Acevedo, E. (2018). The poet x. Harper Teen.
Summary
Xiomara struggles: with her faith, her body, her self-love, her mother. Her devoutly religious mother constantly tells her that her body is a temptation for men, and she must take caution to prevent issues. Xiomara's body, curvaceous and mature, often feels like a burden while she navigates Harlem and the men in her life. When Xiomara turns to verse as an escape, she struggles again between seeking solace in her school poetry slam and hiding her true self from her mother. She finds herself hiding even more when feelings for a classmate, Aman, sneak into the picture and she knows her family can never know. Will Xiomara find a way to balance the secrets she's trying to hide, the guilt she feels from her mother's religious fervor, and who she really wants to be?
A Teacher's Perspective
I had never heard of Elizabeth Acevedo, but personally, I found my 17 year old self in the pages of this book. Maybe not in the sense that I had hands on my body in the way that Xiomara struggles with navigating that aspect of her life, but in the sense that I too grew up in an extremely strict religious household and guilt was a major child-rearing concept in the belief system.
This book is important, because so many students live in households that they struggle to find acceptance in. It teaches you self love, how to navigate a world that seems to always want something from you, and how to figure out who you truly are. I do recommend it for older students, as many middle school students have parents who monitor what they are reading and may find the often negative discussion of religion to be offensive (depending on what part of the country you're from--my south east Texas area is deeply religious).
Want to know more?
To purchase your own copy of The Poet X: Click here!
If you're doing an author study, here is a live performance of Elizabeth Acevedo doing a slam of The Poet X: