A young girl in Harlem discovers slam poetry as a way to understand her mother\'s religion and her own relationship to the world in this debut novel by renowned slam Poet Acevedo. -- Ibi Zoboi, author of American Street. -- Jason Reynolds, author of the National Book Award Finalist Ghost Acevedo has amplified the voices of girls en el barrio who are equal parts goddess, saint, warrior, and hero. --Justina Ireland, author of Dread Nation An incredibly potent debut.
Crackles with energy and snaps with authenticity and voice.
Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent.
But she still can\'t stop thinking about performing her poems.
So when she is invited to join her school\'s slam poetry club, she doesn\'t know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out.
With Mami\'s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself.
But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers--especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about.
Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.
Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood.
Printz Award, and the Pura Belpr Award Fans of Jacqueline Woodson, Meg Medina, and Jason Reynolds will fall hard for this astonishing New York Times -bestselling novel-in-verse by an award-winning slam poet, about an Afro-Latina heroine who tells her story with blazing words and powerful truth.
Winner of the National Book Award for Young People\'s Literature, the Michael L.
A young girl in Harlem discovers slam poetry as a way to understand her mother\'s religion and her own relationship to the world in this debut novel by renowned slam Poet Acevedo
