Skip to main content

Module 3 - Book Review 2 - POET X: by Elizabeth Acevedo


 Module 3 – Book Review 2 

Review of Elizabeth Acevedo’s POET X 

*This review was written for a course through Sam Houston State University. 

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Acevedo, Elizabeth (2018). THE POET X. Quill Tree Books. ISBN: 0062662805 

2. PLOT SUMMARY 

The novel-in-verse, The Poet X, is about a fifteen-year-old named Xiomara Batista. She is a girl who has grown up in Harlem and feels controlled and even silenced by her strict and extremely religious mother. She struggles to deal with all of the attention her developing body is bringing, combined with the high expectations of her mother and the strict rules she is forced to follow. In order to process her emotions, Xiomara starts to write poetry in secret to try and find a way to deal with her situation and thoughts of her own faith, that of her family, and who she really is. Her English teacher encourages her by getting her to join the school’s slam poetry club. This forces her to make a choice to either keep her voice private or take the risk of sharing with others. In the middle of this, she begins to have feelings for a boy named Aman and makes things harder at home. Her mother finds her poetry and forces a confrontation with Xiomara when she must choose to embrace who she is and claim her identity as a poet. 

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS  

The novel-in-verse, Poet X, written by Acevedo is a powerful story that tells a coming-of-age story through Xiomara’s emotional turmoil and personal struggles. The form of poetry is important because it shows how her voice is a tool for self-expression and has the reader experience what she does in an intimate and almost raw way. It focuses on themes like identity, the expectations of family and culture, and even generational conflict. She fights her feelings because of her strict upbringing by her Catholic mother and the pressure she feels from her expectations. She finds poetry gives her a place to explore her thoughts and feelings in what she feels is a safe way. Acevedo uses imagery, metaphor, and repetition to show emotion and let the reader see Xiomara’s inner growth. The novel does a great job of exploring the tension between faith and individuality. Xiomara gives the example of how a teen could sort through their beliefs while still asserting their independence. The book demonstrates the power of art and storytelling and how it helps Xiomara find her voice, embrace it, and finally define who she is on her terms. It underlines the healing power of art. 

Personally, I was able to draw several comparisons to my own upbringing and what Xiomara went through. I came from an extremely religious family with high expectations. Reading and theatre became my safe space and helped me through some very hard times as a teenager. I honestly feel that reading this had me, once again, shift my mindset as a teacher and librarian by reflecting on my own experiences with a different perspective and how I view my own students. 

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S) 

Booklist (November 1, 2017 (Vol. 114, No. 5)) 

Grades 9-12. This coming-of-age story from the streets of Harlem centers on Xiomara Barista, a teenage poet seeking to express herself. X has loved writing down her thoughts from an early age. Unfortunately, she doesn’t get to share them with her family, due to her mother’s strict dedication to making sure X is focused on being a good Catholic girl. When X starts questioning her faith and realizes her brother is hiding his own secrets from their mother, she starts figuring out how she can stand up for herself and her beliefs.  

Horn Book Magazine (March/April, 2018) 

Fifteen-year-old Xiomara, whose name means “one who is ready for war,” has been fighting her whole life. She finds moments of peace by writing in her poetry journal, joining a spoken-word poetry club, and exploring a blossoming romance with Aman, her science partner. 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. 

Kirkus Reviews starred (January 15, 2018) 

Poetry helps first-generation Dominican-American teen Xiomara Batista come into her own.Fifteen-year old Xiomara (“See-oh-MAH-ruh,” as she constantly instructs teachers on the first day of school) is used to standing out: she’s tall with “a little too much body for a young girl.”  The only place Xiomara feels like herself and heard is in her poetry—and later with her love interest, Aman (a Trinidadian immigrant who, refreshingly, is a couple inches shorter than her).  

Publishers Weekly (January 22, 2018) 

Harlem sophomore Xiomara Batista isn't saintly like her virtuous twin brother. And her tough exterior-she's always ready to fend off unwelcome advances and unkind words-hides questions and insecurities. Xiomara pours her innermost self into poems and dreams of competing in poetry slams, a passion she's certain her conservative Dominican parents will never accept.  

School Library Journal (March 1, 2018) 

Gr 7 Up-Magnificently crafted, Acevedo's bildungsroman in verse is a stunning account of a teen girl's path to poetry. Acevedo's depiction of a faith in crisis is exceedingly relatable and teens, especially those going through the sacrament of Confirmation, will deeply appreciate Xiomara's thoughtful questioning of the Church and how it treats women.  

