Hi all!

Today I am back for Day #15 of the Black Resilience Booksta Challenge. I explained all the rules in my first post here. I’m hoping this will inspire other readers to read, review and amplify more black voices. Feel free to join me! You can refer to the template below. Check out the dedicated category on the main page of this blog, for all the posts that came before this one.

I chose Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo for Day #15, because it is a book about two sisters, who are completely unaware of the other’s existence, until their father is killed in a plane crash.

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

Elizabeth Acevedo is one of my favourite POC female authors. Similar to The Poet X, this story is written in verse. For some reason however, I felt this story didn’t work in that particular format. It unfortunately disconnected me from the characters and the plot. I loved the concept, but the delivery fell flat for me. The pacing was a bit slow as well. On the plus side, the found sisterhood between Camino and Yahaira was beautiful. Their shared grief, disappointment, loss and bitterness was heartbreaking. I still recommend it but if I had to rank all of Elizabeth’s works, this one would be at the bottom.

Please order a copy here.

Thank you so much for reading, I will see you next time for Day #16.

Peace & Love xoxo