Book Review: Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

Title: Clap When You Land

Author: Elizabeth Acevedo

Genre: YA Realistic Fiction

Number of Pages: 432

Rating: B

Recommended?: Yes

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I didn’t like Clap When You Land as much as The Poet X because I didn’t connect with the main characters in this one as much, but I still really enjoyed it. I want to read everything Elizabeth Acevedo has written, I didn’t read anything by her for so long but now I finally see what all the hype’s about. Clap When You Land is about two girls who find out they’re sisters, after their dad (who had been two-timing two separate women in two countries) dies in a plane crash.

The story is told in verse in both these characters’ alternating voices, and it’s about the shaky relationship they form when they learn of each other’s existence. One of the girls lives in the Dominican Republic with her aunt and the other one lives in New York City with her mom. I liked both characters but I sympathized a little more with the New Yorker, Yahaira, possibly because she was more easy-going.

This book avoids the predictable clichés of focusing on Yahaira’s first world privilege and instead paints a broader picture of what makes these two characters different but also the unexpected things they have in common. This book was a quick read that was hard at times to put down, and the verse was full of energy and vitality.

I occasionally had trouble remembering who was who with the two voices but it never caused too much of a problem for me. The two characters were memorable and had a lot of strength, battling against their less-than-ideal circumstances.