#FridayFavorites: American Street by Ibi Zoboi

The bad news is, I’m sick. The good news is, being sick gave me the perfect excuse to sit still all day and devour the critically acclaimed YA novel, American Street by Ibi Zoboi.

True story, I fell in love with American Street as soon as I saw the cover back in early 2017 when it first came out. I didn’t even know what the book was about but the title and cover image – check the silhouette that clearly shows Black girl hair and tropical imagery – immediately peaked my interest. Over the months I watched as it racked up brilliant reviews and eventually became a National Book Award Finalist. It seemed clear to me that in this case, I could absolutely judge a book by its cover.

American Street totally lived up to my expectations. It tells the story of a teenage Haitian girl who comes to the United States with her mother to start a new life. Only, before they can even exit the airport, the girl’s mother is detained by immigration officials and the young teen is forced to start her new life alone. But before you say, ‘haven’t I heard this story before’ – see Minding Ben by Victoria Brown or almost anything written by Edwidge Danticat – American Street offers a different version of this ‘coming to America’ story.

First of all, the action in American Street takes place in Detroit, not New York. The racial and class dynamics, the physical landscape, even the Detroit slang, provides a unique but wholly American backdrop for this story. And the main character, Fabiola Toussaint, isn’t the typical scared, young immigrant who knows nothing about the United States. She’s got her own brand of street smarts, she speaks (almost) perfect English and most importantly, she is in constant conversation with her spirit guides through the practice of Vodou.

Fabiola moves in with her aunt and three female cousins and is expected to quickly adjust to high school and popular culture, which in American Street is filled with drug dealers, violence and heartache. Fabiola manages to make a place for herself, succeed at school and even attract the attention of a boy with ambition, but getting her mother out of the detention facility is her main priority and ultimately her undoing.

American Street is a novel about struggle, sacrifice and family. It is a thrilling page-turner intended for the YA crowd, but this 40-something, mother-of-three couldn’t put it down. Even though there was a gritty realism that permeated the entire story, there was also some Black magical realism that elevated the story to another level. In addition to the compelling characters, I also really appreciated learning more about Haiti (particularly a post-earthquake Haiti) through Fabiola’s memories and about the practice of Vodou.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates immigrant stories, who wants a book populated with diverse Black characters (the supporting cast in American Street is fantastic) and/or who wants a quick read that will leave them thinking about the story long after they turn the last page.

Has anyone else read American Street? Let me know what you thought in the comments.

And if, like me, you loved American Street, Ibi Zoboi has a new book coming out in September called Prideand it’s being billed as a Pride and Prejudice remix in color. Bonus, it’s already available for pre-order. Yay!

Peace.