From the Bookshelf of Diversity in All Forms!…

American Street

Ibi Zoboi

Start date: April 1, 2018

Finish date: April 30, 2018

Discussion: Monthly Group Reads

Why we're reading this: The diversity topic/theme we will be covering in April is Immigration Status.
American Street by Ibi Zoboi
[close] The diversity topic/theme we will be covering in April is Immigration Status.
American Street by Ibi Zoboi

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What Members Thought

Jan 30, 2019 Diana rated it did not like it

Shelves: dnfed

I am beginning to think that this author is not for me. I tried readig "pride" and I just couldn't keep on reading, and the same thing happened with this one.
The three cousins irritate me constantly, the main character I can't understand, in the same way I don't get why no one seems to care about her once at the home, and how they all seem to roll with indeference, not even cooking for her or getting her school suplies or a bed. And all the drama and screams... too much man. ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Oct 22, 2018 Jeanne rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: african-african-american, read-around-the-world, read-2018, read-women, ya

When he saw this house for sale, on the corner of American Street and Joy Road, he insisted on buying it with the cash from his ransacked and burned-to-the-ground car dealership in Port-au-Prince. He thought he was buying American Joy (p. 57).

Ibi Zoboi's American Street is young adult fiction, but like much of the best of this genre, it is nuanced, curious, insightful, and magical.

Fabiola and her mother traveled to the US from Haiti, looking for a better life. Fabiola, born in the US, made it t When he saw this house for sale, on the corner of American Street and Joy Road, he insisted on buying it with the cash from his ransacked and burned-to-the-ground car dealership in Port-au-Prince. He thought he was buying American Joy (p. 57).

Ibi Zoboi's American Street is young adult fiction, but like much of the best of this genre, it is nuanced, curious, insightful, and magical.

Fabiola and her mother traveled to the US from Haiti, looking for a better life. Fabiola, born in the US, made it through Immigrations and Customs easily, while her Haitian mother did not. Instead, Fabiola was sent to stay with her smart-talking, drug-pushing, heart of gold cousins (look closely to find the heart) and her loan shark mother.

How can Fabiola balance her own values and culture with the need to survive in her new community?

Fabiola maintains her connection with and search for her mother through her spiritual beliefs, Vodou. Papa Legba hangs out on the corner and raps answers to her dilemmas (everyone else only sees an old, broken drunk). She struggles with the ways that her beliefs have led her astray, even as they are also her anchor.

You told me to trust every vision, every tingling of my skin, every ringing in my ear, every itch in my palms. They’re all signs. They’re all the language of the lwas.

But I’ve heard no whispers since the moment you were pulled away from me. How could the lwasnot have given us a sign that this would happen, Manman? Were we too blinded and distracted by the excitement? This vision of you now is the only thing I have to hold. (pp. 31-32)

Nonetheless, Fabiola listens to Papa Legba, uses Ezili-Danto's courage, and faces the dangers surrounding her with a strong (clearly Haitian) moral compass.

American Street can be read as a story of immigration and the intersection between cultures; of drugs, loan sharks, and police violence; but it can also be read as the resilience of adolescents who listen to their hearts and find a way to remain connected to both the old traditions and new culture. Zoboi's voice is a fresh and exciting one, a voice that doesn't offer easy answers (because life doesn't either).

Zoboi asks, "I’ve never been without my prayers and my songs. What do you hold on to?” (p. 321) ...more

6 likes · Like · see review