My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich

Name: My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich
Brand: Penguin Random House
Availability: InStock
Author: Ibi Zoboi
ISBN: 9781984884732

Author: Ibi Zoboi

Narrator: Ibi Zoboi

Unabridged: 7 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Listening Library

Published: 08/27/2019

Categories: Children's Fiction, Science Fiction Stories, Children's Social Themes

Synopsis

National Book Award-finalist Ibi Zoboi makes her middle-grade debut with a moving story of a girl finding her place in a world that's changing at warp speed.

Twelve-year-old Ebony-Grace Norfleet has lived with her beloved grandfather Jeremiah in Huntsville, Alabama ever since she was little. As one of the first black engineers to integrate NASA, Jeremiah has nurtured Ebony-Grace’s love for all things outer space and science fiction—especially Star Wars and Star Trek. But in the summer of 1984, when trouble arises with Jeremiah, it’s decided she’ll spend a few weeks with her father in Harlem.

Harlem is an exciting and terrifying place for a sheltered girl from Hunstville, and Ebony-Grace’s first instinct is to retreat into her imagination. But soon 126th Street begins to reveal that it has more in common with her beloved sci-fi adventures than she ever thought possible, and by summer's end, Ebony-Grace discovers that Harlem has a place for a girl whose eyes are always on the stars.

A New York Times Bestseller

About The Author

Ibi Zoboi is a New York Times-bestselling author of books for children and young adults. Her debut novel, American Street, was a finalist for the National Book Award. She holds an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Born in Haiti and raised in New York City, she now lives with her family in New Jersey.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Cece

I truly wish I could have liked this but it’s glacially slow moving and at times makes absolutely no sense. There is no real clear answer when it comes to Ebony-Grace. At times it seems like she might be autistic but nothing is ever confirmed so her character seems petulant and far, far younger than......more

Goodreads review by Monica **can't read fast enough**

MY LIFE AS AN ICE CREAM SANDWICH is a unique take on what it's like for a young Black girl who would rather live in her imagination than in reality to be uprooted from all that she knows and finds comfortable to be put in situations that are unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and at times overwhelming. Ebon......more

Goodreads review by BookNightOwl

Ebony-Grace spends the summer with her father in Harlem. She has a wild imagination and she wants nothing more than to be with her grandfather who seems to be the other one to understand her.......more

Goodreads review by Kim

I’ve always been kind of partial to ice cream sandwiches. Ebony-Grace is given the derogatory nickname when the girls in her dad’s Harlem neighborhood decide she doesn’t have the “flava” to have one of their more delectable names. Ebony-Grace (aka Space Cadet E-Grace Starfleet) has been raised by her......more

Quotes

A New York Times Bestseller

"[Ebony-Grace's] boundless faith in her dreams also brings to mind another high-flying science enthusiast who once advised, 'Never be limited by other people's imaginations.' That speaker was Mae C. Jemison, an engineer, medical doctor, astronaut, and the first African American woman to go into space."—New York Times Book Review

"Filled with rich imaginative scenes and comics-style illustrations, this book will truly transport its readers to another world."--Booklist

"Highlights the importance of imagination and learning to celebrate what it means to be different in a world that demands conformity."--Horn Book

“Zoboi excels at resurrecting 1980s Harlem in her middle grade debut, expertly sprinkling in nostalgia-fueled references to break dancing, rap battles, and the rise of female MCs.”—Publishers Weekly