Ibi Zoboi was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and immigrated to the U.S. when she was four years old. She holds an MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, where she was a recipient of the Norma Fox Mazer Award. Her award-winning and Pushcart-nominated writing has been published in Haiti Noir, the Caribbean Writer, The New York Times Book Review, the Horn Book Magazine, and The Rumpus, among others. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and three children. American Street is her first novel. Visit Ibi at www.ibizoboi.net.
“Self-assured, elegant and utterly captivating.” (New York Times)
★ “Mixing gritty street life with the tenderness of first love, Haitian Vodou, and family bonds, the book is at once chilling, evocative, and reaffirming.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review))
★ “Filling her pages with magic, humanity, tragedy, and hope, Zoboi builds up, takes apart, and then rebuilds an unforgettable story. This book will take root in readers’ hearts.” (Kirkus Reviews (starred review))
“Zoboi urges us to examine the American dream to see if there is room within it to hold the ones we love (Ebony Magazine)
★ “Zoboi’s stunning debut intertwines mysticism and love with grit and violence…Fierce and beautiful.” (Booklist (starred review))
“Will reach young readers regardless of their background.” (Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review))
★ “A breathtaking story about contemporary America that will serve as a mirror to some and a window for others, and it will stay with anyone who reads it.” (School Library Journal (starred review))
“A poignant meditation on one girl’s struggle to find her way in a new world.” (Nicola Yoon, bestselling author of EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING.)
“Brimming with culture, magic, warmth, and unabashed rawness, “American Street” is ultimately a blistering tale of humanity. This is “Manchild in the Promised Land,” for a new generation, and a remarkable debut from Zoboi, who without question is an inevitable force in storytelling.” (Jason Reynolds, award-winning co-author of ALL AMERICAN BOYS)
“Zoboi’s nascent storytelling gifts ensnare from page one. To this spellbinding voice of the next generation, I bow.” (Rita Williams-Garcia, New York Times bestselling author and three-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award)
After her mother is detained by immigration officials, Fabiola Toussaint has to finish her move from Port-au-Prince to Detroit alone. The tough-as-nails cousins and exhausted aunt who greet her in Michigan bear little resemblance to the warm family she had dreamed of when she was in Haiti. Left with a mother-size hole in her life, Fabiola begins the unsteady process of assimilation, holding on to her family's spiritual traditions while navigating the disconnectedness and violence of her new home. A sweet romance and her cousins' fierce and complex support ease the teen into a halfway space between worlds, but her eyes remain on the prize of reuniting with her mother. When Fabiola is approached by the police to inform on her cousin's volatile boyfriend in exchange for information about her mother, she must work around the gaps in her understanding to make some explosive decisions. In this bright, sharp debut, Zoboi weaves grittiness, sensitivity, and complexity into every character, but Fabiola's longing, determination, and strength shine especially brightly. VERDICT A breathtaking story about contemporary America that will serve as a mirror to some and a window for others, and it will stay with anyone who reads it. A must-purchase for YA collections.—Beth McIntyre, Madison Public Library, WI