The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

This book doesn’t waste words and I won’t either. This is amazing. Written in verse it’s the story of Xiomara, a young woman who expresses herself through the poems she writes in her diary. Her and her twin brother are first generation immigrants from the Dominican Republic. They both are constantly having to navigate what it means to have a family steeped in culture and tradition, while also living as a teenager in the U.S. She has a body that screams for attention and fist that have grown weary from fighting. But now the words on the page that express all of frustrations, fears and dreams are finding their way out through the poetry club she begins attending to avoid her confirmation class.

I loved this. I loved it because Acevedo was able to pack so much world building, so much life, so much development into each poem. Her world, Xiomara’s world, unfolded beautifully on each page. It’s powerful and it resonates and it questions the relationships she has, her existence,and her sense of self. I would never consider myself a poet but I remember needing to express myself and finding an escape in writing in journals. I love that this book takes that feeling and turns it into her strength. I love that Xiomara finds a way to express that strength through the poetry slam.

I highly recommend this book. It’s so easy to get caught up in the rhythm and Acevedo’s writing style. It was so easy to fall into Xiomara’s life and experience the love, the anger, the confusion and the frustration of being a young woman in high school trying to figure it all out. I give this 5 out of 5 stars.