The Poet X
Ratings190
Average rating4.4
I loved this story, especially being told in the format of poetry- seems the only appropriate way to tell the story of a blossoming poet! I highly recommend listening to the audiobook version, as the author reads it herself with the raw emotion and energy of the words cutting through and piercing your heart. I'd love to listen again and have a hard copy to follow along to visualize the poetic structures, but for now I'll be thinking about X and this poetry for a while. I highly recommend it!
A coming of age story for our character Xiomara, a girl growing up trying to find her voice. Although, she expresses herself through her writings it's her wanting to be able to freely express herself and have a life that reflects that. I would recommend this book on audio, the narrator did a fantastic job. ~Ashley
I just finished listening to this audiobook, and the author did an outstanding job narrating it herself, and the story itself felt very raw and realistic, I can hear X and the author at the same time, as a latina myself I can understand the struggles she faces, how religion is indoctrinated to us at such young age, how we're forced to believe and teached to follow the commandments even if we don't really grasp the meaning behind them.
“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.”
This book was so amazing it was hard to put down.
I really loved how it's written in verse. It's certainly not for everyone but it really helped me feel immersed in Xiomara's mind. She ended up being a really relatable character even though we have basically nothing in common. I love characters that provide that connection. Literally everything is just so beautiful I don't even know how to properly explain it.
This was my first novel written in verse and I was captivated.
I see why The Poet X won The National Book Award.
It is nothing short of brilliant.
And beautiful.
And heartbreaking.
I know only peripherally about the warring cultures she writes about but I felt her struggle. Daily battles with her mother, her classmates, her faith, her body.
Parents, have your teens read this book.
There is no cursing, no sex. Just real teen angst that on some level every person can relate to.
I chose Elizabeth Acevedo for the 52 week reading challenge- the prompt was A Book by a Caribbean author.
I found this on my daughter's bookshelf.
I am so glad I picked it up.
This is why I love reading challenges.
What a powerful quick read. 4.5 more likely. A beautiful tribute to the form of poetry, the kind of book that is a lifeline for teens like X.
If you are able to listen to the audiobook edition of this book do it. It is read by the author and it is made excellent for it. This is a short but powerful novel in verse about a teenage girl who is always told she is too much but has a voice that needs to be heard.
Xiomara Batista, a young Latinx in Harlem, finds she can only speak of her true experiences and her true feelings in the poetry she writes constantly in her notebook.
Xiomara and her mother conflict over religion and Xiomara's desire to have a boyfriend. Xiomara is closed off from most of her teachers and fellow students at the high school. Her twin brother gives her a notebook and encourages her to write about her experiences and her feelings, and Xiomara does this, and here in the notebook, Xiomara discovers her gifts.
This is a beautiful story of a daughter and her mother as they navigate the difficult waters of leaving a child-adult relationship and moving toward an adult-adult relationship. It's the story of a girl trying to find her own voice, trying to do and say the things that seem right and true for her.
And it's all told in free verse.
Acevedo has a truly beautiful literary voice, and her narration is flawless, I would highly recommend the audiobook.
I really wish I had read this book before Clap When You Land because I kept comparing it to how powerful Clap When You Land was and it really got in the way of me enjoying this book for what it is, don't get me wrong this book has powerful moments too it's just not as strong.
There is so much heart encased in this little book, I found myself constantly cheering, worried, and exhilarated for Xio's journey.
OOO child... It's hard growing up Latino/a, Latinx, Latines, Dominican, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Cuban, Venezuelan, Guatemalan...etc; even more so in the diaspora... even more so as a first and second generation born and raised in the diaspora.
This is perfection. In every single way.
This was so beautiful! Elizabeth Acevedo brings life to her stories through her narration and I knew I wasn't going to go wrong with choosing to listen to this as an audiobook.
This tackled issues with living in an extremely religious and conservative household that I am quite familiar with, especially growing up in the Philippines.
Although I can't say I have extremely religious and conservative parents, I most definitely have family members that are, and cousins + close friends that share Xiomara's experiences.
What I especially loved about Xiomara was her questioning attitude when it came to the church's teachings, and hearing her thoughts about her culture and the societal structure and standards that so clearly favors men.
Acevedo is incredibly talented and I love the way she writes her characters, gives them their passions and dreams, a voice, and a story that so many can relate to.
I read The Poet X through the audiobook, which was really good! I thought it was wonderfully written. I even teared up a few times. There were moments where I could completely relate to her struggles. I loved that she had Twin as her support system- someone who understood her but not completely. Her wanting to be heard was loud enough for it to reverberate through the writing.
I am a sucker for a happy ending. But I didn't think The Poet X needed one. But her struggles with her place in the world, religion and her family were swept under the rug towards the end. Xiomara had so much more to learn and go through. So, the happy ending felt like a pretty ribbon was tied in a bow to her story.
I loved the discussions of religion, sexual harassment, family expectations. But keep that in mind before going into this book, it can be a bit tough!
This book is incredibly impactful and I understand why it was so acclaimed.To be honest, I never planned on reading this. The premise didn't seem like something I'd been into and the last time I read a book told in verse, I wasn't very fond of it (looking at you [b:The Princess Saves Herself in This One 30075802 The Princess Saves Herself in This One (Women Are Some Kind of Magic, #1) Amanda Lovelace https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1462211636l/30075802.SY75.jpg 50494177]). With that said, the book club I'm in at school selected this book and I begrudgingly read it.Boy am I glad I did. This story is powerful and allowed me to view life from a different cultural lens, something I'm really trying to do more of. This book instantly hooked me in and I was emotionally invested in Xiomara's plight. Moreover, when it came to religion, I felt myself able to relate to her on some fronts, which was very interesting.I'd recommend this book to anyone in a heartbeat. There's a reason it's won several awards.
I think about all the things we could beif we were never told our bodies were not built for them.
A too-neat ending for me, but a perfect portrayal of adolescence on the whole.
Elizabeth Acevedo knocked my socks off with her poem-novel, “The Poet X.”
Acevedo's language is compact and powerful with words chosen carefully. This coming-of-age story goes inside the heart and mind if a shy sophomore raised in a conservative Catholic home in Harlem. We watch her struggle with the woman she's becoming, her family's expectations, growing apart from her twin brother, and finding, developing, and accepting her own voice. Even though this book is classified as young adult, I recommend it to anyone over 11 because it is beautiful.
This book was the PBS News Hour's Now Read This selection for November 2020. Here are the questions that group published to support the online group discussion.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/discussion-questions-for-the-poet-x
I had heard so much about this author and WOW I'm so glad I picked up this book. I haven't read a lot of poetry or stories in verse, and the talent of Elizabeth Acevedo to be able to say so much with so few words is amazing. I found myself completely drawn in and loved this book.
4,5.
Sin palabras, este libro ha sido un mix de emociones porque me recuerda mucho a mi infancia y a cosas cercanas a mí, de verdad, leedlo <3
This is the YA material the world needs. The themes of sticking up for what you believe and questioning everything pressed on you by the adults in your life is much more important than falling in love with manipulative vampires. There also is the incredibly important calling out boys for not checking other boys when they publicly abuse women. I love the poetry style writing and the different cadence choice on each page. Xiomara continued to grow throughout the story, starting out boy crazy, obsessed with a first kiss, to becoming a passionate slam poet who writes about the tumultuous relationships in her life. I read this in a little over 4 hours. An amazing read.