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The Poet X

 (Picture from Goodreads.com)

1.    

1.       Bibliography

Acevedo, Elizabeth. 2018. THE POET X. New York, NY: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-266380-4

2.       Plot Summary

Xiomara Batista is struggling to find her identity within the confines of her Harlem neighborhood and her mother’s rigid rules. Xiomara takes all her frustrations and pours them onto the pages of her notebook. This self-expression takes her through the turmoil of young teenage girl feeling crushes, rejection, instability, and finding your own voice. When she decides to start sharing her words at slam poetry her only concern is, will her mother find out?

3.       Critical Analysis

Xiomara is a fifteen-year old who feels out of place as she is stifled by her Catholic mother’s rules and fear of sexuality. Her father is present but absent in her life and her twin brother are also not emotionally available to her.

Themes of growing up first-generation American, Latinx culture, sizeism, music, burgeoning sexuality, and the power of the written and spoken word are all explored with nuance in Acevedo’s novel in verse.

A series of short poems make up this diary in a way that is refreshingly real to many teens today. Acevedo has her main character go through what many girls experience. Xiomara struggles with body image because she is thicker than most girls and men on the street like to jeer at her. She catches feelings for a boy she knows her family would never approve of and tries to hide it. She experiences sexual awakenings as well, making the book a little more mature and recommended for high school level readers.

Xiomara finds herself in her writing, and Acevedo shows young adults how they can express themselves through the written word. Poetry is seen as girly, but isn’t just for girls or even has to rhyme or follow a format. Slam poetry is popular and many young adults love to attend them or watch videos of them. Self-expression is a great way for young people (or anyone) to deal with and relay how they are feeling.

4.       Awards/Reviews

Winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, the Michael L. Printz Award, and the Pura Belpré Award!

“A powerful, heartwarming tale of a girl not afraid to reach out and figure out her place in the world.” — Booklist

★ “Themes as diverse as growing up first-generation American, Latinx culture, sizeism, music, burgeoning sexuality, and the power of the written and spoken word are all explored with nuance. Poignant and real, beautiful and intense.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

★ “Debut novelist Acevedo’s free verse gives Xiomara’s coming-of-age story an undeniable pull, its emotionally charged bluntness reflecting her determination and strength. At its heart, this is a complex and sometimes painful exploration of love in its many forms, with Xiomara’s growing love for herself reigning supreme.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

★ “In nearly every poem, there is at least one universal truth about adolescence, family, gender, race, religion, or sexuality that will have readers either nodding in grateful acknowledgment or blinking away tears.” — Horn Book (starred review)

★ “The Poet X is beautiful and true—a splendid debut.” — Shelf Awareness (starred review)

“Acevedo plays with language, form, and space in a way that commands attention, pulling readers from one emotional extreme to the next without pause or remorse... Readers will applaud Xiomara as she journeys from a place of cautious defensiveness to being confident in the power of her voice.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

★ “Acevedo’s poetry is skillfully and gorgeously crafted, each verse can be savored on its own, but together they create a portrait of a young poet sure to resonate with readers long after the book’s end.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

“The Poet X is beautiful and true—a splendid debut.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

 

5.       Connections

 

Students looking for a book with a strong female Dominican-American lead.

Girls (even boys) struggling with identity and strict parents.

Fans of free verse/ verse novels will love this book! It is a quick read. Recommended for high school level for mature content.

From Amazon : “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.”

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