✨REVIEW✨

Camino lives in the Dominican Republic. Yahaira lives in New York City. One terrible day, both girls receive news that their father has died in a plane crash. In the midst of this pain, they find out about each other and the double life their shared father lived. 📚

•

Acevedo's novels in verse are not to be missed. She brings complex families and emotions to life within just a few pages, and in CLAP WHEN YOU LAND she digs deep into these girls' overlapping lives and the competing pain and joy they each feel. 📚

•

Additionally, Yahaira identifies as gay, and while she and her girlfriend are of course an integral part of the story, their queerness is simply a part of the larger story rather than the story itself, and I am so grateful that more and more books are taking this tack recently. Being queer is more than your coming out story - it's an ongoing part of your life and novels are finally beginning to reflect that. 📚

•

Content warnings: plane crash, parent death, sexual harassment, sexual assault.