The Poet X
I always feel like I’m cheating when I talk about National Book Award-winning Elizabeth Acevedo, like surely no one needs me to tell them about her at this point. Then again, I feel that way about a lot of authors and poets, and if this list leads even a handful of people into discovering her work for their first time, I will be thrilled.
You could start with her YA novels in verse The Poet X and Clap When You Land or her her YA novel in prose, With the Fire On High. There’s her fantastic 2023 adult debut novel, Family Lore, or her most famous spoken-word poem, Inheritance. It feels a little too obvious to say a poet has a way with words, but Acevedo just does: her language is both rythmic and raw, her characters fully drawn, flawed, and relatable, and she explores themes like religion, sexuality, identity, and cultural expectations. If you’re playing the How Many Times Will Vanessa Say She Wishes a Book Was Around When She Was Young drinking game, bottoms up! Since I can’t put her books into the hands of young me, old me will have to suffice.
Mark your calendars: Acevedo is back with a YA novel in verse this year. Anger is Only a Shadow comes out in September, a story of a rebellious and loyal teen who can’t shake the feeling that something is amiss with her older brother.