The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Published by HarperTeen on March 6th 2018
ARC from Publisher
368 pages

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.

The words just came out of me, bursting like a waterfall. And then I thought “Hey. Let’s do this in verse.”

And so I did.

When it comes to the written word

Elizabeth’s words sit on a pedestal

High above but close to touch

Weak hearts who also yearn

For their voices to be heard.

Elizabeth wrote a book

That shows the power of words

And the impact it can leave

On every person who hears it.

Elizabeth wrote something beautiful

The prose equally pristine

It hits you hard in the face

And make you cry as well.

Elizabeth delivered a strong story

Told in verses that make you think

Having you emotionally invested

With a certain poet

When it comes to the story

For there was a story about a girl

Who lets the readers understand

What she feels through every word

And every syllable she creates

For there was a story about a girl

Diverse in a lot of ways

Resonated with me with every word

And tugged my heartstrings to bits

For there was a story about a girl

Who struggled in finding herself

Because they kept telling her

About the mold they want her in

For there was a story about a girl

Who broke boundaries once she

Did something for herself

And followed her heart

For there was a story about a girl

Who not only represents the Latin community

But also those whose voices are repressed

It’s a praise for the ones who shout

The truth and nothing but the truth

About these messy teenage years we have

When it comes to the characters

Xiomara is someone who has a lot of questions

Who writes poems in a tiny notebook

She never lets anyone see it

Until a boy came along

Xiomara has a lot of feelings about Confirmation

She is confused on what she wants to be

Amidst the requests of her religious mother,

Silent father, and brother who has his own secrets

Xiomara develops a certain tone

That makes you love her even more

She has a lot of questions

But it only validates her to the core

Xiomara is an interesting one

Despite the array of characters

She stands out in the whole book

With her beautiful and poetic voice

The book overall

Such high praise can only be given

To a book that has blown me away

And inspired me in a lot of ways

I only hope you read it, too.

I can only say sweet words

Because it’s just that good

Albeit I was just as skeptical as you

When I decided to give it a shot

Dear reader, never fear

This book is simply delightful

I am sure that The Poet X

Will leave you amazed

That is how inspired I am. It is true that I shed a tear or two, because it is that beautiful. I didn’t know that a book could affect me that way. Nevertheless, expect to see The Poet X once I make a list of the best books for 2018.

I also made bookmarks for the tour, consisting of some of my favorite quotes from the book (well, to be fair the book is so quotable.)

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Win a copy of The Poet X!

(International giveaway)

Huge thanks to Karina at Afire Pages for giving me the opportunity to join the blog tour and HarperCollins for sending the review copies our way. (This does not affect my review in any way. It is my own honest opinion and thoughts.)

Have you read or will be reading The Poet X?