Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words, his art. Suddenly, at just 16 years old, Amal Shahid's bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn't commit and sent to prison. 'Boys just being boys' turns out to be true only when those boys are white. One fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighbourhood escalates into tragedy. 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. Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal Shahid's bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn't commit and sent to prison. Perfect for fans of the Noughts & Crosses series and The Hate U Give. But can he change it.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. Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal's bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn't commit and sent to prison.

The story that I think will be my life starts today. 'Boys just being boys' turns out to be true only when those boys are white. Then one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood escalates into tragedy. But even in a diverse art school, he's seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system.

'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. Summary: 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.

Punching the air book cover