American Street tells the story of a teenage Haitian immigrant named Fabiola who moves back home to the United States, her country of birth. Dray is no stranger to dealing, so she tricks him into selling drugs at a specific party. American Street is a novel by author Ibi Zoboi. Pri and Donna are twins and complete opposites. The cousins live at the corner of American Street and Joy Road, names that become metaphors in the story. Because of this belief, they arrest Fabiola’s mother for deportation and detain her at an Immigration Detention Center. Fabiola’s mother was a voodoo priestess in Haiti, and Fabiola is lives within her belief system. On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie—the good life. Dray kicks and punches Papa Legba. When she and her mother come to America to live with cousins in Detroit, Manman is detained at customs in New Jersey. Meanwhile, the detective gets Fabiola a short phone call with her mother and promises her continued help in setting Manman free. Fabiola falls in love with a boy named Kasim but he’s dating Donna’s boyfriend Dray who can be abusive towards her sometimes. She worships god and the various lwas, or guiding spirits, of the religion. They all seem very different than she imagined them during their phone calls of the past. February 14, 2017 by Amanda MacGregor Leave a Comment. She listens to his songs carefully, hoping he’ll give her directions about what to do. She, Aunt Jo and the girls pack up all of their belongings to get Manman and begin a new life outside of Detroit. Read the world’s #1 book summary of American Street by Ibi Zoboi here. How Do You Build One? Character Analysis. The family has all kinds of electronic devices and appliances, and they spend more time watching TV than cooking meals. It suddenly occurs to Fabiola that Dray will not do his own dirty work. American Street Lesson Plans contain 132 pages of teaching material, including. She struggles to adjust to American culture, which she finds both amazing and disturbing. Readers learn something about Dray the other characters don’t know: Uncle Q put a gun in Dray’s hand when he was 10 and told him to shoot a man. Fabiola’s boisterous cousins Chantal, Princess (Pri) and Primadonna (Donna) meet her at the airport. Fabiola is an American-born teenager who has lived most of her life with her mother (Manman) in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Fabiola’s perceptive, sensitive narration gives readers a keen, well-executed look into how the American dream can be a nightmare for so many. Dray shot the wrong man by accident and killed Fabiola’s uncle by mistake. A National Book Award Finalist with five starred reviews and multiple awards! Fabiola thinks Donna wears her breasts like a trophy. Since her stroke, she spends most of her time in her room drinking alcohol and taking painkillers. Fabiola is scared and angry, but she knows she can’t rat out her family. Fabiola decides she has to focus on framing Dray to take any suspicion off of her cousins. Just as she finds her footing in this strange new world, a dangerous proposition presents itself, and Fabiola must learn that freedom comes at a cost. The woman finally confesses she’s a detective. When he’s set to do this, she alerts the detective. American Street by Ibi Zoboi. The novel explores themes of family, culture, love, and morality. She continues her flight to meet her cousins in Detroit and vows to rescue her mother. Your email address will not be published. Chapter 1 opens shortly after Fabiola Toussaint’s arrival in America with her mother Valerie. Filling her pages with magic, humanity, tragedy, … Fabiola’s relationships with her mother, aunt, and cousins are integral to her journey and personal story, as her family members serve as the personal touchstones for her sense of loyalty and righteousness. Punching the Air. Police surround the house. It’s about a Haitian American teenager who struggles with her identity and the challenges of growing up in an urban environment. When they decide to return to the United States, her mother is held at immigration and Fabiola must travel alone to her aunt's home in Detroit. She’s still trying to get information about Dray’s drug dealing for the detective when she learns her cousins have a dark secret. No one knows his story, but most ignore him and say he’s a crackhead. Now alone in Detroit with family members she has never met before (her cousins Pri, Donna and Chantal), Fabiola feels isolated from those around her as well as from friends she left behind in Haiti. Kasim tells Fabiola he grew up Muslim. Fabiola says the same thing happens in Haiti. Symbols & Motifs. Fabiola narrates the novel from a first-person present tense perspective. Book Review: American Street by Ibi Zoboi. This Study Guide consists of approximately 33 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - Fabiola is a young girl who has moved to the United States from Colombia. American Street Summary & Study Guide Description. Related Topics. She agrees to go undercover and find out who supplied Dray with drugs, but it turns out that her cousins were actually responsible for the girl’s death. Essay Topics. They tell Fabiola they have her back, but they also let her know she has to prove herself in this tough West Side neighborhood. They had been selling drugs on behalf of their aunt, who is also involved in illegal activities. 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, Brown Girl in the Ring: Magic for the Marginalized.