated against. Punching the Air tells the story of a young, gifted boy (Amal) who is wrongfully incarcerated after an altercation with some white boys. The book was written in such a beautiful way and because the main character’s personality was conveyed so well through his own poetry it felt so personal. This book is a fantastic way to give young adults an insight into institutional racism and how attitudes like ‘boys just being boys’ sometimes only apply if you’re white.

I wanted to read this book because the summary information piqued my interest. I didn’t realise at the time how uniquely written it would be. This is the first (only) book I have read which has little to no punctuation, zero full stops/periods. Ordinarily that might unsettle me, or make me feel unsure about reading it, but I actually found it really easy to read. Given how few words there are on each of the 400 pages (as it’s laid out more like poetry than prose) I flew through the book. I enjoyed it. I found it easy to get into the main character, to feel empathy and sympathy for him. I think it was easy to get to know him on a deeper level, and although the book doesn’t go exceptionally deep, there is enough there to learn about his character. The only down side is I feel like this book is a snapshot of the story, not the full story, just a few moments in time. For this reason I’ve come to the end and feel a little unsatisfied. I feel I could read about 400 more pages and be happy. The story shows an insight into the life of a teenager who is faced with a long prison sentence, and the particular challenges experience by those from Black, Asian and Muslim communities. It’s great to read more books by non-white authors, and with non-white characters. I feel I learn a lot from characters/authors who are unlike myself in some ways. I would recommend this book to people of all ages.

From award-winning, bestselling author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five comes a powerful YA novel in verse about a boy who is wrongfully incarcerated.

This book is so intense, it holds on to you until the very end and makes you want to know more - and that is so important right now, considering what is happening right now. Amal is a great lead in this book and Salaam’s experience allows for the reality of prison life and how it feels to be in this situation makes this book feel you are there with him in the moment and it makes for such captivating and compelling reading.

The verses in this book are so perfectly done, compiling together to share every thought and build a narrative that leads to an ending with that gives you so much hope for Amal. Yes this book is heartbreaking and harrowing and almost leaves you gasping in moments but it is novel about hope, family and finding moments of peace in the middle of the hardest times and these pages express that so well throughout this book, Zoboi makes the feelings flow from the pages.

There is so much to discuss in this book the systemic racism and oppression that runs through the judicial system, the prison system and education is something that should be discussed by young and old and right now is the perfect timefor this book. A quick read yes, but easy? No, this book tells the truth and what a truth it is, devastating honest and beautifully written throughout.

𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: 5/5 ⁣⁣
There are some books that you read in your life that will stay within your heart forever. PUNCHING THE AIR is one of them. The life experiences that inspired Amal’s story is heartbreaking, beyond unfair and cruel to point that I felt my throat clogging with tears. The fact that the story in these pages exists in our world today, is a reminder of how deep the systematic racism and prejudice people of colour face. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
The poetry was beautifully crafted, each line was a knife to the heart—poignant, filled with unrestrained frustration, glittering with hope. That’s what broke me every time, Amal’s hope never died. It dipped but rose back up each time. Even when faced with a hatred that should’ve killed him, that should’ve broken him. The hope this book illustrates is a reminder of how long this fight against injustice is and how despite its length, we must find our version of hope. ⁣⁣
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I cannot recommend enough that every single person read this book. Amal’s story and the author’s crafting of this book deserves to be recognised. It deserves to be read and appreciated. It is made to bring light on the injustice people of colour face, police brutality, the scales of power and who they favour. This is a book that needs to be understood.

This was such a powerful and wonderfully crafted book. It tells the story of Amal, a 16 year old black boy who gets into a fight and ends up in juvenile detention. Given the subject matter, the story is hard, but it is also full of hope and art and the transformative power of poetry. Written in verse and interspersed throughout with artwork, the narrative progresses in an incredibly fluid fashion, building layer upon layer. Zoboi uses repetition throughout to hammer home certain aspects and I found this a really effective technique. Amal is a well drawn and complex character and I found the interactions within the narrative fascinating. Overall, this is an uncomfortable read, but ultimately a necessary one.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Written by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam, Punching The Air is a powerful YA novel that shares the story of Amal, a teenage boy who has been wrongfully incarcerated.

Amal is a poet and art student who will tug at your heart strings. He is essentially a child who is paying the price of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Written in free verse, the words will flow lyrically off the page, and into your heart where they will stay for long after you finish the last page. They will stay with you because they feel real. They feel real because you’ve heard his story before. You’ve seen it in documentaries, you’ve heard it through word of mouth and you’ve read it in articles.

The story of Amal may be fictional but how far from the truth is his story really when we can recall cases where this is exactly what has happened?

Punching the Air is a young adult novel written in stanzaic form about a black Muslim teen who is wrongfully convicted of a brutal crime and imprisoned. It's a brave, profoundly moving and searingly honest novel which brings together award-winning writer Zoboi and Dr Yusef Salaam and is both informed and inspired by Yusuf's real-life ordeal which closely mirrors that of our protagonist Amal. Formerly known as one of The Central Park Five (now known as The Exonerated Five) Salaam was 15 when he and four other Black and Latino boys were falsely accused in New York's Central Park jogger rape case. He was convicted, and sent to prison for assault and rape in 1989, with the conviction overturned in 2002. But this is not just a story about a crime or race. It’s about the power of art, faith, and transcendence in the most debilitating circumstances.

It follows Amal Shahid an artist who, even in a diverse school, is seen as disruptive and unmotivated in a biased system. One fateful night an altercation in a gentrified neighbourhood escalates into tragedy. Suddenly, at just 16 years old, Amal’s bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and sent to prison. Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words: his art. At the heart of Amal’s story is the seemingly neverending cycle of racism and racially-motivated violence that has and is a blight on the United States. It reflects not only Yusuf’s experience but the experiences of most people of colour who suffer the injustice of mass incarceration, a criminal justice system set up to fail them and systemic and institutional racism.

This is a powerful, important and hard-hitting exploration of race today. I found that it was written exquisitely and although you can devour this fairly swiftly it has definitely left an indelible imprint on my heart. It is a compulsive read and explores many timely and but most of all it challenges us all to rise up together, black, white, brown or whatever colour you are, to show disgust at the deep injustices in our societies and asks us to fight for change. Amal, Hope in Arabic, is an intelligent and excellent central figure and each drawback or problem he faces is like a punch in the gut; this is because the authors crafts the book to ensure you really do care about Amal. It is a way to challenge our assumptions which isn't always pleasant to do but ultimately this is a tale of hope and courage. Many thanks to Harper Collins Children's Books for an ARC.

This in-verse novel is incredible. But also devastating. With everything that has happened in the US over this year Punching the Air is massively relevant.

This novel is based on the very real experiences of Dr Yusef Salaam, one of the Exonerated 5, incorrectly convicted of Rape and Assault in the Central Park Jogger case in 1989. After serving nearly 7 years in prison for a crime he did not commit was exonerated when the real attacker was caught and confessed. Knowing this story is based on truth makes it have an even greater impact, that 5 young men have experienced what Amal goes through when they were actually innocent is almost unbelievable.

This novel is captivating from the beginning, beautifully written in-verse it’s hard not to get caught up on Amal’s story. Whenever I picked my Kindle up I would just get absorbed in the story and understanding the events that led to Amal going to prison and his experiences there. Being written in-verse also means that you get through the book quicker than a book written in a more tradition format.

The book tackles the systemic racism faced by many and is super relevant with the current discussions that have occurred over the last 6 months. It displays the way the judicial and prison system in America fails and oppresses Black people. It examines racial profiling and discusses all the kinds of stereotypes forced upon Amal by his white prosecutors, things like thug, criminal and monster. But as we follow Amal’s journey his experiences all I saw was young man, a boy, an artist of words and design!! For me this really reminds the reader that you shouldn’t make assumptions about people on their skin colour or how they look because you don’t know the truth until you get to know that person. The media has a way of representing races to suit their narrative and we has people need to break that and see the actual person for who they are.

I don’t want to give away too much on what happens during the novel but the opening of the book was instantly captivating. A Courtroom. The opening chapters don’t tell you the details of how Amal came to be in Court and as you continue reading you start learning the context around what happened that fateful night. I liked that the author didn’t spoon feed me all the information off the bat but left mystery to it. You fine more pieces of the puzzle as you read which I liked because it was like genuinely getting to know Amal as a person. The same as when you meet a new person and gradually they open up to you.

