American Street

Starred review from November 21, 2016
Zoboi’s powerful debut, set in current-day Detroit (but based on the author’s experience as a Haitian immigrant in 1980s Bushwick, Brooklyn), unflinchingly tackles contemporary issues of immigration, assimilation, violence, and drug dealing. Although born in America, teenage Fabiola has grown up with her mother in Port au Prince, dreaming of a better life with her aunt and cousins in Detroit. Upon arriving in New York City, Fabiola’s mother, lacking proper documents, is sent to a detention center while Fabiola must go on alone to Detroit. Shocked by the rough urban environment, her pugnacious cousins, her aunt’s lethargy, and her cousin Donna’s physically abusive, drug-dealing boyfriend, Dray, Fabiola turns to her Haitian spirits (lwas)—as well as a mysterious street man—for guidance, while embarking on a tentative romance with Dray’s friend Kasim. When she strikes a deal with a police detective to set up Dray for arrest in exchange for her mother’s release, it results in a dangerous situation with devastating results. Mixing gritty street life with the tenderness of first love, Haitian Vodou, and family bonds, the book is at once chilling, evocative, and reaffirming. Ages 14–up. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary.

Starred review from November 15, 2016
Fabiola Toussaint is a black immigrant girl whose life is flipped upside down when she moves to Detroit, Michigan, from her homeland of Haiti and her mother is detained by the INS, leaving her to go on alone. Though Fabiola was born in the U.S., she has lived in Haiti since she was an infant, and that has now left her unprepared for life in America. In Detroit, she lives with her aunt Marjorie and her three thoroughly Americanized cousins, Chantal, Primadonna, and Princess. It's not easy holding on to her heritage and identity in Detroit; Matant Jo fines Fabiola for speaking Creole (though even still "a bit of Haiti is peppered in her English words"), and the gritty streets of Detroit are very different from those of Port-au-Prince. Fabiola has her faith to help keep her grounded, which grows ever more important as she navigates her new school, American society, and a surprising romance--but especially when she is faced with a dangerous proposition that brings home to her the fact that freedom comes with a price. Fabiola's perceptive, sensitive narration gives readers a keen, well-executed look into how the American dream can be a nightmare for so many. 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. (Fiction. 14 & up)

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Starred review from February 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-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.

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2017
Immediately after landing in New York from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola's mother is detained by U.S. Immigration. Fabiola must continue the journey alone to her aunt and cousins in Detroit, specifically to the intersection of American Street and Joy Road. Quickly discovering her location to be a cruel misnomer, Fabiola receives a crash course in cultural differences from her three cousins Chantal, Primadonna, and Princess, known as The Three Bees. In the midst of a new friendship and romance, Fabiola learns her family is involved in the drug trade. An undercover cop offers Fabiola her mother's release if Fabiola provides information regarding the drug sales. Throughout the story, Fabiola turns to her Vodou faith, praying to her lwas, or spirit guides, to reunite her mother with the family. It would appear the guides answer, making themselves known in a series of remarkable events, and leading Fabiola to a decision that will alter the lives of all those she loves. Through her first-person narrative, Fabiola makes plain to readers the range of emotions found in the immigrant experience, particularly the heartache of separation from a loved one. Interspersed are the stories of Fabiola's cousins, her aunt, and other characters, as they negotiate both their joyous moments and their sadness. Zoboi's young adult debut is equal parts gritty and transcendent. eboni njoku

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from December 15, 2016
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Zoboi's stunning debut intertwines mysticism and love with grit and violence to tell the story of Fabiola Toussaint, a Haitian teen adjusting to her new life in Detroit. Fabiola's dream of a better life with her aunt and cousins in America snags when her mother is detained at the U.S. border. Forced to continue alone, she must also confront the reality that her new neighborhood is every bit as dangerous as the one she left behind in Port-au-Prince. Drugs, gangs, and violence pervade the status quo, but thanks to her cousins' tough reputations, Fabiola can find her footing. Zoboi, who emigrated to the U.S. from Haiti, brings a nuanced portrayal of that culture to the narrative. Evocative prose, where Fabiola calls on voodoo spirits, informs and enriches her character, while standing in counterpoint to her hard-as-nails cousins. Zoboi pulls no punches when describing the dangerous realities of the girls' lives, but tender moments are carefully tucked into the plot as well. This story is many things. It is a struggle for survival. It is the uncovering of one's bravest self. And, most significant, it is the coming together of a family. One or two scenarios strain credibility, but the characters' complexities ultimately smooth over any bumps. Fierce and beautiful.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)