Thursday, March 22, 2018

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

I was blown away by The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo!  This novel is so beautifully written that it will leave you wanting so much more.  In verse, Acevedo tells us the story of a young Dominican girl, Xiomara, and her journey to discover her voice. We are given a character that we root for every step of the way.

Xiomara is a teenage who has kept silent for too long.  She has kept silent as boys, and even men, have continued to comment about her curves.  She has kept silent as her strict mother has placed her own troubled past on to the shoulders of her daughter.  She has kept silent just as she is expected to do.

This silence has manifested itself over the years in a book filled with her words, her poems.  When she meets a boy who wants to listen, her words start to find their way out.  But not until her English teacher introduces her to the world of slam poetry does Xiomara finally find her voice.  And oh, what a voice it is. 

From Amazon:

“Crackles with energy and snaps with authenticity and voice.” —Justina Ireland, author of Dread Nation

“An incredibly potent debut.” Jason Reynolds, author of the National Book Award Finalist Ghost

“Acevedo has amplified the voices of girls en el barrio who are equal parts goddess, saint, warrior, and hero.” Ibi Zoboi, author of American Street

Fans of Jacqueline Woodson, Meg Medina, and Jason Reynolds will fall hard for this astonishing #ownvoices novel-in-verse by an award-winning slam poet, about an Afro-Latina heroine who tells her story with blazing words and powerful truth.

Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.

But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers—especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about.

With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself. So when she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out. But she still can’t stop thinking about performing her poems.

Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent.

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