Elizabeth Acevedo

Elizabeth Acevedo is an American poet and author. In September 2022, the Poetry Foundation named her the year's Young People's Poet Laureate.

Acevedo is the author of the young adult novels The Poet X, With the Fire on High, and Clap When You Land. The Poet X is a New York Times Bestseller, National Book Award Winner, She is also the winner of the 2019 Michael L. Printz Award, the 2018 Pura Belpre Award, and the Boston-Globe Hornbook Award Prize for Best Children's Fiction of 2018. She lives in Washington, DC.

Early life and education Acevedo was raised in Harlem, New York City, by Dominican immigrant parents. By the age of 12, Acevedo decided she wanted to be a rapper, but later realized she really wanted to perform poetry. She attended The Beacon School, where she met English teacher Abby Lublin. Lublin recruited Acevedo to join her after-school poetry club to further improve her work.

She went to church every Sunday with her mother and participated in every sacrament. Acevedo does not practice Catholicism anymore, but still considers her relationship with her religion to be developing. Acevedo realized her students were affected by the lack of diversity in their books and not by their capabilities. Although the school's population was 78 percent Latino and 20 percent black, she was the first Latino teacher to teach a core subject. She has performed at Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, South Africa's State Theatre, Bozar in Brussels, and the National Library of Kosovo. She has also delivered several TED Talks, and her masterful poetry videos have been featured in Latina magazine, Cosmopolitan, HuffPost, and Upworthy.

She is also the author of three young adult novels. Beastgirl and Other Origin Myths was published in 2016 and was a finalist for YesYes Chapbook Prize. Her fourth, Clap When You Land, was published in May 2020. It is about two sisters who grow up unaware of each other while living in different countries, but learn of each other after their father dies. The book was a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book.

Acevedo is both a CantoMundo fellow and Cave Canem fellow. However, she no longer practices the religion. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, Shakir Cannon-Moye.

Critical response

The Poet X

The Poet X is a New York Times Bestseller. The book highlights the struggles of growing up as a Latina girl dealing with her sexuality and religion, and finding her own voice. Kirkus Reviews describes Poet X as "Poignant and real; beautiful and intense".

Cleyvis Natera's review of Poet X for Aster(ix) Journal relates to the main character, Xiomara. Natera writes that Poet X is relatable to teenage girls dealing with their first love and strict parents that just don't understand, and who are finding themselves or growing into the person that they're meant to be. She urges its readers to buy the book.

The Poet X received the following accolades: 2019: American Library Association's (ALA) top ten Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults 2019: ALA's top ten Best Fiction for Young Adults 2019: Michael L. Printz Award 2019: Pura Belpre Award 2019: Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production 2019: Golden Kite Honor Book for Young Adult Fiction 2019: The Amelia Bloomer Book List 2019: Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children's Literature 2019: Carnegie Medal 2018 National Book Award for Young People's Literature 2018: Kirkus Prize finalist With the Fire on High

With the Fire on High received the following accolades: 2020: ALA's top ten Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults 2020: ALA's top ten Best Fiction for Young Adults 2020: Amelia Bloomer Book List 2020: Audie Award for Narration by the Author or Authors 2020: Award Award Nominee for Young Adult 2019: Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee for Young Adult Fiction

Clap When You Land

Clap When You Land is a New York Times and Indiebound bestseller. It also received "a standing ovation" from Kirkus Reviews. 2021 Odyssey Honor Audiobook 2021 American Library Association's (ALA) Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults 2021 ALA's Top Ten Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults 2021 Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC) Notable Children's Recording 2021 Audie Award for Multi-Voiced Performance 2021 Audie Award for Young Adult 2020 Kirkus Prize Finalist

Family Lore

Family Lore received the following accolades: 2024: NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction