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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, Xi ...more
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, Xi ...more
This YA novel is unfortunately anti-Christian. It is the story of a teenage girl who finds fault with her mother's Catholicism. It is also about a mother who uses heavy-handed tactics to try to discipline her daughter back into believing. Of course, that never works.
The mother is from the Dominican Republic and the daughter is threatened with having to return to the DR from the USA. This is an own-voices type book that may closely resemble the author's own life experience.
I wasn't raised Cathol ...more
The mother is from the Dominican Republic and the daughter is threatened with having to return to the DR from the USA. This is an own-voices type book that may closely resemble the author's own life experience.
I wasn't raised Cathol ...more
Beautiful book. It's for YA but I found it completely engaging from beginning to end. Acevedo's writing is gorgeous.
...more
4.5
The Story
Xiomara Batista, twin sister to brother Xavier (aka “Twin”) is growing up in Harlem under a very strict immigrant mother intent on her raising daughter in step with the manners and morals of the Dominican Republic and a very traditional view of Catholicism. X, however, is trying to obey her parents, but be a decent American teenager. She studies does chores, but wants to date. She is in high school and that is the norm in her world. Her frustration, ready to destroy her, finds its “o ...more
The Story
Xiomara Batista, twin sister to brother Xavier (aka “Twin”) is growing up in Harlem under a very strict immigrant mother intent on her raising daughter in step with the manners and morals of the Dominican Republic and a very traditional view of Catholicism. X, however, is trying to obey her parents, but be a decent American teenager. She studies does chores, but wants to date. She is in high school and that is the norm in her world. Her frustration, ready to destroy her, finds its “o ...more
Really loved this novel in poetry/diary form about a young Dominican-American girl in Harlem who discovers slam poetry as a way to define herself against her strict upbringing. The audiobook (read by the author and slam poet) was excellent, as Xiomara’s passion and energy really came alive in Acevedo’s voice.
5 Stars
CAWPILE = 9.04
Honourable Mention 2022
CAWPILE = 9.04
Honourable Mention 2022
Aug 28, 2019
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