The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

 

The Poet X is a novel in verse told from the perspective of an Afro Latina teenager living in New York City Xiomara. She and her twin brother were long-awaited babies for older parents and their religious views mean that Xiomara has limited freedom and choices. She puts her thoughts and feelings out on the page as poetry.

Someone on Goodreads talked about this book as a survival guide for teenage girls and I think that's a really accurate assessment. It does talk about her experience as a child of immigrants, but also just regular harassment, embarrassment, young love, body image issues, and general teenage angst that many young women might feel. 

I'm not huge into poetry, but this format really worked for this topic and did a lot of work in terms of character development. I'm docking it half a star because the ending was not great, but what an impressive debut! 4.5/5 stars

Lines of note:
I am the baby fat that settled into D-cups and swinging hips
so that the boys who called me a whale in middle school
now ask me to send them pictures of myself in a thong. (page 5)

Heartbreaking. 

What if I like a boy too much and he breaks my heart,

and I wind up angry and bitter like Mami,

walking around always exclaiming how men ain't shit,

even when my father and brother are in the same room? (page 32)

My mom did this. LOL. All men are bastards was a very common refrain in our household growing up. It is no wonder that I find most men terrifying.

It happens when I'm at bodegas

It happens when I'm at school.

It happens when I'm on the train.

It happens when I'm standing on the platform.

It happens when I'm sitting on the stoop.

It happens when I'm turning the corner.

It happens when I forget to be on guard.

It happens all the time.

    I should be used to it.

    I shouldn't get so angry

    when boys - and sometimes

    grown-ass men - 

    talk to me however they want,

    think they can grab themselves

    or rub agaisnt me

    or make all kinds of offers.

    But I'm never used to it.

    And it always makes my hands shake. (page 52)

This was long, but I couldn't help but type it all out because it was so powerful to me. The ubiquity of sexual harassment for young women is so troubling.

The world is almost peaceful when you stop trying to understand it. (page 223)

Is it?

I can't remember the last time people were silent while I spoke, actually listening. (page 259)

I can't imagine how powerful this line would have been if I'd read it when I was a teenager.

Thing I looked up:
chancletas (page 3) - Flip-flops! (or flippity-flops, as I call them)

Hat mentions:

None