Winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, the Michael L. Printz Award, and the Pura Belpré Award!
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.
Xiomara Batista … words and powerful truth.
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. But she still 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.
“Crackles with energy and snaps with authenticity and voice.” —Justina Ireland, author of Dread Nation
“An incredibly potent debut.” —Jason Reynolds, author of the National Book Award Finalist Ghost
“Acevedo has amplified the voices of girls en el barrio who are equal parts goddess, saint, warrior, and hero.” —Ibi Zoboi, author of American Street
This young adult novel, a selection of the Schomburg Center’s Black Liberation Reading List, is an excellent choice for accelerated tween readers in grades 6 to 8.
Plus don’t miss Elizabeth Acevedo’s With the Fire on High and Clap When You Land!
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A story that will slam the power of poetry and love back into your heart.
I read this for a second time and caught all sorts of details I missed the first time. The phrase “required reading” conjures up images of old dead dudes. But the Poet X is what required reading SHOULD be: elegant, important and gripping–a story that stays with you. Whether you are a fan of YA or not, you should pick this one up.
An incredibly potent debut.
Crackles with energy and snaps with authenticity and voice. Every poem in this stunningly addictive and deliciously rhythmic verse novel begs to be read aloud. Xiomara is a protagonist who readers will cheer for at every turn. As X might say, Acevedo’s got bars. Don’t pass this one by.
A glorious achievement. This is a story about what it means to be a writer and how to survive when it feels like the whole world’s turned against you.
Poetry without the confusing poems, words that sing a story, a sad and beautiful story, of culture and religion, of hope and battle, of becoming. Such a book !!!! I couldn’t have loved it more, I will reread this and buy copies from friends. I listened to it on audio read by the author who reads this from her heart. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good story.
Acevedo has amplified the voices of girls en el barrio who are equal parts goddess, saint, warrior, and hero.
An amazing novel! The audio is insanely well done and read by the author. Warmed my afro-latin heart!
I was not sure what to expect from this story and boy was I surprised! This was a powerful and moving story of a teen girl living in New York City. A teen girl who has very strict parents to the point she feels she has no voice and instead uses her fists. Xiomara Batista shows us her world and how she feels about it and the people in it. Her hardworking parents, her genius twin brother, her group of close friends, and the pastor at her church. I really enjoyed this story of a young woman who found her voice instead of her fists. I feel it is an important read to those that feel they are voiceless or unseen in the world. Xiomara found her voice and you can too.
I also love that I decided to listen to this rather than read it. I felt the audiobook brought me into Xiomara’s world a lot easier than if I had read from the book. Listening to Elizabeth Acevedo read her own words just made it more powerful for me. I cannot wait to get my own copy of this book. I highly recommend this story.
THE POET X just won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and it is so deserved. I listened to the audiobook (performed by the author) and absolutely loved it. It took me back to my days as a teenager in NYC, watching spoken word poetry slams at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Can’t wait to see what Elizabeth Acevedo does next!
The MC has a very strong voice and personality that comes across beautifully on page but resonates even more powerfully if you hear this on audio.
“When I look around the church
and none of the depictions of angels
or Jesus or Mary, not one of the disciples
look like me: morenita and big and angry.
When I’m told to have faith
in the father the son
in men and men are the first ones
to make me feel so small.”
I can’t say enough about this book, so I’ll say what I can. The Poet X hit me hard. It’s written in the voice of a first generation immigrant, a New Yorker, a child of the hip-hop era who lives in the type of neighborhood you might’ve heard about in your favorite rapper’s song. The protagonist X, Xiomara may be coming of age, but her observations show wisdom beyond her years and her backbone is greater than that of many adults. The intergenerational push and pull immigrant children often have with their parents is expressed here in the relationship with her mother, but this is by no means a tale only for immigrants. It is a story of the old ways versus the new, trying to find common ground when the struggle to communicate is born out of love, and the complicated role religion plays in shaping the family dynamic.
In reading this, I often felt how Xio felt in watching spoken word for the first time: “She’s saying the thoughts I didn’t know anyone else had.”
Amazing, amazing, amazing.
I finally finished this book and I ADORED it so much!!!! Although it was amazing, I still prefer With the Fire on High, her latest book, which I expected since The Poet X is her debut novel but nonetheless, I really enjoyed it.
