45. Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

listened on Libby/borrowed from library

narrated by the author, Elizabeth Acevedo and Melania-Luisa Marte

Unabridged audio (5:32)
2020
432 pgs.
YA CRF in Verse
Finished 5/5/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.32 - 52,442 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting: Contemporary NYC and Dominican Republic

First line/s: "I know too much of mud.

I know that when a street doesn't have sidewalks

& water rises to flood the tile floors of your home,

learning mud is learning the language of survival."

My comments: Incredible, lovely writing.  Many times when you hear a book read aloud that has been written in verse you cannot tell that it WAS written inverse.  This, read by two readers (one being the author), the poetry just flowed.  Absolutely gorgeous words.  Very sad, depresssing, but the beauty of the writing ... and of the story ... made up for it.  Learning about the "DR" community both in New York City and the Dominican Republic and hearing the story told with a large amount of Spanish verbiage included added to the experience.  And it was read with lovely, lilting accents of two SpanishAmerican narrators.  The story was tough.  But I would consider this a masterpiece.

Goodreads synopsis:   In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.

          Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…
          In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.
          Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered.
          And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.

PICTURE BOOK - Islandborn by Junot Diaz

llustrated by Leo Espinosa

2018 Dial Books

HC & price

48 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.52 - 1290 ratings

My rating:  4

Endpapers: lime green palm trees and city buildings

1^st line/s:  "Every kid in Lola's school was from somewhere else."

My comments:  Huge cudos for this wonderful picture book! My only problem with it (nothing like beginning with the problem, right?) is that it's written for an older kiddo or needs a bit of explanation for younger ones.  And as an adult, the explanations don't come until the whole book is read.  As an adult, I love the mystery of the beginning, trying to figure out what's going on and where the story is headed.  And what a great history!  A short author's note at the end of the book would have been GREATLY appreciated!  Wonderful illustrations.  Wonderful book.

Goodreads:  From New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz comes a debut picture book about the magic of memory and the infinite power of the imagination.
          Every kid in Lola's school was from somewhere else. Hers was a school of faraway places.
          So when Lola's teacher asks the students to draw a picture of where their families immigrated from, all the kids are excited. Except Lola. She can't remember The Island—she left when she was just a baby. But with the help of her family and friends, and their memories—joyous, fantastical, heartbreaking, and frightening—Lola's imagination takes her on an extraordinary journey back to The Island. As she draws closer to the heart of her family's story, Lola comes to understand the truth of her abuela's words: “Just because you don't remember a place doesn't mean it's not in you.”
          Gloriously illustrated and lyrically written, Islandborn is a celebration of creativity, diversity, and our imagination's boundless ability to connect us—to our families, to our past and to ourselves.