BOOKS I READ: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (2018). Written in verse, this novel is Xiomara Batista’s writing log as she runs into the cruelty of high school, the expectations of her devout Christian mother, and the demands of the church. With her twin brother and her best friend at her side, she becomes The Poet X, skipping her confirmation classes to attend the poetry club. With her English teacher’s encouragement, she ends up at a poetry slam.

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

I picked up the book on a lark—the fifth book was free. It had a wonderful cover with many medals and a Laurie Halse Anderson endorsement. Turns out, it was the first of the five that I read, drawn in on the first page by lines like,

“Watch the old church ladies, chancletas flapping/
against the pavement, their mouths letting loose a train/
of island Spanish as they spread he said, she said.”

Previous book in reading log (or see all recent reads):

BOOKS I READ: The Great Fire (2003) Shirley Hazzard.

NB: Using Medium’s shortform posts to chain my reading log.