The story also gives insight on the impacts on these young men sentenced to time in prison/juvenile detention centres. The portrayal of being seen as guilty resulting in complete lack of support in helping these young men adjust to their new environment, the expectations. Some of these young men like Amal experiencing a type of shock on what has happened to them and no idea on what to expect. Because they are seen as guilty they are treated as less than human. It’s hard to imagine how many teenagers and young adults suffer this lack of support and care.

The characters throughout the book are unique and genuine feeling. With the book being written in-verse and as if Amal was speaking creating a greater emotional connection to him, to feel as he felt and to see him as human being. The side characters all had their parts to play and issues to represent, and also a representation of people wanting to help these young men from outside the prison service.

I so enjoyed this book and naturally found it hard to comprehend that Amal was based on the experienced of Dr Yusef Salaam. I know I already mentioned that before but I need to draw attention to it again. This book is not a story book, it’s the expression of a real persons experience written by an excellent writer. This isn’t a fiction book, the characters are fiction but the experience is real. I beg you to read into the Exonerated 5, to learn about Dr Yusef Salaam and what happened in the Central Park Jogger case.

I recommend you read this book and then assess how you see, treat and talk to people. It is truly thought provoking and emotional. Excellently written. Based on a topic that needs to more people to understand and fight.

Punching the Air is just wave after wave of emotional devastation. It’s such an impactful book that everyone needs to read and talk about.

I think verse has the inherent emotional capacity to it that just infuses every word with power and an ability to just gut-punch you. Zoboi and Salaam also seems to grasp this with their masterful word choice and structure. Every word has been carefully, deliberately chosen for maximum impact and this makes for a phenomenal reading experience. The fact that Salaam also drew from his own personal experiences as a member of the Exonerated Five adds extra gravitas and weight to the story, as it reminds you how Amal’s experience is all too real.

Amal has such a strong, distinctive voice that it is impossible not to connect with him. He is the type of character that will stay with you, through all his flaws and sheer creativity. Rarely has a singular voice made me unable to look away as much. Through him, both writers explore the power of creative imagination and hope, as that escapism becomes a lifeline and an outlet. His relationships with his friends and family are beautifully explored and show how complex any figure is, despite what media headlines and stereotypical prejudices may want you to believe.

This book also feels like a cathartic work, as it shakes with rage and anger against the injustices of the so-called justice system. The racial inequalities and systematic racism explored are sadly prevalent and it is vital that we continue and support the work to improve our systems.

I’ve said previously that I don’t cry at books, but Punching the Air brought me pretty damn close. It’s an incredibly emotional book that doesn’t leave any simple solutions, with an uncertain ending that contains a glimmer of hope. Instead it demands to be listened to and learnt from, as I hope all of you will do.

Punching the Air is an incredibly important and powerful YA novel written in verse. The story is about Amal, a black Muslim teen, who is sent to juvie for a crime he didn't commit. This novel is coming out at such an important time. Readers of all ages will learn something from this story. It even has poetry written by Yusef Salaam (of the Exonerated Five) from when he was wrongly imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. Truly cannot recommend this novel enough!

Wow, where to start with this one? An incredibly powerful, timely YA novel written in verse, this book tears apart issues of racism in the American judicial system through art, poetry and raw emotion. It’s a collaboration between established YA author Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam, a man who was wrongly imprisoned aged just fifteen in the Central Park five case and since exoneration has gone on to achieve a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work as an advocate of criminal justice.

The story itself is about a fictional character, Amal Shahid, but is clearly heavily inspired by Salaam’s own experiences which makes it all the more poignant. Amal is a young African-American with a passion for art and literature, but his life is upended when he is wrongly imprisoned for an attack on a white boy from the neighbourhood. Amal is a victim of a biased system who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and through lyrical, evocative verse he tells his story.

Before this year I’d never read a novel in verse, but this is now my second in the last few months and I’m converted. I always thought poetry would be harder to read and take longer to get through, but this is actually an incredibly quick read as the author skilfully conveys so much meaning through short, powerful lines. Every word has meaning, so much so that it’s difficult to choose a few favourite quotes. This is a book imbued with raw emotion; the rage, grief, isolation, injustice and hope jump off the page, and it’s really one which should be experienced for itself. Punching The Air definitely packs a punch, and I hope that a lot of people will be picking this one up on its release.

