Description

Recipient of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, the Michael L. Printz Award, and the Pura Belpré Award.

Readers who love the emotional storytelling style of Jacqueline Woodson, Meg Medina, and Jason Reynolds will be captivated by this powerful New York Times bestselling novel-in-verse from acclaimed slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo. The book centers on an unforgettable Afro-Latina protagonist who voices her story with courage, authenticity, and poetic strength.

Xiomara Batista feels invisible and silenced in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body began attracting unwanted attention, she’s learned to let her toughness and fists speak for her. But beneath that fierceness lies a lot she wishes she could say. Xiomara fills a leather-bound notebook with poems that hold her frustrations, dreams, and truths, memorizing and whispering them as personal prayers. Her private writings begin to overflow when she develops feelings for Aman, a boy from her biology class whom her family would never approve of.

Facing her mother’s strict demands and unwavering religious expectations, Xiomara believes it’s safer to keep her thoughts hidden. When she’s invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, the idea of participating seems impossible without her mother finding out. Yet Xiomara can’t stop imagining how it would feel to finally perform her words and make her voice heard.

With passion and determination to speak her truth, Xiomara refuses to remain silent, even when the rest of the world may not want to hear her.

“Brimming with unforgettable energy and sincere emotion.”—Justina Ireland, author of Dread Nation

“A breathtaking debut.”—Jason Reynolds, author of Ghost, a National Book Award Finalist

“Elizabeth Acevedo has given voice to the vibrant, resilient girls of el barrio who are warriors, saints, heroes, and goddesses.”—Ibi Zoboi, author of American Street

This remarkable young adult novel, featured on the Schomburg Center’s Black Liberation Reading List, makes a compelling selection for young readers, especially those in grades 6 through 8 who seek richer, engaging and meaningful stories.

Additionally, be sure to read Elizabeth Acevedo’s other acclaimed novels, With the Fire on High and Clap When You Land.