#elizabeth acevedo

[thoughtkick]

Maybe, the only thing that has to make sense about being somebody’s friend is that you help them be their best self on any given day. That you give them a home when they don’t want to be in their own.

Elizabeth Acevedo, The Poet X

[feral-ballad]

Elizabeth Acevedo, from The Poet X; “Assignment 5—First and Final Draft”

[Text ID: “And isn’t that what a poem is? / A lantern glowing in the dark.”]

[surqrised]

Maybe, the only thing that has to make sense about being somebody’s friend is that you help them be their best self on any given day. That you give them a home when they don’t want to be in their own.

Elizabeth Acevedo, The Poet X

[jupteur]

clap when you land (elizabeth acevedo) // i'm glad my mom died (jennette mccurdy)

[nanowrimo]

Book Bracket: Favorite Novel by a NaNoWriMo Pep Talker

Did you know that nearly 70% of NaNoWriMo writers are women? This year for Women's History Month, we've gone through our list of NaNoWriMo Pep Talkers to find some of our favorite books written by women and featuring a strong female protagonist. In the spirit of March Madness, here's a just-for-fun book bracket featuring eight of our favorites. Which is yours?

To vote, choose your favorite on each individual poll that will be posted separately and linked below. We'll tally up the votes for all three rounds to find out which book you all like best!

We think all of these books are fantastic, and you should check them all out. If you want to see our full list of Pep Talk authors and read their inspiring messages, you can find them at https://nanowrimo.org/pep-talks

Round 1: Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce vs. Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron: Vote in Poll 1.1 Pachinko by Min Jin Lee vs. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin: Vote in Poll 1.2 The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley vs. Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders: Vote in Poll 1.3 With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo vs. A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik: Vote in Poll 1.4

[slaughter-books]

Day 5: JOMPBPC: Pink Books 🩷

[bookcub]

You Should Read Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo If You. . .

like multi generational novels that have soooo many messy details and center women and their familial relationships with each other

like lyrical novels where the author clearly loves and values crafting a sentence

don't care about closure and love open ended stories

need validation that other people also have dramatic and exhausting families

adore backstory and multiple povs

enjoy questioning the status quo

want family love stories that do not stray away from the uncomfortable and don't romanticize toxic relationships

need more magical realism in your life

5 star read for me

[mccoppinscrapyard]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge July

Day 29: This Month’s Favorite

Highly recommend Clap When You Land!

[whilereadingandwalking]

Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo is a gorgeous multi-generational novel about the women of the Marte family. Flor has a gift: her dreams predict when someone will die. So when she declares that she wants to throw herself a "living wake" in five weeks, her sisters and daughter are justifiably worried. Stories of all six Marte women—four sisters, and two of their daughters—weave and spin, from their histories in the Dominican Republic all the way through their lives and struggles today in New York City.

Like many multigenerational novels, I sometimes had to remind myself who was who (there's a table of main characters, but I found an old-fashioned family tree much more helpful in keeping everyone straight). There was an interesting formatting choice that I found confounding. At first I thought it introduced flashbacks and memories, but at other times it didn't—I just wish there had been consistency, because without it, the choice just became a strange quirk. Occasionally a quirk of Acevedo's pacing would toss me out of the story unexpectedly as I tried to figure out what the clearly veiled meaning was, or what exactly the implications were meant to be.

But despite my small quirks with the style, Acevedo's novel is emotional, rich, and funny. It's got a quiet, raunchy humor of sex and romance and irony that then turns around and hits you with a little gut punch of emotion right when you least expect it. I live for a multigenerational story, and this one has that with complex sister-sister and mother-daughter relationships, romance, and history, all rolled into a cinematic narrative. It was difficult to put down and easy to fall in love with.

Content warnings for domestic abuse, substance abuse, incarceration, violence, attempted assault.

[presiding]

For the Poet Who Told Me Rats Aren't Noble Enough Creatures for a Poem

Because you are not the admired nightingale. Because you are not the noble doe. Because you are not the blackbird, picturesque ermine, armadillo, or bat. They've been written, and I don't know their song the way I know your scuttling between walls. The scent of your collapsed corpse bloating beneath floorboards. Your frantic squeals as you wrestle your own fur from glue traps.

Because in July of '97, you birthed a legion on 109th, swarmed from behind dumpsters, made our street infamous for something other than crack. We nicknamed you "Cat- killer," raced with you through open hydrants, screeched like you when Siete blasted aluminum bat into your brethren's skull— the sound: slapped down dominoes. You reigned that summer, Rat; knocked down the viejo's Heinekens, your screech erupting with the cry of Capicu! And even when they sent exterminators, set flame to garbage, half dead, and on fire, you pushed on.

Because you may be inelegant, simple, a mammal bottom-feeder, always fucking famished, little ugly thing that feasts on what crumbs fall from the corner of our mouths, but you live uncuddled, uncoddled, can't be bought at Petco and fed to fat snakes because you're not the maze-rat of labs: pale, pretty-eyed, trained. You raise yourself sharp fanged, clawed, scarred, patched dark—because of this alone they should love you. So, when they tell you to crawl home take your gutter, your dirt coat, your underbelly that scrapes against street, concrete, squeak and filth this page, Rat.

Elizabeth Acevedo

[always-an-angel]

book playlists: y.a. edition

some spotify playlists i made to match the vibe/story of some books i really loved reading! please enjoy :)

the lesbiana’s guide to catholic school by sonora reyes

turtles all the way down by john green

the poet x by elizabeth acevedo

ophelia after all by racquel marie

the house in the cerulean sea by tj klune

[thoughtkick]

Maybe, the only thing that has to make sense about being somebody’s friend is that you help them be their best self on any given day. That you give them a home when they don’t want to be in their own.

Elizabeth Acevedo, The Poet X

[a-ramblinrose]

JOMP BPC || February 10 || #OWNVOICES: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

[moondustbooks]

September JOMP Day 30 - Read in September

A cozy kind of month reading wise. ❤️

[surqrised]

Maybe, the only thing that has to make sense about being somebody’s friend is that you help them be their best self on any given day. That you give them a home when they don’t want to be in their own.

Elizabeth Acevedo, The Poet X

[slaughter-books]

Day 12: JOMPBPC: This Is So Important

A beautiful and important book, and a photo I took at the beach! 💕