Module 3: Verse Novel

Module 3: Verse Novel

The Poet X

Ivana Marmolejo

Bibliography

Acevedo, Elizabeth. The Poet X: A Novel. New York, NY: HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2018. ISBN: 9780062662804.

Summary

The Poet X is about a fifteen-year-old girl named Xiomara who lives in Harlem with her twin brother and parents. She grew up in a Catholic home with a mother who is, in Xiomara’s opinion, unforgivably devout. The book deals with topics of religion, diversity, body image, sexuality, rebellion, crushes and love, school, identity, hurt, and forgiveness. The Poet X is beautifully written by Elizabeth Acevedo, and its readability will have readers flipping through pages effortlessly. Some poems are free verse, while others rhyme. Even a haiku poem is featured. Readers will enjoy the placement of the words in various poems that reflect how the main character is feeling. Some of the underlying themes are acceptance of self, belief in yourself, and that forgiveness can lead to healing. 

Analysis

All age groups can enjoy this book. However, young teens who are trying to find meaning in life, identify who they are as individuals, and understand how they can contribute to society will enjoy this book. 

Acevedo writes about unbridled emotions that teens will cherish and can relate to. Xio experiences love, loss, betrayal, disrespect, forgiveness, and discovery of her own writing talents within this book. She deals with a father who doesn’t know his place in the home and an overbearing, religious mother who refuses to let her date or even think of joining the poetry club and participating in the Poetry Slam. She loves her twin brother who is much the opposite of her and whom she feels she needs to protect. 

Xio is also divided on the issue of religion and God. She has many questions and disagrees with much of what her mother asks of her, including going to mass and connecting with a God she barely knows. It is unthinkable to admit to her mother any of these feelings, let alone that she does not want to participate in communion. Teenagers can relate to Xio because many have participated in religious activities because of their parents, but Xio challenges the reader to understand her views about God and her reasons for not wanting to accept communion just yet.

Teenage boys and girls can also relate to Xio in the way she and others view her body. Her teenage body has matured into large breasts, a small waist, and wide hips. She often garners unwanted attention from the opposite sex. Teenagers who struggle to accept their own bodies or who struggle with body image can sympathize with Xio. 

An example is: “Cuero,” she calls me to my face./ The Dominican word for ho… A cuero lets the world know/ she is hot. She can feel the sun/ … Too much lip. Too much sass./ Hips that look like water waiting/ to be spilled into the hands/ of thirsty boys.” (Acevedo, 2018). Xio’s mother has just found out that she has been seeing a boy named Aman. Xio faces the wrath of her mother and stabbing words that crush her insides. 

This verse novel is also filled with figurative language that the reader will absorb as they see Xio’s talent unfold with each poem she writes about her own life. 

Excerpt and Use

I would print copies of the poem for my students. We would read the poem together. Then, we would engage in a discussion about the following questions:

What feelings can you sense from Xiomara and from her mother as they are in the middle of this hostile exchange?

How does the placement of Xiomara’s words help you to understand how she is feeling?

Why do you think her mother’s words look different? What does that say about her mother in this situation?

Do you think the poem would have had the same effect on the reader if the author had stuck to original lines and stanzas? Why or why not?