"The Poet X" by Elizabeth Acevedo

I fell in love with Elizabeth Acevedo's writing last year when I read With the Fire on High. I found The Poet X even more amazing. It is written entirely in verse, and I highly recommend the audiobook because the author reads it herself. The book is written from the point of view of a 16-year old girl and a secretly aspiring poet named Xiomara. Her parents are Dominican immigrants: the mother is extremely religious and strict, and the father is basically there but completely checked out. Xiomara's only outlet is pouring out her thoughts in poems with which she covers pages and pages of notebooks. I once heard someone say that a true writer cannot help but write: they will even cover walls in imagined writing as they walk along a street. I believe this is true about Xiomara. She is quiet at school but there is a whirlwind of emotions, desires, rage and yearnings in her heart that find shape in her poems.

The book is timeless and poignant in its exploration of the conflict between generations. How do you tell your devout Catholic mother that you are doubting your own faith? Or, for Xiomara's twin brother: how do you tell them that you are gay? Xiomara falls in love with a boy. But her mother thinks that only sluts date, and there is no way she would ever be allowed to go out with him. Xiomara's body is changing and with it come inappropriate whistles, remarks and even gropings from random men on the street and in public transportation. The final straw that pushes Xiomara over the edge is the fact that her mother refuses to accept her art. Ultimately, the story ends on the note of hope. She has to fight for her right to express herself in poetry, and her parents learn to accept it rather than lose her altogether. I cannot wait to read more from this author. Highly recommend this book.