I finished this beautiful tribute to art and hope at the weekend and it was more than worth the four-month waiting list on my library’s audiobook app! Punching the Air is a poetic YA novel which doesn’t take long to read but which makes a huge impact, so definitely add this one to your TBR!

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It’s a team effort between Haitian-American author Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam, one of the Exonerated Five. Although Amal, the 16-year-old protagonist, is not meant to be a portrayal of Yusef, the story of wrongful incarceration is similar and the book even includes some of the poetry Yusef wrote during his time in prison. Books written in verse are quickly becoming favourites of mine, especially hearing them read aloud. There’s just something so powerful in hearing the rhythm and the words.

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There is so much frustration and heartbreak in this book. The white adults in Amal’s life let him down and harm him when they’re supposed to be in positions of protection. The abuses Amal and his inmates face at the hands of some of the prison guards is sickening. And of course, how Amal ends up incarcerated in the first place is an accurate yet infuriating portrayal of the way Black boys are treated in the US judicial system.

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BUT the authors give the reader hope. They remind us that minds can never be caged, that art and poetry and love and faith are tools for fighting back against racism, injustice and prejudice. Really a must read.