Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

 

Punching the Air

March 16th, 2024

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam, 2020, Novel in Verse, 386 pages

2021 Walter Dean Myers Award Winner, 2021 New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Book Award for Children's Literature Winner, 2020 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature Winner       

Amal Shahid has a gift: the power of his words and drawing. Despite having a promising future, Amal is caught on the wrong side (white) of town at the wrong time. One small mistake leads to Amal being wrongly convicted of aggravated assault and battery and sent to prison at the young age of sixteen. During his sentence, Amal feels broken; all he wants is the world to see him the way he sees himself. Using the power of his words and artwork, Amal begins to cope with his life in a juvenile detention center and make his voice be heard. 

I chose to read Punching the Air because the beautiful artwork on the cover initially snagged my attention. However, what really made me want to read this book was learning that one of the Exonerated Five (from the Central Park jogging case), Yusef Salaam, was a co-author of this novel in verse. Although this story is not his own, it was clear that certain events and themes from his own experience of injustice would heavily influence the plot of this book. I knew his voice is one I wanted to hear. 

Teaching and Content Considerations:

Punching the Air is an incredibly powerful book that mostly definitely belongs in an ELA curriculum. Due to frequent adult language, I would recommend this novel in verse for high school students or to middle school students who have adult permission. Punching the Air I think would work really effectively as a read aloud, literature circle book, or independent reading book. I believe this novel fits excellently into a social justice unit, as it allows students to explore racial discrimination and injustice in the justice system through Amal's fictional account, as well as Yusef Salaam's own experiences in real life. Students who enjoy spoken word, artwork, and social justice themes will find Punching the Air riveting and empowering. 

Instructional Ideas

Real Life Parallels: As aforementioned, one of the coolest aspects of this novel is that a member on the Exonerated Five co-wrote this book. In fact, some of his own poetry that he wrote while wrongly incarcerated is featured in the novel! Hence, teachers could have students reading this novel research the Central Park Jogging case and explore the aspects of racial discrimination see in the case. Students could read excerpts from Salaam's poetry collected, Words of a Man, my right to be, that he wrote in prison. It would be even more effective to watch videos of Salaam performing these poems. Ultimately, students would be able to determine similarities they see between Amal and Salaam's experience and written work, as well as analyze crucial differences between the two.

Slam Poems/Free Verse Poems with Illustrations: Poetry and art constantly empower Amal throughout the novel; this is especially true when he has to cope with his new life in prison. A unique aspect of this novel is that many of the pages either contain artwork that add further meaning to Amal's poems, or use unique line spacing to emphasize certain ideas Amal expresses. Even if students don't read this book, teachers could read aloud and display particularly powerful passages for students to analyze and emulate in their own free verse poems. One theme Amal often talks about is mistakes and misgivings; this could be a prompt for students to write their own free verse poem. Students could analyze how Amal uses figurative language to enhance his message and then incorporate it into their own poems. Finally, students could change their spacing and formatting like Amal to further emphasize their point. On the other hand, students could research an aspect of social injustice in the world and write their own slam poems to be performed in class. 

Possible Read Aloud Passages

• Pages 16-17: "I replay everybody's testimonies/ in my head/ like a song on loop"
• Amal is reflecting on the emotions he experienced while hearing everyone's testimonies during his hearing. This is a powerful passage to analyze figurative language and related artwork.
• Page 145-148: Cubism: "Umi never made me/ lock myself away/stay in my room when/ I disappointed her"
• Amal is struggling in prison. He feels the weight of his prison cell walls as well as the expectation that he must think and act a certain way in order to survive. The chapter "Cubism" is a great passage to also analyze the bigger meaning behind the chapter's format, spacing, and artwork. 
• Page 200-202: Blind Justice II: "All because/ we were in the wrong place/ we were in the wrong skins."
• Amal begins to give his reader details about the night he was arrested for a crime he didn't commit. The chapter Blind Justice really emphasizes of differently Amal and his friends are viewed compared to the white teens also involved in the incident. 

Thoughts and Reflections

I was truthfully blown away by Punching the Air. Ibi Zoboi's and Yusef Salaam's poetry was indescribably beautiful, tragic, and profoundly empowering. The idea, the words, how the words were displayed on the page--everything single choice holds great meaning for the reader to enjoy and pick apart! I also loved the message of hope Zoboi and Salaam spread with their novel; starting with the meaning behind Amal's name. Despite great injustice and darkness in the world, Punching the Air shows that living your truth, or fighting for it, is always worth it. 

After reading Punching the Air, I certainly realized I need to learn more about Salaam's background and the complete story of the Exonerated Five and the Central Park jogging case. I would also love to learn more about the lives of the other four men who were wrongly accused and if they continue to fight for justice today like Salaam.