American Street

by

Ibi Zoboi

Detective Shawna Stevens Character Analysis

Detective Stevens works for the Grosse Pointe Park Police Department; she’s investigating the death of a local student who died after taking designer drugs. She wears a fuzzy brown coat and sensible brown shoes, which make Fabiola decide that she’s trustworthy—Manman believes one should judge others based on the state of their shoes. However, Detective Stevens knows all about Fabiola’s family history and uses this knowledge to manipulate Fabiola into helping her investigation. She seems particularly skilled at influencing immigrants like Fabiola, who are eager to prove that they’re “real” Americans. Detective Stevens makes a point to note that Fabiola is an American citizen and therefore has a duty to help detectives when needed. Detective Stevens proposes a trade: in exchange for Fabiola’s information on Dray that will lead to his arrest for selling the bad drugs, Detective Stevens will expedite Manman’s processing and help her get a green card. However, the plan ends up going sideways: Fabiola discovers that it’s her cousins, not Dray, who sold the drugs, and her information inadvertently causes the police to murder Kasim. After this happens, Fabiola realizes that Detective Stevens wasn’t helpful or even all that powerful. Instead, she’s a figure whom Bad Leg warned her about in a song, when he sang to “beware the lady dressed all in brown.” Fabiola blames Detective Stevens for Kasim’s death, but Detective Stevens does make good on her promise: mere hours after the novel ends, Manman is going to arrive in the U.S. with her immigration charges dropped.

Detective Shawna Stevens Quotes in American Street

The American Street quotes below are all either spoken by Detective Shawna Stevens or refer to Detective Shawna Stevens. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Dignity and the American Dream Theme Icon
).
Chapter 9 Quotes

I look all around the restaurant. “But this is your job,” I say.

She inhales and looks around, too. “Yes, it is. But our work is not without the help of good American citizens like yourself. You are an American citizen, right?”

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Detective Shawna Stevens (speaker), Donna/Primadonna François, Dray, Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Page Number: 90
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

“On American Street, I will live with my aunt Jo and my cousins, and go to school, and have a cute boyfriend, and keep my mouth shut because in Haiti I learned not to shake hands with the devil. But on Joy Road, I will tell the truth. The truth will lead to my happiness, and I will drive long and far without anything in my way, like the path to New Jersey, to my mother, to her freedom, to my joy. Which road should I take, Papa Legba?”

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Kasim, Dray, Bad Leg/Papa Legba, Manman/Valerie Toussaint, Detective Shawna Stevens
Page Number: 112
Explanation and Analysis:
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American Street PDF

Detective Shawna Stevens Quotes in American Street

The American Street quotes below are all either spoken by Detective Shawna Stevens or refer to Detective Shawna Stevens. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Dignity and the American Dream Theme Icon
).
Chapter 9 Quotes

I look all around the restaurant. “But this is your job,” I say.

She inhales and looks around, too. “Yes, it is. But our work is not without the help of good American citizens like yourself. You are an American citizen, right?”

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Detective Shawna Stevens (speaker), Donna/Primadonna François, Dray, Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Page Number: 90
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

“On American Street, I will live with my aunt Jo and my cousins, and go to school, and have a cute boyfriend, and keep my mouth shut because in Haiti I learned not to shake hands with the devil. But on Joy Road, I will tell the truth. The truth will lead to my happiness, and I will drive long and far without anything in my way, like the path to New Jersey, to my mother, to her freedom, to my joy. Which road should I take, Papa Legba?”

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Kasim, Dray, Bad Leg/Papa Legba, Manman/Valerie Toussaint, Detective Shawna Stevens
Page Number: 112
Explanation and Analysis: