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wren_in_black 's review for:
Clap When You Land
by Elizabeth Acevedo
The book had me in the first chapter.
"But I learned young, you do not speak of the dying as if they are already dead. You do not call bad spirits into the room, & you do not smudge a person’s dignity by pretending they are not still alive, & right in front of you, & perhaps about to receive a miracle. You do not let your words stunt unknown possibilities."
As a chaplain who has anointed bodies of still living, still breathing human beings for death, this quote resonates with me. I nearly cried right there. Acevedo always has such a way to say a world of wisdom with a just a few words.
Clap When You Land is the story of two girls, connected only by a lost father. Camino's father died on Flight 1112 and Yahaira's father died on Flight 1112. Camino's father and Yahaira's father just happened to be the same man. Each sister was separate and secret from the other. Camino grew up poor in the Dominican Republic. Yahaira grew up middle class in New York City. But these two girls who have led such different lives are more similar than they might seem.
This is a story of strength, of fierceness and forgiveness hand-in-hand.
This story was inspired by the real crash of Flight AA587 in 2001. There were 260 people on that flight, most of whom were from the Dominican Republic. The American and international media largely ignored the crash and what it meant for the people of the Dominican Republic. I was just barely 11 and this event was still overshadowed by 9/11. Even though I lived in this time, I had no idea of this tragedy. But that's the way of tragedies. There are too many of them for us to know them all. A plane crash like this is just another in an endless sea of tragedy unless it's your Papi on that plane.
This book will assail you with grief and empathy and hope in your fellow humans. Don't let the YA label fool you. This book is full of things we all should ponder.
"But I learned young, you do not speak of the dying as if they are already dead. You do not call bad spirits into the room, & you do not smudge a person’s dignity by pretending they are not still alive, & right in front of you, & perhaps about to receive a miracle. You do not let your words stunt unknown possibilities."
As a chaplain who has anointed bodies of still living, still breathing human beings for death, this quote resonates with me. I nearly cried right there. Acevedo always has such a way to say a world of wisdom with a just a few words.
Clap When You Land is the story of two girls, connected only by a lost father. Camino's father died on Flight 1112 and Yahaira's father died on Flight 1112. Camino's father and Yahaira's father just happened to be the same man. Each sister was separate and secret from the other. Camino grew up poor in the Dominican Republic. Yahaira grew up middle class in New York City. But these two girls who have led such different lives are more similar than they might seem.
This is a story of strength, of fierceness and forgiveness hand-in-hand.
This story was inspired by the real crash of Flight AA587 in 2001. There were 260 people on that flight, most of whom were from the Dominican Republic. The American and international media largely ignored the crash and what it meant for the people of the Dominican Republic. I was just barely 11 and this event was still overshadowed by 9/11. Even though I lived in this time, I had no idea of this tragedy. But that's the way of tragedies. There are too many of them for us to know them all. A plane crash like this is just another in an endless sea of tragedy unless it's your Papi on that plane.
This book will assail you with grief and empathy and hope in your fellow humans. Don't let the YA label fool you. This book is full of things we all should ponder.