Even though I’ve read a lot of poems, this is my very first poetry book I’ve ever read and I did not know what to expect. I just had the feeling that I will love it because I’ve loved her latest book.
The format of this poem is simple and written as a Slam poetry, which makes a lot of sense because our main character, Xiomora (I think that’s how you spell her name) writes slam poetry and is really passionate about it. In addition to that, it is the only place where she can be her true self. The pacing was so fast that I finished it in a few days and now I need a movie about it to listen to her slam poetry!!!!!!!
There were a lot of heavy topics discussed in this book. One of them is the toxic relationship between the mother and daughter and how it is dealt with. My heart aches for our main character and there were moments in the book where I wanted to punch the mother in the face, especially in a particular scene (you know what I mean if you’ve read the book).
There is also the topic of doubt and finding yourself. I the book, we see our main character struggle from doubt of who she is and the religion she is practicing and I think the author did a great job in dealing with it, because everyone in their own lifetime struggles with doubt (it doesn’t need to be about religion, just in general) and the actions we take to deal with it.
The relationship between her and Aman is very sweet. I shipped them throughout the entire book and it’s a very healthy relationship so that’s even a plus. I also loved her dynamic with her brother, Xavior, and how she is the masculine one in her family while he is the feminine one. The way she defends her brother when anyone bullies him is just so heartwarming, and I love how they got each other’s back, and I have to say the same thing with her best friend, Caridad, because although she is more religious than our main character, she has got both of her and her brother’s back!!!!!!!
And I loved Xiomora’s English teacher so much. The way she supports her and encourages her to join the poetry club in addition to enhancing her poetry skills is just so sweet. You can see a beautiful mother/daughter relationship in there!!!!! I also loved the members of her poetry club and the way they support each other (especially Isabelle, I adore her).
The way the book ends can not be better than that!!!! It was just so amazing and heartwarming and I NEED THIS BOOK TO BE A FILM ALREADY!!!!!!!!!
All in all, I really enjoyed her debut novel and Elizabeth Acevedo’s books has now become an auto buy from me. I will read anything she writes!!!!! This book gets a 4.35 stars from me!!!!!!
It’s always amazing when someone writes a novel in verse. Acevedo does an excellent job of putting in all sorts of raw poetry in this book. I also enjoyed the transformation and self-realization of the protagonist, Xiomara.
There were a few poems that jolted me out of the story, though, including one from X’s mom. It just seemed out of place with the rest of the collection.
At first, I was annoyed with the boy-girl drama because I thought it would follow the usual route, but I’m glad that Acevedo went beyond the typical relationship arc. I also enjoyed how Acevedo really explored the complex web of family, though I thought the conclusion was all tied a bit too neatly.
A unique coming-of-age story that provides a much-needed message of being true to yourself and speaking up.
Stunning. Raw. Honest. Female. Feminist. Heartbreaking. Wonderful.
X is a sophomore in high school in a body that the world says makes her too tempting, with a mother who insists she be a devout Christian (per her own very specific definition) no matter what, with a heart that feels trapped.
Her feelings and poems and questions are important for us to not only hear, but listen to.
A powerful coming-of-age story told in verse about finding your voice. Teen poet Xiomara struggles to be heard amid family expectations and societal pressures. Her struggle is heartfelt and the images X paints with words were magical.
I really enjoyed this book. It was the first book that I could actually relate to as a little girl growing up in the hispanic neighborhoods of NYC. I also love poetry so this was a win/win for me.
Anyone who grew up in a strict/religious household can appreciate this book.
“The Poet X” by Elizabeth Acevedo is a beautiful and empowering novel told in verse. This book shows us that anyone can find their voice and is the perfect read for poetry fans and non poetry fans alike. CW: Religion, Abuse, Sexual Harassment, and Poverty.
6/5 An instant favorite
I listened to the audiobook version, read by the author. Which, for someone already in love with spoken word poetry was the perfect choice. The author performs the words of her characters with such realism that every conversation felt like I was a silent watcher amongst friends. And despite having very little in common with X, her poems felt as though she were revealing deep truths about being a girl that related to my own experiences, while at the same time telling me what it meant to be uniquely her.