Elizabeth Acevedo
This is the story of Xiomara. Or as she would prefer, Poet X. She is a fighter, a twin, and a young woman who is finding out who she is with the gift of using her words. This story is told from X's point of view, and as she is a poet, this story is told in verse and has a flow that drives the story forward.
A large part of this story questions family. Xiomara's family is from the Dominican Republic, and they reside in Harlem. X loves her twin brother, and fights his battles (literally) for him. Her father is distant and hardly present, and X cannot live up to her Mami's standards of what a young woman should be. X is questioning her church, her Mami's strict rules, and her body which Mami calls "a little too much body for such a young girl." The story of X's resisting her mother's love and her mother battling for her daughter's soul is heartbreaking at times, as they just cannot communicate.
X finds solace in her notebook as she writes her poems, and in English class as Ms. Galiano takes special notice of her. X is invited to participate in the poetry slam club at school, but X knows her mother won't allow it. When she is given the Poetry Club Flyer she is given a ray of hope.
"Something in my chest flutters like a bird
whose wings are being gripped still
by the firmest fingers."
The reader will be hooked by X's strong, independent voice and root for her as she finally finds her freedom in her words and in her poems.
A large part of this story questions family. Xiomara's family is from the Dominican Republic, and they reside in Harlem. X loves her twin brother, and fights his battles (literally) for him. Her father is distant and hardly present, and X cannot live up to her Mami's standards of what a young woman should be. X is questioning her church, her Mami's strict rules, and her body which Mami calls "a little too much body for such a young girl." The story of X's resisting her mother's love and her mother battling for her daughter's soul is heartbreaking at times, as they just cannot communicate.
X finds solace in her notebook as she writes her poems, and in English class as Ms. Galiano takes special notice of her. X is invited to participate in the poetry slam club at school, but X knows her mother won't allow it. When she is given the Poetry Club Flyer she is given a ray of hope.
"Something in my chest flutters like a bird
whose wings are being gripped still
by the firmest fingers."
The reader will be hooked by X's strong, independent voice and root for her as she finally finds her freedom in her words and in her poems.