Xiomara has always kept her words to herself. When it comes to standing her ground in her Harlem neighbourhood, she lets her fists and her fierceness do the talking.
But X has secrets - her feelings for a boy in her bio class, and the notebook full of poems that she keeps under her bed. And a slam poetry club that will pull those secrets into the spotlight.
Because in spite of a world that might not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to stay silent.
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[The summer is made for stoop sitting / and since it's the last week before school starts / Harlem is opening its eyes to September]***
(Electric Monkey, 8 March 2018, 368 pages, ebook, #popsugarreadingchallenge 2019, an 'own voices' book, bought from @AmazonKindle)
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I've become quite a fan of YA novels-in-verse over the past couple of years. I've read some corkers especially by Sarah Crossan. This meant I had high hopes for this book. I was not disappointed. I had a great time reading The Poet X. In fact, I enjoyed myself to much I raced through the last hundred or so pages because I got lost in the book. Linking The Poet X with the work of Rubi Kaur, Sarah Crossan and the book The Hate U Give is the perfect description of what to expect. The Poet X tackles some big issues through an unforgettable voice. I loved the fact Xiomara changes so much in the book. At first she seems this tough, hard as nails girl but as she discovers poetry and first love she transforms. This is well worth a read.
