Book Review: “Clap When You Land” by Elizabeth Acevedo

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Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo is a moving YA novel in verse that touches on grief, family secrets and relationships, cultural identity, love, and acceptance.

SUMMARY

It tells the story of two sisters, Camino and Yahaira, who live worlds apart, one in the Dominican Republic and the other in New York, and who know nothing of each other until the death of their hero of a father, Papi, uncovers a secret which alters their world, distorting their image of him, and also leads them to find each other. The story follows them as they grieve the loss of their larger-than-life father, deal with his betrayal, and come to terms this new-found secret and sister.

Camino lives in Sosúa in the Dominican Republic. She is an excellent swimmer who lives with her Tía, a traditional healer, assisting her in her healing rounds, and who plans on studying at Columbia University to become a doctor. She only gets to spend the summer with her father when he returns to the DR, but shares a close relationship with him.

Yahaira, on the other hand, is a Chess champion who lives with her strict mother, a nail salon owner in Harlem, New York. She has bonded with her father over the Chess board since she was a little girl. Then she quits the game, which leads to a rift in their relationship. When she discovers he has a second wife, that relationship takes a turn for the worse and it soils the image she has always had of him. Soon after, he leaves to spend the summer in the Dominican Republic.

While Camino looks forward to spending the summer with her father, he never arrives at his destination. There’s a plane crash and nobody survives. This tragic incident throws the two families in grief. The girls are devastated. The situation is even more dire for Camino and her aunt because while Yahaira and her mother are safe money-wise, without the money Papi sends home regularly, Camino and her aunt are in for a tough time; they have next to nothing to survive on, let alone fees for the posh private school Camino goes to. Her dream of going to study medicine at Columbia University is shattered to pieces.

Soon, Papi’s secret is uncovered and the two girls find out about this sister they’ve never known existed. They have always looked up to and idolised their father, but now they think of him differently. They realize that they never truly knew him and try to understand who he was.

♥ “𝙿𝚊𝚙𝚒 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚠𝚘,
𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏.
𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝
𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚗, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘
𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎.” ♥— 𝚈𝚊𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛a

They later come to accept the fact that their father was not perfect. Despite not being a good husband, he tried to be a good father. As they grieve and try to come to terms with their situation, they grow, and find strength, solace, and hope in each other. And they form a special bond. They may have lost a father, but they gain a sister.

THOUGHTS

The author beautifully and brilliantly tells the story of these girls, making use of language in the most ingenious way. Writing in verse enables her do this wonderfully as the story is highly moving and evocative. We get to feel what the girls feel as their emotions and thoughts are coulourfully painted on the page with unimaginably vivid imagery.

♥ “𝚆𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚞𝚙 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚞𝚜 𝚞𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝;
𝚒𝚝 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚞𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚜 & 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 & 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜.” ♥— 𝙲𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚘

Now, the fact that the story is written in verse is something that may put someone off because the idea they have of poetry is that it’s difficult to understand; however, in all honesty, reading Clap When You Land never gets tedious. It’s completely easy to understand. It is written with simple words which put together convey powerful emotions that would tug at your heartstrings.

The only point at which I encountered a bit of difficulty was towards the end. Now, the book is written from alternating perspectives of the two girls, but the person narrating is always indicated at the beginning of the chapter. However, towards the end, there’s nothing to show who exactly is narrating. The voices just simply run into each other. But it’s not much of a problem though. It’s quite easy to distinguish one girl from the other. Trust me!

For me, reading the book was like listening to someone render a spoken-word piece, or listen to someone pour out their hearts to me. It was that powerful. That well-written. Elizabeth Acevedo certainly does have a way with words.

CONCLUSION

Clap When You Land is a compelling read. Although it is labelled YA, it’s a story for adults as well. I was moved and also hooked till the end, so I’ll be giving it five stars as I utterly enjoyed it. I’m sure you would too.