CLAP WHEN YOU LAND
by Elizabeth Acevedo
Last month when I reviewed The Black Flamingo, I described how much I enjoyed its novel-in-verse format. By sheer coincidence shortly after writing that review, I read Clap When You Land, another novel written in verse for the young adult audience that offers plenty to adult readers too. I read this book cover-to-cover one rainy Saturday and found it an engrossing and entertaining escape.
Acevedo’s story alternates between two teenage girls: Camino who lives with her Aunt in the Dominican Republic, and Yahaira who lives with her parents in New York City and is of Dominican descent. Each girl has a father who leaves for part of the year on business, and the reader quickly realizes (long before the girls do) that he is one and the same person. When he dies in a plane crash flying from one daughter to the other, his secrets begin to come to light.
Although there are plenty of dramatic twists and turns to the plot, the real beauty of this book is the way Acevedo captures the interior life of the two teenage girls. They share so much and yet are so different not only in upbringing and opportunity, but also in personality and beliefs. I found it incredibly easy to get caught up in the adolescent spirit of this book and feel passionately about the dreams of a better future that both girls share.
Clap When You Land is a gorgeous portrait of two very different teenage experiences of grief, love and growing into adulthood. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a truly absorbing and beautiful book. (Lily)
