If you like: slam poetry, diary fiction, Dead Poets Society, Ellen Hopkins, Jason Reynolds.
I want to use a million exclamation points, I love The Poet X so much. The book is told entirely through verse—scattered with some haikus and English papers—written in 15-year-old Xiomara’s diary.
Xiomara is big, in many ways. She’s a Dominican-American girl who has grown into a curvy body that attracts mostly unwanted attention. She has big doubts with her religion and Confirmation, big fear about going after the boy she likes, and big issues with her nun-strict mother. Everything in her life tells her to make her bigness small, and quiet, so she can become easier to handle by other people.
But Xiomara finds a space for her bigness through her English teacher, who also runs the school’s poetry club. Xiomara joins:
“I can’t remember
the last time people were silent
while I spoke, actually listening.
Not since Aman.
But it’s nice to know I don’t need him
in order to feel listened to.
My little words
feel important, just for a moment.
This is a feeling I could get addicted to.”
That’s where Xiomara’s writing comes in. She has a powerful, vibrant voice, and when she writes it’s without the restraint others have tried to shackle her with. Watching Xiomara work through her struggles by writing, then taking those words and finally saying them, is amazing.
The people in Xiomara’s life react differently to her words. It’s heartbreaking to read how Xiomara’s mother lashes out with anger and fear, while Xiomara’s twin brother distances himself with his own secrets and struggles. As always, though, I’m a sucker for friendships, and even though Xiomara’s best friend has different ideals and beliefs, she always supports Xiomara with you’ll figure it out. The shifting and changing relationships are complex, but it’s through them that Xiomara can figure out what it is she wants.
Maybe it can go without saying, but the writing in The Poet X is gorgeous. The poetry is entrancing and begs to be read aloud; to hear your own voice carry Xiomara’s words. I read the book twice, and it’s the kind of story that will continue to reveal new things to me with every reread.
The Poet X is a love song to poetry, to the importance of self-expression that is heard. As Xiomara writes, “I only know that learning to believe in the power of my own words has been the most freeing experience of my life. It has brought me the most light. And isn't that what a poem is? A lantern glowing in the dark.”
"The Poet X" by Elizabeth Acevedo; HarperTeen; March 2018.
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