This audiobook on Libby is less than four hours and narrated by the author. It is full of powerful slam poetry. It is a novel, but it feels like it could be a memoir. It has been reviewed on this blog a couple times before. We follow Xiomara Batista, a child of Dominican Republic immigrant parents in Harlem, through her 10th grade year of high school. One of her poems introducing herself repeats the phrase "Pero, tu no eres facil." The first words to describe Xiomara were "You sure ain't an easy one." Through her diary and poetry we get to know her mother, father, twin brother, best friend, boyfriend, and English teacher. I love that she questions her parents' religion. She struggles with the way boys and men treat her now that she has developed curves. She deals with strict parental rules on dating like many teens. Ms. Galiano, the English teacher, encourages her to join poetry club and perform at NYC wide poetry slams. She finds her voice by keeping a diary and writing poetry. The climactic scene with her mother, who goes through her diary and considers the thoughts expressed in her poetry as sinful, gave me a strongly visceral feeling. Thankfully she continues to be empowered by voicing her words through poetry for everyone at the big spring poetry slam to hear.
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