Book Overview

Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.

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. 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.

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, much less speak her words out loud. But still, she can’t stop thinking about performing her poems.  Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent.

THE Bossypants Book Club will be meeting on Monday, April 15, 2018 at 6:30 p.m at Urban Cookhouse. Food is not provided by the library but participants are encouraged to order beverages and food.

Author At A Glance

• Elizabeth Acevedo  was born in New York City
• Daughter of Dominican immigrants
• Has BA in Performing Arts from The George Washington University
• Has MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Maryland.
• Writes both poetry and fiction
• Is a New York Times best selling author.
• Has won the 2018 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, The Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Fiction, the Boston Globe-Hornbook Award Prize for Best Children’s Fiction, and the Pura Belpré Award for a work that best affirms the Latinx cultural experience.
• Check out her website:  http://www.acevedowrites.com/

Author Interviews

• Nancy A. Ruffin: The Poet X: A Conversation with Elizabeth Acevedo