Printz Award 2019

The Poet X
By Elizabeth Acevedo

Winner of the 2019 Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in Young Adult Literature is Elizabeth Acevedo's The Poet X -- published by HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

"The force and intensity behind her words practically pushes them off the page, resulting in a verse novel that is felt as much as it is heard. This is a book from the heart, and for the heart."
— New York Times Book Review

"Acevedo has amplified the voices of girls en el barrio who are equal parts goddess, saint, warrior, and hero." 
— author, Ibi Zoboi

"Crackles with energy and snaps with authenticity and voice." 
— author, Justina Ireland


From the publisher:

Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.

But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers -- especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about.

With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself. So when she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out. But she still can’t stop thinking about performing her poems.