I don't think I can express how important, poignant and devastating this novel was to read. Written in collaboration with Yusef Salaam, one of the exonerated five, this clearly draws heavily in Salaam's own experiences to help shape the main character of Amal. Amal is simply a boy, in the wrong place, who makes one mistake that leads to devastating consequences.

Being black, Amal speaks candidly of his experiences in jail, of never getting to simply be a kid, and giving up on his dreams of poetry and art because he knows that's not in his expected future. It was heartbreaking to read, and also made me so angry. The injustices that Amal can clearly be seen in the actual world.

This is also written in verse, and I think it lends itself very well to the text - giving Amal a more human, emotional connection to the reader as we get to experience Amal's life from his deepest, most inner thoughts. The prose are beautiful, and the imagery is perfectly pitched to match Amal's feelings of regret, remorse and grief at the loss of his future.

Such a timely and incredibly important read.

Punching the Air is written in verse and follows Amal’s story after he is convicted of a crime he did not commit and sent to juvie.

I loved how this book was written, I loved the wording and how everything that was mentioned flowed and connected to the next topic discussed. There were a lot of insightful comparisons made such as how people treated/viewed Amal in comparison to others and the similarities between prison and slavery.

The book is a quick read but deals with various important topics and I liked how what Amal knew and was taught from the past was intertwined into what he was facing in the present.

4/5

Trigger Warnings: racism, wrongful incarceration, prison abuse, use of racial slurs.

I could sit here for hours contemplating how to begin this review, but I don’t think there’s any way to be concise or coherent about it. I am not Black, I do not carry as hefty a weight on my shoulders that begs me to be careful in the most innocent of situations. Reading this book, my primary thought throughout was that I cannot imagine how this feels. I felt the anger radiating off the page in every single word. There are so many verses that I wanted to write in my quote journal, but I find it counterproductive to copy out an entire book.

Zoboi states in the foreword that Punching the Air
“draws inspiration from the Scottsboro Boys, the Exonerated Five, and the Jena Six case in 2006.”
All of these inspirational cases can be seen through Amal’s wrongful incarceration, the way the colour of Amal’s skin is enough for people to pass judgement, the way it’s Amal’s own teacher who fails him in the end.

“And every lie
they say about me
every stone
they throw at me
is supposed to bounce off like tiny pellets

Here I have to be bulletproof.”


The imagery that Zoboi and Salaam evoke through their lyrical prose is incredibly poignant. They tell the story of millions of Black kids across the world who are being forced into a stereotypical old created from centuries of racial discrimination that they don’t and never have fit into. Punching the Air is a harrowing, heart-breaking exploration of the injustice and discrimination expressed by what one would hope to call protective authorities: prison officers, judges, juries, police officers. It was truly a great narrative, one that had me feeling every emotion from happiness and liberation to sadness and anger.

“they call it free time and it’s the biggest lie because we are
still in here.”


There’s a character named Imani, a prison abolitionist, whose hard work doesn’t go unnoticed. Activists like Imani exist in real life and it’s truly devastating that we really only hear their stories now due to the acceleration of the Black Lives Matter movement following George Floyd’s death. It’s no secret that these activists are underfunded and have every point of authority working against them to uphold a system that thrives off injustice. I only pray that Punching the Air raises more awareness of this and helps people become more sensitive to these issues and to put up a stronger fight.

“because where I come from
jail or death
were the two options she handed to us
because where he comes from
the American Dream
was the one option she handed to them.”

This was such a powerful book that it made my heart hurt and left me feeling so overwhelmingly sad and angry about the unfair treatment of black people compared to those who are white in the justice system. This novel in verse, drawing on Yusef Salaam's experiences, highlights the issues and injustices within our police and juvenile detention systems in Amercia.

This was an engrossing quick read that was difficult to put down, but I must admit I was really disappointed with the ending which left me needing more.

Nonetheless this is such an important book and I think it should be taught in schools.

