Punching the Air

Ms. Rinaldi and Imani are both influential teachers in Amal’s life. Compare and contrast them and their impact on Amal.

Amal hallucinates while in self-containment and sees his father. Why do you think this is the moment in the novel where Amal thinks about his father? What impact does this vision have on Amal and why?

Amal observes that people are trying to make him out to be a monster. Why does Amal think it is easy for people to see him that way and where does that monster image come from?