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.” taken from Goodreads.com
My students know that I’m not a fan of poetry but any free verse novel that I do “read”, I actually listen to. The Poet X had caught my attention when it was first published but I didn’t pick it up until just now when I listened to the audio version read by the author. Elizabeth Acevedo is a National Poetry Slam Champion and brings her words literally to life. An absolutely heartbreaking yet encouraging read about Xiomara and her struggles with her domineering mother. The author is also an audiobook narrator for other author’s novels. This will definitely not be my last listen by the author.
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