Clap When You Land

Eloquent, moving and suspenseful * The Sunday Times, Book of the Week *
An impressive and moving read * The Irish Times *
Transporting and powerful. * Guardian *
[An] unforgettable portrait of grief, loss and forgiveness * Observer *

Memorable for its treatment of grief, depiction of family ties, and
lyrical strength,

* The Booklist *
This story is blessed with...divinely piercing language throughout... Overflowing with truths of the heart...I can't praise this highly enough * LoveReading4Kids *
A simultaneously heart-breaking and heartening novel * Culturefly *
A powerfully tender story about cultural identity, family secrets and sisterhood - I adored Acevedo's pitch perfect poetic prise - what a treat! * Jasbinder Bilan, author of Asha and the Spirit Bird *
This exceptionally talented writer portrays the grief and aspirations of two very different girls with great empathy and insight. * The Observer *
Interestingly, a number of remarkable writers for young adults (whose work transcends age boundaries) use atypical forms of writing to create outstanding stories that are adored by readers and critics alike. Take Elizabeth Acevedo, for example, whose Clap When You Land and The Poet X use an exhilarating, engaging, free-form novel-in-verse approach. * Love Reading *

A soul-healing novel-in-verse in which sisters separated by the Atlantic are united by grief for the father they never knew they shared. From the multi-award-winning author of The Poet X and With the Fire on High comes Elizabeth Acevedo's exceptional dual-voiced novel about loss, love and sisterhood across the sea, a story partly sparked by the fatal crash of a flight from NYC to Santo Domingo in 2001.

Camino Rios has always lived in the Dominican Republic with her aunt Tia, "a woman who speaks to the dead, who negotiates with spirits", a woman who's like a mother to her: "Even when Mama was alive, Tia was the other mother of my heart." Life's not easy for them on the island, but they have it better than their neighbours as a result of Camino's beloved Papi working in the US for most of year. To Camino, Papi is a "A king who built an empire so I'd have a throne to inherit", and she lives for the summer months when he comes home to them. But all life is thrown into terrible disarray when she goes to meet Papi at the airport and learns that his plane has fallen from the sky, and then: "I am swallowed by this shark-toothed truth." This story is blessed with such divinely piercing language throughout.
At the same time, across the Atlantic, Yahaira Rios learns that her hero Papi has died in a plane crash. She already knew he had a wife on the island (but not of his secret daughter), and has always longed to reconcile her Dominican heritage with her American life: "Can you be from a place you have never been? You can find the island stamped all over me, but what would the island find if I was there? Can you claim a home that does not know you, much less claim you as its own?" When it emerges that Papi wishes to be buried back in DR, Yahaira's Mami insists that she will never let her "touch foot on the sands of that tierra." But Yahaira has other plans, not least when she's contacted by a girl named Camino Rios who bears an undeniable resemblance to Papi, and to her too.

As well as being exceptionally affecting on grief, forgiveness and family secrets, Clap When You Land is also devastatingly sharp on the exploitative tendencies of tourism. In Camino's words: "I am from a playground place...Our land, lush and green, is bought and sold to foreign powers so they can build luxury hotels...Even the women, girls like me, our mothers and tias, our bodies are branded jungle gyms...Who reaps? Who eats? Not us. Not me."
Overflowing with truths of the heart, and truths about inequalities that need to be broken, while also addressing the complexities of what it means to be of a place, I can't praise this highly enough.

* Love Reading *
This is a powerful, heart-breaking and compelling novel. There is economy and beauty in the language, demonstrated in an immersive narrative artfully told through verse. The structure and shape of the text adds an essential component to the superb overall quality of the story. The believable characters develop and mature as the story unfolds in this tale of family and unconditional love. An outstanding reading experience. * Carnegie Greenaway *
A soul-stirring, heart-healing YA novel-in-verse in which sisters separated by the Atlantic are united by grief for the father they never knew they shared. * LoveReading *