American Street

by Ibi Zoboi

Ebook, 2017

Status

Available

Call number

813.6

Genres

Young Adult

All Topics

Fiction

Publication

Balzer Bray (2017), 336 pages

Description

On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie -- a good life. But after they leave Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola's mother is detained by U.S. immigration, leaving Fabiola to navigate her loud American cousins, Chantal, Donna, and Princess; the grittiness of Detroit's West Side; a new school; and a surprising romance, all on her own. Just as she finds her footing in this strange new world, a dangerous proposition presents itself, and Fabiola soon realizes that freedom comes at a cost. Trapped at the crossroads of an impossible choice, will she pay the price for the American dream?

User reviews

LibraryThing member mjspear

Fabiola, a Haitian born in the USA, emigrates to America with her mother. A snafu at the border detains her mother so Fabiola greets her cousins in Detroit alone. She is thrust into the energy and poverty of an inner-city high school. The casual violence and verbal abuse is balanced by strong

family ties and deep love. Still, Fabiola misses her mother. To try to speed her release, Fabiola agrees to narc on a local drug dealer suspected of giving deadly drugs to rich Grosse Pointe kids. Her spiritual guide is Papa Legba ("Bad Leg") a homeless man whose street corner song hints at the turmoil to come. The school scenes are frighteningly dramatic (fights, threats, little real teaching). Her three cousins lead tough lives: hiding in books, bad boyfriends, and unrequited love, respectively. This reader was saddened to see Fabiola American-ized in this cold world. The plot is gripping if, at times, histrionic. This tale will resonate with inner city youth and immigrants. Compelling and important.

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LibraryThing member rgruberhighschool

RGG: Really wonderful characters and writing until the plot at the end becomes entirely implausible. The main character has her first sexual experience--described in great inferential detail. Reading Interest: YA.

LibraryThing member rgruberexcel

LibraryThing member ShellyPYA

Author Ibi Zoboi draws on her own experience as a young Haitian immigrant, infusing this lyrical exploration of America with magical realism and vodou culture. On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie—a good life. But after they

leave Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola’s mother is detained by U.S. immigration, leaving Fabiola to navigate her loud American cousins, Chantal, Donna, and Princess; the grittiness of Detroit’s west side; a new school; and a surprising romance, all on her own. Just as she finds her footing in this strange new world, a dangerous proposition presents itself, and Fabiola soon realizes that freedom comes at a cost. Trapped at the crossroads of an impossible choice, will she pay the price for the American dream?

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LibraryThing member jjones360

Could I give it negative stars?

LibraryThing member Beth.Clarke

This will get higher ratings from other readers. I found the language, sex, and violence too much for me, but I'm sure there are high school students than can relate and will enjoy the novel. I truly enjoyed Fabiola's immigration from Haiti to America, but found the gang violence not as interesting.

LibraryThing member BDartnall

Full of Haitian cultural references, words, Vodou beliefs, and Detroit's gritty "west side" slang, scenes, neighborhood problems. While the main character Fabiola Toussaint is a sincere, sweet teen who struggles to adapt to her new cousins & aunt's life and the American school/culture she's thrust

into.... it's so full of profanity and adult-level problems, violent deaths, etc.. definitely a story for older teens. While the reader has hopes at the beginning of the novel that Fabiola's mother will be released from detention in New Jersey and rejoin her daughter, the entire novel progresses with very few details of her mom's exact situation (perhaps the author's pt, since story told from Fabiola's pt of view?) and ambiguous responses at best from her ailing aunt (her mother's sister) - confusing. Drug dealing, violent deaths (including teen), crime situations, and did I mention again - the non-stop profanity from Fabiola's cousins, and some of the other teens at her school? - and the intercalary chapters in various characters voices- demanding but compelling read about immigrant girl's bewildering but eventually, life affirming development. Cavalcade of Authors 2020 selection.

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LibraryThing member hexenlibrarian

I'm broken. I just can't right now.

LibraryThing member allison_s

For right now let me just say this book is amazing. Part immigrant narrative, part alt-"American dream" narrative, part magical realism, ALL breathtaking. Also, it made me cry. Anyways, longer review to come, but this book was wonderful and I love love love Fabiola and her cousins.

IBI ZOBOI IS ON

MY AUTO-READ LIST NOW.

Longer RTC!

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LibraryThing member readingbeader

Such a good book about immigration issues, drug dealing, religion, and family.

LibraryThing member DrFuriosa

This was an interesting premise, but I wondered how many tropes of poverty/gangs/drugs in Detroit were accurate and which were dramatized.

LibraryThing member Completely_Melanie

I listened to the audio book for this. I would give this a 3.5 if I could. This story is about a girl from Haiti that has come to America with her mother. She is allowed to enter the United States, but her mother is detained and held in a detention facility for a very long time. I thought this

story was going to be more about their struggle as immigrants, but instead it was more about teenagers in mixed up in the drug business in Detroit. It was a good story, but just not really what I was expecting. Just a quick note about the narrator of the audio book: She was absolutely amazing!

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LibraryThing member bell7

Fabiola and her mother are on their way from Haiti to move in with her Matante Jo and her cousins, when Fabiola's mother is detained and she is sent on to Detroit without a parent. Thrust into a city where the rules of the streets are largely unknown to her, Fabiola has to make her way, depending

on her lwa guides and all her ingenuity to help her family and get her mother back.

This was an intense read that kept me guessing throughout, broke my heart, and put it back together again. Fabiola is a great character who clings to her Haitian roots while learning how she is expected to live in America. Her cousins Chant, Pri, and Donna are doing their best to survive, too, and their characters and those of Donna's boyfriend, Dray, and his friend (and Fabiola's maybe-boyfriend) Kasim, are fleshed out especially well in a first-person narrative. You really feel for all the complexity and challenges they all face in the house on the corner of American and Joy Streets.

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LibraryThing member Dawn.Zimmerer

If there were a rating higher than 5 stars this book would deserve it. From painful and terrifying beginning to thought provoking and uncomfortable end it was a fantastic read. I recommend this book to all my teen patrons and gladly recommend it to many adults as well.

LibraryThing member thesunthesunthesu

Hot Damn. That's all I can say for now, I just finished this after struggling to read literally any text whatsoever and I'm really glad my brain finally allowed me to finish this book because it's great.

I loved how Fabiola was written, I love how her cousins were written, I especially love how Pri

was written. I just cannot express how many feelings this book gave me. The way Fabiola merged her religion with all her new experiences and how it all felt both like a religiously flavoured interpretation as well as a real solid thing that was happening at the same time.

I'll probably add a more in depth review late

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