“Poet Elizabeth Acevedo makes her laudable young adult fiction debut with this electric novel-in-verse that gives voice to Xiomara, a Dominican-American teen from Harlem. Her whole life Xiomara’s been told “Pero, tu no eres facil./ You sure ain’t an easy one.” On that same theme, she explains, “My parents probably wanted a girl who would sit in the pews / wearing pretty florals and a soft smile. / They got combat boots and a mouth silent / until it’s sharp as an island machete.” Her mother, a devout Catholic, expects her to receive the sacrament of confirmation. But Xiomara has questions about the religion that build up and ultimately explode out to Father Sean, the priest teaching her confirmation class.”
See the full review here.