Elizabeth Acevedo

Out financial necessity, Camino's father spends most of the year in the U.S. but always returns to the Dominican Republic to spend the summer with her. This year on the day he is supposed to arrive, however, word reaches her that his plane crashed just after liftoff. There were no survivors. In New York, Yahaira is reeling from her own loss when she receives another life-altering shock in the form of a message from Camino, a girl in the Dominican Republic who is apparently her half-sister.

I wasn't expecting the narrative to be in verse, but I kind of dug it. It's a story of devastation and loss, but also how one survives and manages to pick up the pieces again. The clever title will resonate with anyone who has experienced an applause landing. That collective, "We all survived!" moment is a special one. Recommended.… (meer)

Course recommendation. Could not put it down. High school students will love this one. She describes her struggles, but not her resolutions which is the appealing part to me. Kids will identify with the struggles and don't want to have people tell them how to solve them. The poetry reads narratively and lyrically. Her 2nd poem describes her struggle. "Unhide-able" tells us, "I am the baby fat that settled into D-cups and swinging hips/so that the boys who called me a whale in middle school/now ask me to send them pictures myself in a thong" (5). Pairing that with being raised Catholic, she has to come to terms with the fact that she stands out in a way that she doesn't want to. Her struggles come from how "your body takes up more room than your voice" (5). She is able to put a voice to a struggle with sexuality where she has no positive role models on how to handle it.… (meer)

Heading into her senior year at her Philadelphia high school, Emoni Santiago has already face numerous life challenges. Her mother died when she was young, her father returned to his home in Puerto Rico and visits infrequently, and she's raised by her Abuela who is disabled. Emoni became a mother herself early in high school and is raising her two-year-old baby girl with limited support from the baby's father. Emoni loves to cook and her school is finally offering a culinary arts class but faces new challenges with the cranky chef who teaches the course and raising money for a week studying abroad in Seville, Spain. Plus there's a new student in the school, Malachi, who is making her reevaluate whether she has time for boys.

Covering an entire school year as Emoni deals with everyday challenges and plans for a future after graduation, With the Fire on High is a realistic portrayal of a young person's life today. While Emoni is depicted as a being highly resourceful, this book resists becoming "inspiration porn." Plus, the characters in this novel are great especially Abuela, Emoni's best friend Angelica, 'Buela, and the Chef Ayden. Definitely a young adult novel worth reading at any age.… (meer)

The Poet X is written in verse and packs a punch. This book is beautiful and powerful, emotional and raw.

We follow the main character, Xiomara, through her relationship with her mom and very religious home life, her relationship with poetry and school, and her relationship with a boy she is crushing on then dating. The book does a great job of navigating Xiomara's coming of age and how she manages competing interests and issues, especially the widening gap between her and her mother.

This book tackles hard topics like body acceptance, abuse, young love, and family relations. But even the most sensitive of topics are covered with grace. Azevedo's writing is emotional and impactful and I'm not going to lie, I cried more than once while reading this book. It is deserving of all of the awards!… (meer)