# Punching the Air - Hardcover

by **Ibi Zoboi** (Author), **Yusef Salaam** (Author)

**_New York Times_ and _USA Today_ bestseller \* Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor \* Walter Award Winner \* Goodreads Finalist for Best Teen Book of the Year \* _Time_ Magazine Best Book of the Year \* _Publishers Weekly_ Best Book of the Year \* Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year \* _School Library Journal_ Best Book of the Year \* _Kirkus_ Best Book of the Year \* New York Public Library Best Book of the Year**

**From award-winning, bestselling author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five comes a powerful YA novel in verse about a boy who is wrongfully incarcerated. A must-read for fans of Jason Reynolds, Walter Dean Myers, and Elizabeth Acevedo.**

_The story that I thought_

_was my life_

_didn't start on the day_

_I was born_

Amal Shahid has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, because of a biased system he's seen as disruptive and unmotivated. 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.

_The story that I think_

_will be my life_

_starts today_

Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal is convicted of a crime he didn't commit and sent to prison. Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words, his art. This never should have been his story. But can he change it?

With spellbinding lyricism, award-winning author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam tell a moving and deeply profound story about how one boy is able to maintain his humanity and fight for the truth in a system designed to strip him of both.

**Number of Pages:** 400

**Dimensions:** 1.5 x 8.3 x 5.6 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** September 01, 2020

**Award:** Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards (2021)

**Accelerated Reader:**

**Quiz Name:** Punching the Air

**Interest Level:** Upper Grades, 9-12

**Reading Level:** 5.7

**Point Value:** 5

## Details

- **Price:** 19.99 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 19.99 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Punching the Air - Hardcover

---

> Source: [Smart supply deals](https://smartsupplydeals.com/products/punching-the-air-hardcover)
> Updated: 2026-07-23