On top of that, making the decision to create a story so close to her own background created a layer of authenticity. As a writer of Poet X, poetry isn’t something this author struggles with. Clap When You Land is a delicate blend of both types of writing styles. I could read every one separately and feel connected to the message. These poems actually felt like poems, and not prose. Poetry is music that captures a piece of the universe, and novels tell stories with characters. Emotions and a delicate story that prose wouldn’t have done justice. To release the reader from thinking, and into a race of emotions. After reading this, I believe the author’s intentions were for us to feel rather than to know. Epic stories have been told in this manner: Shakespeare, for example. In-verse novels are stories that are written in poetry format (in verses) instead of the usual prose. The intimate syncopations of Clap When You Land creates a devilishly timed rhythm that mimics life’s own heartbeat. With its visual metaphors, its feelings drift into view from the pages like beautiful small lights.

This story hooked me instantly after the first verse. So, I was a bit skeptical on how the flow would unfold. I did not know this was an in-verse novel when I purchased it. There is an awareness of the diasporic connections between the streets of the Bronx and the island of the Dominican Republic. Spanish intermingling with English confidently and comfortably. This book has a flavor of the Dominican Republic that permeates the essence of this work, as well. Two wives, two identities, and two daughters. Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo shows us the consequences to what happens when a father is living a double life.

Clap when you land elizabeth acevedo