Xiomara Batista, our Afro-American heroine residing within the Harlem neighbourhood in New York, is growing up and learning how to navigate life. This brings with it new challenges as Xiomara discovers she needs to let her fists start doing the talking in order to survive. She wishes for another way to be heard, as she continues to write. Words within the leather notebook begin to take the shape of poems as Xiomara lets out all of her frustrations, hopes, and thoughts onto its pages.

Pages, that she’s determined for her mom never to see. Pages, that describe her conflicts, relationship with her twin brother, questions of church and religion and a boy from her class named Aman whom she catches feelings for. Xiomara’s internal struggle intensifies when her teacher invites her to join a slam poetry club.

The Poet X is an award-winning novel-in-verse, written by an actual slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo. She is also the narrator of its audiobook version, which she does phenomenally well. It is clear how much passion she has for this work and its words, it comes out powerfully and with a bite.

It’s been a while since I read a young adult novel. Primarily because I’m at a stage in my life where I don’t resonate with them anymore. However, The Poet X managed to surprise me. It served as a reminder of the everyday experiences I went through, albeit some moons ago, from questioning my own identity to falling in love for the first time. More importantly though, and far more impressively, this novel tackles some heavy topics with the raw, brutal honesty that it needs.

As a growing Dominican girl with a thick figure, Xiomara is painfully aware of all the unwanted attention she’s receiving, both from her peers and adult strangers. Experiencing harassment, cat-calling and more, she feels her only way to fight it is with her fists, with no support from people close to her, only blame. I think a lot of women, regardless of age, would relate to the same honest passages in this book, and the feelings along with it.

Xiomara also struggles with her faith. Coming from a religious family, she has questions no one wants to give consideration to, and instead of answers, she receives punishment.

These might have been one girl’s thoughts, but I think a lot more than that feels similar. The Poet X, with its depth, has been an incredibly positive surprise. While it is a coming-of-age story, I believe it can be engaged with by any age group and may even help you find your voice amongst its words.