I haven't met a kind and wonderful teacher in my life till date. I find teachers in movies and books (nonfiction, memoirs, autobiographies) far more inspirational. If you are looking to explore this more, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption is a must-read. For a look at the historical context of this issue, I also suggest reading Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (or Kendi's longer, more in-depth version: Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America). There are stories like these that surpass the point of it being just fiction only and encompass the full capacity of what powerful storytelling can do, more than a non-fiction story ever could.

a b "CASA book club covers 'Punching the Air', features guest speaker". CHD. 2021-02-10 . Retrieved 2022-01-22. The illustrations/formatting didn’t come across particularly well on the ebook galley but now I have a hard copy, I can appreciate how wonderful the formatting and design is. I had never read a novel in verse before this one but I definitely would love to read more in the future! Punching the Air was a powerful novel that is definitely a must-read for everyone. I highly recommend it!

a b Pineda, Dorany (2021-04-17). "Winners of the 2020 L.A. Times Book Prizes announced". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2022-01-22. 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.” Shelf Awareness's Best Children's & Teen Books of 2020". Shelf Awareness. 2020-11-24 . Retrieved 2022-01-22. This is a novel filled with pain, but also with hope as the main character expresses himself through poetry and art. The novel becomes all the more poignant when you consider that one of the authors- Yusef Salaam- was himself wrongfully convicted of a violent crime as a teenager and served six years in prison before being exonerated. This won't take you long to read, but it will leave an impact and I would absolutely recommend it. The audiobook is beautifully done as well. I received an advance audio copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Though their sentences have been overturned, there’s no way one can ever make up for a lifetime’s worth of trauma. Yet the narrative of this story was purposely chosen to provide hope. In general, yes, teachers! Can you be less cranky and not make your classes feel like someone else has punished you to do your job and in turn shove that hatred towards your students? I mean both parties hate classes because of this. And not all students are the same. Some are introverts and some can act well to get credits. It's your job to see into that and make out the difference yourselves. Al-Mateen, Sylvia (2020-06-17). "Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam: Finding Power Within". Shelf Awareness . Retrieved 2022-01-22. Punching the Air is a young adult novel-in-verse by Ibi Zoboi and Dr. Yusef Salaam, published September 1, 2020 by Balzer + Bray.

The writing part didn't do much. The poetry lines, the verse didn't work for me. It felt like it was trying too hard but it did its job well of telling the story of the boy. It presented well the angst, the confusion, the loneliness, the beliefs of the narrator but I didn't get that connected to the character. I wanted to feel so much more for tthe character and the story. The narrative in this novel had a moment-to-moment feeling that was pretty tension ridden and I read much of it with that sense of doom and despair conveyed by Amal’s feelings. There were some areas of the book that I felt were particularly impactful – both sides defendant and perpetrator were the same age, yet one was referred to as a boy and the other a man. That point really hit me deep. There were many more examples but I don’t want to spoil. Amal Shahid has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, he’s seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. Then one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood escalates into tragedy. “Boys just being boys” turns out to be true only when those boys are white.

What a beautiful, heart-wrenching, infuriating but hopeful journey. The story is about a teenage Alam who went against his gut instinct ended up in a situation where he made one wrong move that changed the course of his entire life. While this is not the story about Yusef Salaam, a prison abolitionist and one of the Exonerated Five, it does draw on some things that he experienced when he was wrongfully imprisoned.

Wordle Helper

amal is a creative kid, and while incarcerated, self-expression through art is one of the only joys he is permitted. when that is taken from him, all that's left to do is read and study. I was a bit worried when I saw that the entire book was told in verses because it can be either a hit or miss for me. I cannot begin to tell you how each of these verse punches you in the gut again and leave you feeling helpless about the injustice faced by Alaam and real-life imprisoned people. The writing was raw, layered, beautiful, honest, angering, hopeful, hopeless and so many other different emotions.