The Poet X
-
-
4.4 • 5 Ratings
-
-
- $15.99
Publisher Description
Don't miss this acclaimed audiobook, read by the author—winner of an Odyssey Honor and an AudioFile Earphones Award winner!
The Poet X is also the winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, the Michael L. Printz Award, and the Pura Belpré Award.
Fans of Jacqueline Woodson, Meg Medina, and Jason Reynolds will fall hard for this astonishing New York Times-bestselling 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.
“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
This young adult novel, a selection of the Schomburg Center's Black Liberation Reading List, is an excellent choice for accelerated tween readers in grades 6 to 8, in the classroom or for homeschooling.
Plus don't miss Elizabeth Acevedo's With the Fire on High and Clap When You Land!
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Elizabeth Acevedo’s dynamic, evocative style has made her one of the most powerful young spoken-word poets on the scene—and her debut YA novel clearly shows why. Narrated in searing verse, The Poet X tells the story of 15-year-old Xiomara. Growing up in Harlem, she struggles with the consequences of her deceptively mature figure and with her artistic ambition, which puts her at odds with her devoutly Catholic mother. Acevedo reads her book with fierce urgency, stripping the melodrama away from her tough-but-tender story. We found ourselves listening to our favorite passages over and over like a mixtape.
