Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

Clap When You Land is a contemporary fiction novel written for ages 14 to 18. I listened to Clap When You Land as an audiobook, narrated by the author Elizabeth Acevedo and by Melania-Luisa Marte. I will review this book in the category of a Novel in Verse.

Clap When You Land tells the story of two daughters, half-sisters, who only learn of each other's existence after the untimely death of their father. The novel is a coming-of-age story in which the protagonists must reckon with the secrets their father left behind as they discover each other.

I chose to read Clap When You Land because of my familiarity with Acevedo's previous novel in verse, The Poet X. I decided to experience this novel as an audiobook because poetry is meant to be heard.

In this review, I will be evaluating the point of view, theme, and audiobook format.

Clap When You Land is written with two alternating narrators, Yahaira Ríos and Camino Ríos. While these young women share a father, they do not live together or, at the onset of the novel, know of one another's existence. Yahaira lives in New York, New York with her mother and father, while Camino lives in Sosúa, Dominican Republic with her aunt, with her father visiting her for three months each summer. Each girl tells her story from a first-person point of view. The novel begins with the death of their father, goes on to the moment they discover each other, and then concludes shortly after they meet for their father's funeral in the Dominican Republic. The use of alternating viewpoints throughout the novel allows the reader to become fully immersed in the grief and growth experienced by each of the sisters. It highlights similarities between the girls' circumstances, including that they are both grieving their father while feeling betrayed by him for the secrets he kept and that they are both keenly aware of their identity as his daughter. However, this narration style also serves to juxtapose Yahaira and Camino. Yahaira has never wanted for anything, has traveled across the US for chess tournaments, and has a community of people who love and support her. Camino lives in the barrio with only her aunt and is surrounded by poverty and death. Though her father sends money to help pay for Camino's schooling and to supplement her aunt's income, she has gone hungry when her father sent the money late. Similarly, Yahaira does ok in school but tries not to stand out, taking her education for granted. Camino fights to excel at her international school, trying desperately to escape the poverty she was born into. One father, but two painfully different lives. Still, as the girls learn of each other they see their father in one another and find themselves instinctively drawn to and protective of their sister. By writing from both sisters' perspectives, Acevedo highlights the injustices of poverty and shows how beauty and strength can be found on New York fire escapes and in Dominican slums. She also shows how trials and heartache can find people no matter their external circumstances. Aceveda writes both voices distinctly and believably so that the reader roots for each sister in turn and wants to see them find their peace internally and with each other.

A major theme within Clap When You Land is that of family. Specifically, the novel challenges readers to consider if a family is defined by blood, love, trust, a combination of these things, or something else altogether. While there are many places where these ideas are explored in the novel, one of the most poignant is Yahaira's relationship with her father before and after his sudden death. About a year before his death, Yahaira learns of her father's second marriage to Camino's mother (though she does not learn about Camino until after he dies). She is filled with rage at her father for having a second wife and allows their relationship to deteriorate as a result. She quits chess, which was a major component of her and her father's relationship, and she holds her father at arm's length for the full year after her discovery, barely speaking with him. She never confronts him, only pushes him away, denying him the opportunity to be her father. This leads to feelings of shame and regret for Yahaira when her father dies. She loves her father, she idealizes her father, she hates her father, she is ashamed of the man her father chose to be. And, as she comes to know of Camino, she realizes that she is the daughter that her father chose to be a father to, while Camino grew up almost fatherless. In this realization, her conflicting emotions about the man who sired and raised her become more than she can carry, which becomes the catalyst for her trip to the Dominican Republic to attend the funeral and to meet her sister. As the book draws to a close, Yahaira begins to make peace with who her father was and to forgive him. Additionally, she chooses to take responsibility for her family in a way her father failed to do and to heal the rifts he created in his life by insisting to her mother that Camino join them when they return to New York so that she can live safely, freely, and in pursuit of her dream to become a doctor. In this choice, Yahaira is choosing what and who she wants her family to be: a father who loved her even as he betrayed her, a mother who kept secrets but only to protect her, and a sister who she only just learned existed but in whom she sees herself. Family is messy and complicated, but readers can find hope for their own messy families as they watch Yahaira find healing within hers.

Finally, I chose to listen to this book because it is a novel in verse. Poetry is meant to be heard, and so it seemed appropriate to hear Clap When You Land rather than to read it visually. I have struggled with appreciating novels in verse in the past, but experiencing this novel as an audiobook made for a beautiful and enriching experience. Acevedo's poetry is outstanding, and being able to hear it read with her intended inflections, pauses, and emphasis made for a more authentic experience with Clap When You Land. Additionally, her lyrical writing style deserves to be read aloud and heard. Acevedo herself voices the chapters told from Yahaira's point of view in the audiobook, while Marte provides the voice for chapters written from Camino's perspective. Using two distinct voices for the book's two narrators heightened my experience as a listener because it made it very clear to me whose story was being told when within the book. It also placed greater emphasis on the important differences between the girls' lives in location, family structure, personality, relationships, and emotions. Reading two voices is one thing, but hearing two voices, in this instance, made for a more complete experience.

Acevedo, E. (2020). Clap when you land (E. Acevedo & M. Marte, Narr.) [Audiobook]. Harper Audio.