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# GFY Giveaway: Punching The Air by Yusef Salaam and Ibi Zoboi
- URL: https://go-fug-yourself.ghost.io/gfy-giveaway-punching-the-air-by-dr-yusef-salaam-and-ibi-zoboi-09-2020/
- Published: 2020-09-01T15:00:49.000Z
- Updated: 2020-09-01T17:45:26.000Z
- Author: Jessica  
- Tags: fugs, GFY Giveaway, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-10-07 08:09

[This book is powerful and beautiful](https://bookshop.org/books/punching-the-air/9780062996480?ref=go-fug-yourself.ghost.io) \-- it's gotten starred reviews from basically every publication that gives starred reviews -- and I am thrilled to be able to give it away today.

> *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, he’s seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. 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’s bright future is upended: he 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.

In the words of Kirkus (which is generally the toughest review publication), *Punching the Air* is "awardworthy. Soul-stirring. A must-read."

**THE TASK:** We have three copies to give away, and as usual, I’ll be picking the winner at random. To enter, please comment and share the book you read as a teen that most impacted your view of the world.

**THE RULES:** All entries must be posted in the comments of this post by 9 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday. FYI, if this is the first time you’ve commented here, the system will automatically kick you into comment moderation, but don’t worry, I will rescue you.   *(Open to US readers only; all prizing courtesy of the publisher.)*