
The Poet X
“A story that will slam the power of poetry and love back into your heart.”
Laurie Halse Anderson, New York Times bestselling author
Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
Winner of the 2018 National Book Award for Young People's Literature
Winner of the 2019 Walter Award in the Teen Category
Finalist for the Kirkus Prize
Winner of the Boston Globe - Horn Book Award
A 2019 Audie Award Finalist for Best Narration by the Author or Authors
A 2019 Audie Award Finalist for Best Narration in Young Adult Fiction
Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Young Adult Literature
Winner of the 2019 Indies Choice Book Award for Young Adult Book of the Year
Don't miss this acclaimed audiobook, read by the author—winner of an Odyssey Honor and an AudioFile Earphones Award winner!
The Poet X is also the 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 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, in the classroom or for homeschooling.
Plus don't miss Elizabeth Acevedo's With the Fire on High and Clap When You Land!
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