The poet X

New York Times bestseller about a teenage girl who tells her story through intense, raw, and powerful poetry. Xiomara Batista feels voiceless and unable to hide in Harlem. Since her body gained curves, she's learned to let her fists and all her anger speak. And, in contrast to her religious mother's rules, Xio tries to express her own beliefs through poetry: the girl pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers. In her debut novel, Elizabeth Acevedo explores common teenage questions and experiences—religion, relationships, and self-acceptance—presenting these issues through the lens of Xiomara's Afro-Latina heritage. Acevedo elevated the novel written in verse into a powerful tool, providing readers with an incredibly addictive and deliciously rhythmic narrative that begs to be read aloud. The author brings a unique point of view to those who live with all kinds of prejudice and search for themselves in literature and in life.