Amal knows he is guilty of throwing the first punch, but beyond that, he doesn't deserve to be serving time because of the fight. "It was just a fight," but because of a group of black guys, one white guy ended up in the hospital in a coma. Doesn't matter that the white guy was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Instead, people say it was the black kids in the wrong place at the wrong time, even though the black kids never have a right place or a right time for anything.
Amal's family hired a lawyer, but since the white kid was unconscious and couldn't tell the real truth, Amal is sitting in a cell. He is trying to keep things on the down low while he waits for visitors and the news that his lawyer is able to figure out how to get his conviction overturned. Amal is working the program. He's trying to attend classes and use his time to read, write his poems, and work on his art. He definitely has talent, but keeping his frustration under control means he doesn't always do the right thing which ends in lost privileges and solitary.
Once Amal gets the routine down, he finds support from Imani who drives five hours one way to teach a poetry workshop. She recognizes his skill with words and art and encourages him to tell his truth through his art.
PUNCHING THE AIR is written by Ibi Zoboi & Yusef Salaam. Yusef is one of the Central Park Five accused of beating a white jogger. Amal's story reflects that of Yusef as he attempted to serve his time as he awaited the day he would be exonerated. Described as more that just a story about incarceration, PUNCHING THE AIR illustrates the power of the written word and the strength of artistic creation to raise the spirit and honor the truth. Written in verse that reads as art itself on the page, this powerful novel speaks to the problems of our time.
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