Punching the Air

If you’ve ever wondered about the difference between writing that is spare and writing that is sparse, read this phenomenal verse novel for young adults. Punching The Air is a stunning example of eloquence and a testament to the power of poetry, created by award author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist, motivational speaker and member of the exonerated five, Yusef Salaam. As lyrical as it is profound, this is the story of one young man’s incredible strength and resilience; a young man able to preserve his humanity and compassion as he battles against oppression and systemic racism.

In this collaborative novel-in-verse, veteran and award-winning Haitian-American author Ibi Zoboi teams up with Yusef Salaam, one of the five Black teenaged boys who were wrongfully convicted of murder in Central Park a decade earlier—a story documented in Ken Burns’ The Central Park Five. Whereas the story about Amal is fiction, it follows Salaam’s experience and how he came to write poetry while in prison in order to help heal his anger and frustration at the injustice to which he fell victim. The two authors’ lyrical writing is powerful.