Book Description
"A young girl in Harlem discovers slam poetry as a way to understand her mother’s religion and her own relationship to the world. Debut novel of renowned slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo.
Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.
But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers—especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about. With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself.
So when she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out, much less speak her words out loud. But still, she can’t stop thinking about performing her poems.
Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent." - https://www.acevedowrites.com/the-poet-x
Where It's Banned
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo has been banned in school districts in the following states: Florida, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Iowa, North Carolina, New York, & Pennsylvania (2021-2024 school years). https://pen.org/book-bans/pen-america-index-of-school-book-bans-2023-2024/
Why It's Banned
Many of the people who oppose this book cite profanity, sexual references, and Xiomara's experience with questioning her Catholic faith as reasons for the ban. Some also disagree with the conversations around race. - North Carolina Lawsuit Challenges The Poet X Over Religious Viewpoint
Acevedo responded at an event for teen readers that, "There's a huge underestimation about what you need to be protected against, because somehow The Hunger Games is still in school, so kids can kill each other and that's OK, but if you write about a queer character, if you write about anything having to do with sexuality, that's not OK? What are we saying? What are we protecting kids from? It makes me really angry that they're trying to push y’all not to be critical thinkers and try to “protect” y’all when they're really just doing you a disservice.”
“I don't underestimate my reader; I don't talk down to my reader,” she said. “But I also write with a lot of tenderness. I love young people, and I want young people to feel loved by my books. I want you to open the book and be like, ‘Well, I'm safe here,’ even if I'm looking at subjects that are really difficult to talk about. There’s a balance to how am I really loving, but I also trust my reader to be really smart and to be able to handle the content.” - Award-winning author Elizabeth Acevedo: Banning books is not about protecting kids
I completely agree! As for the "anti-catholic" or "anti-christian" sentiment, it is completely natural for people to question their faith. Removing a book that describes this experience wont stop that from happening.
Why I Recommend This Book
The Poet X is an important book! It's a mirror for so many young people because Elizabeth Acevedo was inspired by her students to write it. As an adult, I felt Acevedo's love for my inner-child throughout the book. I felt seen and validated. Something I really love about all of Acevedo's books is that her characters always get to have a heart-to-heart with their parent(s) or guardians, which brings a feeling of support and catharsis. I recommend this book to anyone who:
loves novels-in-verse
grew/growing up in a strict and/or religious home
poetry lover
experience anti-blackness in the Latine community
is just trying to figure out where they belong
How to Access This Book
This is one of my most used apps on my phone because I can add e-cards from my local library, state library, AND the Queer Liberation Library to check out e-books and e-audiobooks. It is available on browsers, Apple's app store, Google Play, and the Amazon app store.
Similar to Libby, I can access e-books and e-audiobooks from my library on here but I can also access films, comics, and music. On Hoopla, we also don't have to wait until another person is done with the book before we borrow it! It is available on browsers, Apple's app store, Google Play, and the Amazon app store.
Books Unbanned is a resource is meant to help those who are struggling to access banned books in their states! Brooklyn Public Library founded Books Unbanned in 2022 and now, you can get access through multiple library systems as residents of the US.
The Banned Book Club, launched by Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) makes digital versions of banned books available to readers nationwide. The ebooks are available to all readers across the country for free via the Palace e-reader app.
More Resources
Book Résumés help teachers, librarians, parents, and community members defend books from censorship. They detail each title’s significance and educational value and are easy to share with administrators, book review committees, elected officials, and board members.
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