Synopsis: A young girl in Harlem discovers slam poetry as a way to understand her mother’s religion and her own relationship to the world. Debut novel of renowned slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo.
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, much less speak her words out loud. But still, she 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.
Review: The Poet X has been a book I put off reading because I heard the best way to experience this book is the audio version while following along with the text. I was finally able to get my hands on the audio, so I was able to get into the story. First off, Xiomara is a great character. I loved hearing her talk about her upbringing in regards to her family history and faith. Xiomara's mom putting her own beliefs ahead of her daughter hit hard. I think a lot of people who grew up in faith focused towns will relate to that. I loved seeing Xiomara find her voice in and out of poetry.
The story was compelling. The free verse structure of the text made the story flow so well. And Elizabeth Acevedo delivered each poem flawlessly. The Poet X had some heavy moments, especially regarding the conflict between Xio and her mom, but nothing in this book felt too heavy. I would highly recommend it to someone who likes contemporary, but doesn't know how they would feel about books that deal with darker topics. One of my favorite parts was seeing Xio write drafts of assignments for her teacher, then seeing what she actually turned in. It allows the reader to see what potential Xio has, and the things she wants to say. But we also see her pull back and submit something deemed more appropriate. I will say that I wanted a little more at the end of the book. I wanted Xiomara to have more internal dialogues about what faith means to her. I mostly wanted this because her brother and her best friend are both pretty deep in the church, and the synopsis made it seem like this was something Xio was going to try to figure out on her own. But Xio rejected a lot of church elements. I understand. I do. I just wanted her to think more about what faith could be, and I wanted there to be moments where Xiomara views God in a different way from his followers.
Beautiful book that deserves all the praise it gets.
4 howls
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