The Redemptive Power of Art: Five Questions for Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam, Authors of Punching the Air
From award-winning author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist as well as one of the exonerated five, Yusef Salaam, comes a powerful YA novel-in-verse. Punching the Air delivers an unflinching look inside the American criminal justice system told from the perspective of a boy incarcerated for a crime he didn’t commit, working to communicate his truth through art. Honest, raw and profoundly eye-opening, this is a must-read for teens and adults alike. Here, Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam discuss everything from storytelling through poetry and the healing and redemptive power of art, to what they’re reading and what’s inspiring them right now.
Punching the Air
Hardcover $19.99
Punching the Air
By Ibi Zoboi , Yusef Salaam
In Stock Online
Hardcover $19.99
Punching the Air is such a magnetic read. We are seeing so many young adults, especially, gravitating towards novels in verse. What is it about this medium of storytelling that is so powerful and what made you choose it as the vehicle to tell this story?
Ibi Zoboi: Poetry has such a powerful way of conveying raw emotion. You can say so much with just a few words on the page by using metaphors, imagery and symbolism. Yusef was selling his self-published book of poetry when I ran into him at a book festival a few years ago. I was blown away by one of his poems called “I Stand Accused,” something that he had recited in the courtroom right after he had been given that wrongful conviction. I knew right away that this novel had to be told in a series of poems. Both Yusef and I are poets, and this was the best way to capture Amal, the main character, and his journey.
We are introduced to Amal Shahid as an artist and a poet and it’s that creative spirit that pulls him through as he fights to maintain his identity. How important are creative outlets for those struggling to heal and maintain a sense of self?
Yusef Salaam: Poetry and art were my salvation while I was incarcerated. I always say that while I was in prison, I had to do things that kept my mind free. Through art, I could meditate and focus on something other than my current situation.
While this story is its own unique take on one young man’s struggle for justice, we are still, all too often, seeing similar tales dragged through the headlines. What do you hope readers take away from this particular story?
Ibi Zoboi: While Punching the Air addresses mass incarceration, juvenile justice, and the school-to-prison pipeline, it is ultimately a story about the healing and redemptive power of art. There isn’t much we can do about juvenile justice today, but what we can do now is empower those young people who are incarcerated or dealing with the proverbial walls and boxes in their own lives. If nothing else, we want to remind them that art has the ability to enhance their world in big and small ways. And it’s not just painting or poetry. Art can be anything creative.
Did anything surprise you or catch you off guard as you were writing Punching the Air together? What was the collaborative process like for you?
Yusef Salaam: I think we were both prepared for the challenges and blessings. There were more blessings. Working with Ibi has been a tremendous experience. Someone I met in college while I was learning all these things about myself, and she is now with the skills to help me bring this story to life.
Ibi Zoboi: I can’t say there was anything surprising about our process. Since Yusef is new to publishing, I think he was pleasantly surprised at all the ways in which we’ve been able to assert our creative vision into this book. We gave feedback on the cover and we asked for spot illustrations. Our publisher has been incredibly supportive, so this project was collaborative on so many levels.
We always have to ask: What are you reading right now that’s inspiring you and what would you recommend as must-reads for young people?
Ibi Zoboi: I am reading Kimberly Johnson’s This is My America, another young adult novel about mass incarceration. I just received Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste. I’m writing about race for my next novel and Caste will be very helpful in the same way that Jason Reynold’s and Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped has changed the game, in my opinion. Because Stamped is out there in the world, we can start deepening our conversations about race with young people.
[gallery size="medium" link="none" ids="52834,52835,52836"]
Punching the Air is such a magnetic read. We are seeing so many young adults, especially, gravitating towards novels in verse. What is it about this medium of storytelling that is so powerful and what made you choose it as the vehicle to tell this story?
Ibi Zoboi: Poetry has such a powerful way of conveying raw emotion. You can say so much with just a few words on the page by using metaphors, imagery and symbolism. Yusef was selling his self-published book of poetry when I ran into him at a book festival a few years ago. I was blown away by one of his poems called “I Stand Accused,” something that he had recited in the courtroom right after he had been given that wrongful conviction. I knew right away that this novel had to be told in a series of poems. Both Yusef and I are poets, and this was the best way to capture Amal, the main character, and his journey.
We are introduced to Amal Shahid as an artist and a poet and it’s that creative spirit that pulls him through as he fights to maintain his identity. How important are creative outlets for those struggling to heal and maintain a sense of self?
Yusef Salaam: Poetry and art were my salvation while I was incarcerated. I always say that while I was in prison, I had to do things that kept my mind free. Through art, I could meditate and focus on something other than my current situation.
While this story is its own unique take on one young man’s struggle for justice, we are still, all too often, seeing similar tales dragged through the headlines. What do you hope readers take away from this particular story?
Ibi Zoboi: While Punching the Air addresses mass incarceration, juvenile justice, and the school-to-prison pipeline, it is ultimately a story about the healing and redemptive power of art. There isn’t much we can do about juvenile justice today, but what we can do now is empower those young people who are incarcerated or dealing with the proverbial walls and boxes in their own lives. If nothing else, we want to remind them that art has the ability to enhance their world in big and small ways. And it’s not just painting or poetry. Art can be anything creative.
Did anything surprise you or catch you off guard as you were writing Punching the Air together? What was the collaborative process like for you?
Yusef Salaam: I think we were both prepared for the challenges and blessings. There were more blessings. Working with Ibi has been a tremendous experience. Someone I met in college while I was learning all these things about myself, and she is now with the skills to help me bring this story to life.
Ibi Zoboi: I can’t say there was anything surprising about our process. Since Yusef is new to publishing, I think he was pleasantly surprised at all the ways in which we’ve been able to assert our creative vision into this book. We gave feedback on the cover and we asked for spot illustrations. Our publisher has been incredibly supportive, so this project was collaborative on so many levels.
We always have to ask: What are you reading right now that’s inspiring you and what would you recommend as must-reads for young people?
Ibi Zoboi: I am reading Kimberly Johnson’s This is My America, another young adult novel about mass incarceration. I just received Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste. I’m writing about race for my next novel and Caste will be very helpful in the same way that Jason Reynold’s and Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped has changed the game, in my opinion. Because Stamped is out there in the world, we can start deepening our conversations about race with young people.
[gallery size="medium" link="none" ids="52834,52835,52836"]