I absolutely devoured this book. I'm not very 'into' poetry, and though I have loved the many novels-in-verse I have read this year this is the first where I could hear the rhythm and words in my head. Amal's pain and desperation and humanity bounced around my skull while reading. He painted the scenes (no joke intended) so vividly and his heartbreak and rage were so visceral I felt I was there.

Truly this is a paragon of the novel-in-verse style as well as being a perfect rendition of what it might be like to be inside prison. Not just for a crime you didn't commit, but a demonstration of the experiences that black boys and black men have in a system (I won't call it 'justice') utterly balanced against them.

While it was all moving the section that resonated with me the most was the poetry class where one classmate (I won't call them 'inmates') says that his biggest mistake was 'being born'. What a travesty the world is where a person can be made to feel regret for their entire existence. Especially when we, the readers, and his classmates know that the world, the system, is responsible for making him feel that way.

It's appalling, and this book is perfection for pointing it out.

Punching the Air is a poignant novel written entirely in verse which explores the story of Amal, a young Black Muslim teen who is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and sent to prison. While I haven’t read any of Ibi Zoboi’s other works, I’ve heard wonderful things and after reading this book I’m definitely kicking myself for not reading her work before. I think most people will be familiar with Dr Yusef Salaam’s story, he is one of the Exonerated Five, and an incredible and inspiring man who advocates for prison reform and for racial justice. His personal experience of being incarcerated at a young age and wrongfully convicted permeates this book and it’s apparent that his experience informs Amal’s in the book and gives it so much more depth and realism. If you haven’t heard of his story, I would recommend doing some research, and also watching the Netflix series When They See Us which is a dramatisation about the Exonerated Five and their experiences.

I read this book over the course of a day and could not put it down, it was so moving, and delves into so much whilst still feeling very accessible. The novel speaks to and touches upon so many key issues such as the school to prison pipeline, the thirteenth amendment, the class divide in America, a broken education system and so much more.

Over the past few years, I’ve really gained an appreciation for novels which are in verse and this one is no exception. I’d love to check out the audiobook edition of this book because I feel like the style and certain scenes lend themselves very well to that medium. I found myself highlighting so many passages because the writing was just so good and so impactful. Amal’s voice feels so real at all times and you really get a sense of the full range of emotions he goes through, from denial to anger to despair to hope and joy. I also loved how Amal’s faith and musings about God and Islam were so beautifully expressed and the poetry of these parts touched me. I also feel like his voice reads very naturally and like an actual teenager, rather than what an adult thinks a teen sounds or acts like so nothing feels stilted or out of character.

I rooted for Amal and felt so deeply for him, especially as he tries to navigate the new reality he finds himself forced into. I loved that he had his art and poetry to turn to in his darkest moments and how it provides him with a positive outlet in an otherwise dire situation. Zoboi and Salaam also explore how even outside prison, Amal has been labelled and misunderstood, simply because he is a young Black man, for instance with his art teacher Ms. Rinaldi who testifies against him and dubs him ‘angry’. Amal’s frustration at this and his realisation that despite seeing him, she doesn’t really see him and will never understand his experiences or how they inform his art is so important and telling. I also enjoyed how his friendships with the other boys in prison – Kadon, Amir, Rah and Smoke – develop and how they all connect through his talent and love for art, they bond over a mural they paint together for instance and dub him ‘young Basquiat’.

While there are certainly some uplifting and hopeful moments in this book, it doesn’t shy away from exploring the very grim realities of being convicted of a crime and incarcerated as a young Black man. When Amal is sentenced, he is aware of how serious it is but nothing could possibly prepare him for the actuality of being imprisoned and how it will affect his spirit and mental health. On top of his actual processing and the personal impact on him and his family and friends, he also has to contend with violence from guards and his fellow inmates. One moment in particular sent chills down my spine where a guard deliberately shows Amal a very disturbing tattoo, which on the surface is despicable enough but I think this also speaks to how the system is corrupt on so many levels, from the upper rungs to the guards at all levels who harbour their own dangerous prejudices.

Overall, Punching the Air is an incredible book and covers so much ground, and is a needed and powerful addition to the Y/A contemporary genre as a whole. I struggle to think of anyone who can read this book and not be changed in some way as well as getting further insight into the devastating impacts of a system which is corrupted and unjust, and specifically how this disproportionately impacts Black men and women.