Center for Teaching & Learning

When a tragic plane crash kills their father, sixteen-year-old Yahara and her sister Camino are left to uncover secrets their father had kept from them their whole lives. Every year their father would spend half the year with Camino, who lived with her aunt, and the other half of the year with Yahara, who lived with her mother. After their father’s death, Yaraha and Camino find out about each other online. They email back and forth until they finally meet in the Dominican Republic at their father’s funeral.

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo is a free-verse novel, which means that the book is written in free-verse poems instead of prose chapters. For me, this book was a quick read. Within the first few chapters, the girls find out about each other and are in disbelief that they are sisters. As the storyline follows the two girls, readers discover more about them, their family, and their history.

I loved the way Acevedo wrote this novel from the point of view of two different main characters. The alternating perspectives allow readers to experience their different points of view, what they think of each other, and what is going on in their different lives.

I also loved how the book shows the true sister bond between two girls who may have never met before under different circumstances. This book shows that they still have that love for each other. I rate this book a ten out of ten, and I recommend it for readers who like reading poetry or novels written in free verse. Clap When You Land is a great book to read if you are looking to get started in the free-verse novel genre.

Ellie

Harper Teen, 432 pages