Winner of the National Book Award, the Printz, the Walter, the Pura Belpre, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and my heart. (In adult books this sweep is known as Colson-ing, for kids it's pulling an Angie Thomas.) Xiomara is an aspiring poet who keeps her writing and her questions of faith secret from her devout Dominican mother. The Poet X is about discovering a community, feeling proud in your skin, the power of words, and the importance of finding your voice. Written in verse, it's a super fast read but every line is a gut punch.
— Katy
“This book is a great coming-of-age story for any teenage girl. A collection of poems make it a quick and thoughtful read. Xiomara is a Dominican girl living in the city, getting used to her changing body and attention from her lab partner, and wrestling with ideas of right and wrong. Her ideas of right and wrong are completely different from her highly religious mother’s. Her poems are her freedom, but how can you be free when home makes you feel trapped?”
— Lulu Roush, Waucoma Bookstore, Hood River, OR