American Street

By: Ibi Zoboi

Narrated by: Robin Miles

Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

A National Book Award Finalist with five starred reviews!

A New York Times Notable Book * Publishers Weekly Flying Start * Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year * ALA Booklist Editors' Choice of 2017 (Top of the List winner) * School Library Journal Best Book of the Year * Kirkus Best Book of the Year * BookPage Best YA Book of the Year

American Street is an evocative and powerful coming-of-age story perfect for fans of Everything, Everything; Bone Gap; and All American Boys.

In this stunning debut novel, Pushcart-nominated 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?

©2017 Ibi Zoboi (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Narrator Robin Miles glides silkily through Haitian Creole, Detroit street talk, and standard American English, infusing the dialogue with authentic-sounding accents and age-appropriate sass and bravado.... Miles taps into each character's unique struggle to balance survival with tough choices, infusing her near-flawless performance with nuanced drama. Listeners will long remember Fabiola's transformative journey." ( AudioFile)

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G

Outstanding performance! Hands down the best narration I have ever heard. The story was everything I could have wanted and more!

Hidden Gem!!

I'm so glad I decided to give this book a change. It was definitely worth the listen !!!

A immigrant tragedy

This is a very good audiobook. Robin Miles, who I was not fond of when she narrated Binti, was excellent here. Her various accents, which felt fake in Binti, felt authentic here in part because she not only doing Haitian, but also Detroit street. The range of voices was what made the narration.

American Street is named after the street where the house that Fabiola come to live, the one where she was born. It is right on the corner of Joy and American streets, which is the reason that the house was purchased by new immigrants to the US. When her mother is detained by ICE as they go through customs in New York City (Fabiola’s mother overstayed her visa on the previous trip so that Fabiola would be born in the US), Fabiola is left to go on to Detroit and meet cousins and an aunt that she has talked to, but not met.

Fabiola’s life in Haiti, with her good English schools and her hard work, has not truly prepared her for Detroit. She is also not prepared for the realities of street life without the guidance of her mother.

American Street has significant thread of magical realism. I started American Street not long after I finished Laurus, about a 15th century doctor and holy man. Both used magical realism to communicate the belief in religious faith in remarkably similar ways. Both Laurus and Fabiola were true believers, in Christianity for Laurus and Voodoo for Fabiola. But I cannot describe the presentation in any other way than magical realism, which I have only really encountered in Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead and Song Yet Sung by James McBride.

I knew nothing about Voodoo before this book, but I did not need any background to understand the story. Fabiola, as she attempts to understand this foreign world, makes sense of the world around her through the ‘social imaginary’ (as Charles Taylor calls it) of the Haitian/Voodoo world. The Voodoo is real, in a very similar way to the way that Christianity is real in Laurus. But the difference between Christianity and Voodoo (I think) what is asked for and revealed is not always what is desired here.

Ultimately this is a tragedy. A tragedy that you understand much more of as different perspectives are shared. But an understood tragedy is still tragic. This is well worth reading. Especially for the current reality of separated immigrant families and the tragic ways that people make decisions when pressed to their limits.

This is a good reminder of why fiction is so important and why I keep needing to force myself to read it, even when I am sometimes reluctant to break away from the ‘important books’.

Beautiful and full of heart

This author is able to do one of those rare things; spell bind you with magic and superstition but every remark hits at a truth. Sometimes the reality of American society is hopeless, other times the raw love and insecurities these characters embody makes your heart swell. The narrators use of different accents and intonations brings this book to life.

Great voice acting.

The story was good, but the voice acting was outstanding. The narrator's ability to do accents really made the story come alive.

Slow start, deeply empathic and lovely storytellin

I am now disappointed that the book has ended. At first, the story seemed slow to begin and seemed to marched down a path that we have all seen in film and TV. Young naive immigrant girl gets in out of her depth and there is tragedy in the end. However, there are enough small differences between this story and those stories that even though there is sadness in the tale, the beautifully etched characters, the individual stories, and the treatment of the Voodoo faith are all so tender and honest that the time spent with Fabolous and her cousins is worth it.

AMAZING BOOK

This book is so fucking good. I’ve never cried reading a book but this one did.

Beautiful and engaging

Throughout this book I couldn’t wait to get back in the car and start listening again. I found myself thinking about the characters and wondering how their story would unfold. Excellent book beautiful narration I can’t wait for the next one.

Beautiful narration and eloquent writing

Thoroughly enjoyed the compelling story, accents and engaging narration. Great twists to keep us readers on the edge of our seats. I definitely recommend this audiobook.

This story can’t he missed

Loved the way all of the characters come to life!! This situation has probably played out just like this hundreds of times! Every character and their stories were believable and full of life! The author does an excellent job of bringing in Fabiola’s religious beliefs and concepts throughout the story! I couldn’t put it down!!