Book Review: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

By Elizabeth Lorino | Five Points West Regional Branch Library

“And I think about all the things we could be if we were never told our bodies were not built for them.”
–  Elizabeth Acevedo, The Poet X

Xiomara Batista loves her family but feels distant from both her present but emotionally absent father and strict devout mother. Unable to speak her own truth, Xiomara keeps a journal of poems, spilling her feelings about her body and its place in the world, her budding sexuality, and her spiritual journey on the page that she can tuck away from sight. But when she is invited to join a slam poetry club at her school, she has to fight between her growing desire to speak her truth on stage and not wanting to disappoint her mother in the process.

The Poet X is a deeply emotional book written through prose poetry that I listened to in a single sitting. And here’s the thing: I’m not the biggest fan of reading poetry on its own. While the book can be read on its own, the audiobook transports you into Acevedo’s head, allowing you to hear Acevedo’s emotion through her narration that might be missed if you simply read the words on paper. Acevedo brings the reader back to the awkward transition from childhood to adulthood in deeply personal detail, making you pause in remembrance of your past self and your desire to be heard.

The audiobook version of The Poet X is available on both Hoopla and Libby. Elizabeth Acevedo has written two other books, With the Fire on High and Clap When You Land.

Here are other books of poetry written by women of color that you can check out at the library today:

Milk and Honey and The Sun and Her Flowers, Rupi Kaur
bone, Yrsa Daley-Ward
No Matter the Wreckage, Sarah Kay