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National Book Foundation > Faculty > Ibi Aanu Zoboi
Ibi Zoboi was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and holds an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Raised in New York City, Ibi now lives in New Jersey with her husband and their three children. More about this author >
On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie—the good life. But after leaving 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. More about this book >
Ibi Zoboi’s debut young adult novel, American Street, was a National Book Award Finalist and her debut middle grade novel, My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich, was a New York Times bestseller. She is also the author of Pride, a contemporary YA remix of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, which is in development with HBO as a limited series; and editor of the anthology Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America. Her most recent New York Times bestseller, Punching the Air, co-authored by prison reform activist Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five, is a Walter Award winner and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Born in Haiti and raised in New York City, Ibi lives in New Jersey with her husband and their three teenage children.