I don’t read a lot of verse novels, but I really should: they’re fast reads (despite a hefty page count for many), immediately give me a sense of the narrator’s voice, and offer a new way to tell sometimes old stories. In the case of Xiomara in The Poet X, hers is a story that has been told before in that it’s a story about coming of age, about finding your voice when others try to silence you. At the same time, it’s a story not told often enough – that of a young girl of color finding her way in this country.

Xiomara is the fifteen year old daughter of Dominican immigrants, a girl whose curves developed early and whose devout Catholic mother forces her to adhere to a strict code of behavior. This code of behavior has no room for dating and boys, but it also has no room for poetry, the only outlet Xiomara has for expressing herself. She tells her story in poems, a story that includes falling in like with a Trinidadian boy from her school, her struggles with and questions about the religious faith she was raised with, and her talent for both writing and performing her poetry. When Xiomara learns about a poetry club at school, she decides to join, letting her mother believe she is going to confirmation class instead. Even as Xiomara starts to blossom in this area of her life, as she’s drawn out by a trustworthy teacher, a dependable friend, and a kind boy who treats her as a person and not as a body, her home life closes in: these secrets Xiomara keeps cannot remain secret forever.

Acevedo’s writing is so good; it’s no surprise that she’s won awards for her poetry (written and performed). Xiomara tells her story in short poems of no more than 2-3 pages each. Often the title of the poem doubles as its first line; sometimes the titles refer to each other, creating a deliberate contrast, as when Xiomara shares the draft of an assignment in English class and then shares the final version on the next page. Sometimes the poems are in Spanish or Xiomara quotes her mother in Spanish, though a translation soon follows. Xiomara tells her story mostly in free verse, but she also sometimes experiments with haiku and unconventional spacing or line breaks. Each poem furthers the story while also giving us more of Xiomara’s voice, and the resultant package is one of beauty, depth, and intensity. This is a stellar example of the verse novel format.

Acevedo’s treatment of the harassment Xiomara receives simply for being a girl that exists in physical space – especially one with well-developed curves – is particularly well-done. She’s harassed by the men on the street as well as the boys in school. She’s had to learn to stand up for herself, to protect herself against these men and boys and their words and hands, because no one else will do it for her. Acevedo also excels at portraying the relationship between Xiomara and her twin brother, Xavier, who is gay but must hide it from his parents, who at best would disapprove and at worst would subject him to the same (or worse) punishment that Xiomara receives for her many perceived transgressions. Xiomara’s Harlem neighborhood comes alive in her poems, too: the characters and the place they reside live and breathe.

Xiomara’s authentic voice, which includes some slang in both vocabulary and structure as well as a few pop culture references (Nicki Minaj and Drake, for example), will resonate with today’s teens, many of whom will find a welcome mirror in her story. Acevedo’s dedication reads, “To Katherine Bolaños and my former students at Buck Lodge Middle School 2010-2012, and all the little sisters yearning to see themselves: this is for you.” At a panel at the Texas Library Association, Acevedo explained a bit about Katherine, a girl in the English class she taught who had no interest in reading – until Acevedo was able to give her books where she could see at least a little of herself and her life. As librarians, we know these kids, and we know that the non-reader is just the reader who hasn’t been given the right book. The Poet X will be that book for many girls who haven’t found theirs yet.