School Library Journal (July 1, 2018) 

Gr 7 Up-That Acevedo narrates her debut novel in verse is a sublime gift. She's undoubtedly the ideal aural arbiter of her spectacular coming-of-age tale about a Harlem teen whose generational, cultural, religious, and emotional conflicts coalesce to teach her "to believe in the power of [her] own words." She fills those pages with everything she can't say, revealing doubts, aches, secrets: "It almost feels like/the more I bruise the page/the quicker something inside me heals." Encouraged by her English teacher to claim her voice, Xiomara's performance of her verses will be "the most freeing experience of [her] life."  

5. CONNECTIONS  

Related Books – Other books about the themes of identity, voice, and finding your place in the world 

  • Yoon, Nicola. THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR: 978-0553496710 

  • Green, John. THE FAULT IN OUR STARS: 978-0142424179 

Enrichment Activities – 

  • Cultural and Identity Research – Ask students to research Dominican culture, immigrant families, or life in Harlem to make 2 possible things 

  • Visual presentation about the culture of Dominican-Americans 

  • A short comparison of how Xiomara finds the balance between her family traditions and American teen culture 

  • Poetry and Exploring Voice – Ask students to examine spoken word and slam poetry to create either of the following examples 

  • Short original poem about identity, the pressure felt from family or society, or self-expression 

  • A brief reflection that connects their poem to Xiomara’s experience in the novel 

6. AWARDS 

Michael L. Printz Award, 2019 

Odyssey Honor, 2019 

Pura Belpre Author Award, 2019 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Module 2 Traditional Literature - THE LION AND THE MOUSE - Written by Jerry Pinkney

  Module 2 – Book Review 3   Review of J erry Pinkney ’s THE LION AND THE MOUSE   *This review was written for a course through Sam Houston State University.     1. BIBLIOGRAPHY   Pinkney , J erry . ( 2009 ). T he Lion and the Mouse . Little Brown and Company . ISBN: 978 0316013567     2 . SUMMARY   Pinkney’s illustrated retelling of Aesop’s fable “The Lion and the Mouse” does an incredible job of telling the story of a mighty lion and his unlikely friendship with a mouse. The tale happens when the mouse accidentally wakes the lion, who is quite angry and is captured. However, the lion lets the mouse go, who is grateful and promises to help the lion when he needs it in the future. The lion eventually needs help when he finds himself trapped in a poacher’s net. The mouse comes to help by gnawing through the ropes of the net to free the lion. The lion sees that even the smallest of animals can help and recognizes the importance of kindness ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Module 6 Fiction, Fantasy, YA: When Stars are Scattered - Written by Victoria Jamieson

  Module 6 – Book Re view 3   Review of Victoria Jamieson’s When Stars are Scattered   *This review was written for a course through Sam Houston State University.   1. BIBLIOGRAPHY   Jamieson, Victoria (2 0 20 ). WHEN STARS ARE SCATTERED . Dial Books for Young Readers . ISBN: 978-1-72548-313-2   2. PLOT SUMMARY   Victoria Jamieson's graphic novel "When Stars Are Scattered" is a story about two brothers named Omar and Hassan. The brothers live in a refugee camp in Kenya they moved to after fleeing their home in war-torn Somalia. Jamieson writes about their struggles as refugees and how they dream of a better life while living in the camp. They face constant uncertainty and focus on their desire for education. As the older brother, Omar takes on caring for his younger brother and must face the circumstances of survival and the hope of a better future for both. Jamieson manages to use her storytelling along with illustrations in the graphic novel to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Module 6 Fiction, Fantasy, YA: Echo - Written by Pam Munoz Ryan

  Module 6 – Book Re view 1   Review of Pam Munoz Ryan’s Echo   *This review was written for a course through Sam Houston State University.   1. BIBLIOGRAPHY   Ryan, P. M. (2 01 5 ). ECHO . Scholastic Pres s . ISBN: 978-0-439-87402-1   2. PLOT SUMMARY   In "Echo” written by Pam Munoz Ryan, a story connects three main characters through the space of time in the years from the Nazi Germany, through the Great Depression in America, and finally California in the 1940s. Each time period is connected by a magical and mysterious harmonica and the interactions of three different main characters, Friedrich, Mike, and Ivy, respectively. First, the harmonica finds its way into the hands of Friedrick who struggles with his love for music in Nazi Germany and has a magical encounter with the harmonica on his journey to escape the oppressive regime to find freedom. For him, the harmonica symbolizes hope and resilience. Next the harmonica connects with Mike who is ...
Post a Comment
Read more