'American Street' Literary Analysis

Books are written with the intent on being relatable. Since American Street by Ibi Zoboi is focused around a teenager, there are many things that I, as a teenager, can relate to. Because Fabiola travels from Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, to Detroit, Michigan, she experiences the adversity of having to readjust to a completely new environment. In adjusting to a new environment, she’s not only adapting to a new climate, but she’s also adapting to a new culture. On her first night in Detroit without her mother, Fabiola says that “Night is a starlit blanket outside, and the cold air reaches [her] bones” (American Street pg. 17). As someone who has had to experience adjusting to different physical environments and different lifestyles, I connected to this statement. This statement had an impact on me because it is the same way in which I felt when I first moved from Ohio to New York. I recall that when I moved to New York, it was pouring the rain and at that point we had not acquired an apartment, so we were staying in a hotel. Fabiola, to me, is a very relatable character. I think that if we knew each other, there would be a possibility that we could be friends because of our commonalities.