Review: Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

 *Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher:  HarperTeen
Release Date: May 5th 2020

Pages: 432 

Source: Audiobook 

THE STORY:

Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…

In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.

Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered.

And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other. 

BUY LINKS: Goodreads

RATING:

ONE-WORD REVIEW: HEARTACHING

OPENING LINE:

I know too much of mud.

REVIEW:

This book brought up so many personal memories and emotions I had to deal with growing up a poor Black/Puerto Rican girl in The Bronx. It was difficult to read because it saw me so clearly.

“𝑀𝒶𝓎𝒷𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓇 𝒾𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝒶 𝓇𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓇. 𝑀𝒶𝓎𝒷𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝒸𝓇𝓊𝓂𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓉. 𝑀𝒶𝓎𝒷𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝒽𝒾𝒹𝑒𝓈 𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓈𝓀𝑒𝓁𝑒𝓉𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝓃𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝑜𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝒻𝒶𝒸𝑒.”

Camino was a coward when it came to telling her aunt about El Cero but not when it came Yahaira she was all teeth and claws. She was super jealous, judgmental towards Yahaira… I wasn’t for it. Also, she was super reckless.

“𝐹𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓊𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓁 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒, & 𝒾𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝒻𝑒𝒾𝓉, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝒻𝑒𝒾𝓉 𝓈𝓂𝒾𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓁𝑒𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝓌𝒾𝓃.”

The pacing of CLAP WHEN YOU LAND was perfect for the plot. I found the plot of the story unique in the sense it is a story not often written but told time and again in my hometown. Growing up I always heard stories of local Hispanic men who lived double lives with families here in NYC and another secret one on their island where they would spend summers. It also spoke of loss and grief and finding solace in the betrayal of the one who left you behind. CLAP WHEN YOU LAND was heartwrenching and spoke to my childhood like a kindred spirit. 

This was my first book by Elizabeth Acevedo and I'm glad I gave it a try. The story is written as a novel-in-verse and Acevedo's words are poetic. I recommend CLAP WHEN YOU LAND to readers—especially those who are in the mood for NYC Hispanic nostalgia.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

ELIZABETH ACEVEDO is the author of With the Fire on High and The Poet X, which won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, the Michael L. Printz Award, the Pura Belpré Award, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, and the Walter Award. She is a National Poetry Slam champion and holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Maryland. Acevedo lives with her partner in Washington, DC. You can find out more about her at www.acevedowrites.com.

Happy Reading!