Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Saunders
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Jailed teen finds his voice in poignant novel in verse.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
When PUNCHING THE AIR begins, Amal, a Black Muslim teen enrolled in an arts high school, is on trial for his role in a fight between a group of Black teens and a group of White teens. He's found guilty, in part because the White teen whose testimony could exonerate him lies in a coma. Amal is sentenced to prison, canceling his college plans. He lashes out at first, which results in punishment from the authorities and fights with other prisoners. A poetry class shows him how he can use art and writing to continue to move his life forward despite his circumstances.
Is It Any Good?
This book is a page-turner: emotionally true, politically astute, and beautifully written. Author Idi Zoboi collaborated on Punching the Air with Yusef Salaam, a member of the Exonerated 5 (the "Central Park 5"), Black, Latino, and Muslim young men wrongly convicted of raping and beating a White woman in New York City's Central Park. The convictions were eventually vacated. The first-person narrator speaks in verse. This provides intimacy and emotional intensity, and is effective in communicating the quality of vivid dreams and fantasies.
Black-and-white illustrations simulate the appearance of a high school kid's composition book, with sketches and doodles on the pages. There's also interesting use of the arrangement of type on the page for effect.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the roles of art, music, and writing in Punching the Air. How do the arts serve as a source of information, a means to power, and a mode of self-expression?
Would you like to learn more about any of the books, paintings, or historical figures mentioned in Punching the Air? Which ones, and why?
How does the authors' choice to tell the story in poetry affect how you understand it?
Did you like the way the authors used the visual presentation of the words?
Book Details
- Authors :
- Genre : Contemporary Fiction
- Topics : Activism , Arts , Friendship
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Balzer + Bray
- Publication date : September 18, 2020
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 13 - 18
- Number of pages : 386
- Available on : Paperback, Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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