Fiction Friday (130)

 

The creation of a Teen book club at my library has propelled me into my deepest exploration of YA literature in a couple of years. For the next selection, I chose a contemporary fiction, and one of the more celebrated books of last year. Written in verse, this was a very compelling novel and one I'm glad I read.

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

(Haper, 2020)

Camino and Yahaira are sisters. One lives in NYC and the other lives in the Dominican Republic. They are both seventeen and both unaware that the other exists until tragedy strikes at the heart of both of their lives, killing the father they shared.

Though we often like to believe we can take secrets to our grave, life rarely works out that way, and secrets tend to be revealed once a person dies. Papi's secrets are of the later variety. In New York, Yahaira has known of his father's other wife for almost a year, but never said anything. After her father dies in a plane crash, she discovers that everyone else already knew the secret...and that there was more to it. As she grapples with a need to meet the sister she never knew, Camino struggles with how she is going to survive without the finical support her father provided. 

Told in verse from alternating perspectives, this is a novel of family betrayal, healing, and ultimately forgiveness. The language is careful and striking at times, bringing both girls to life as it shares their hopes and dreams and anxieties. One thing that I found interesting and telling was there there are no redeemable male characters in this novel. As a male reader, it was eye opening to see that this is a reality for many women and girls. It was also uplifting to see how the female characters in the story come together to support each other without the need of a male character.