I was talking to my oldest daughter today about starting a book club for high school students, especially our Pasifika kids here in Utah. Now that we're all zoom experts, maybe even have kids from other states involved, too. I know the kids are working hard with classes, so I thought of a short book they could finish quickly, but had so much meaning behind it. The Poet X, by Elizabeth Acevedo, came to mind. I reread my review from December and looked on Amazon for pricing. For some reason I decided to also read some of the reviews, starting with the 1 & 2 star ratings. Oh. My. Goodness.
First of all, Karen, your religion is showing and it doesn't look pretty. One person wrote about the sacrilege of throwing away the sacrament wafer. Is it right? No. Is it a teenage girl who is questioning so many things in life? Yes. How many of us have done stupid things as a teen, and an adult, where we look back and cringe? It's a fictional story! Did you read Dan Brown's DaVinci Code? I'm sure your panties were in a bundle on that one, too. If you really want to get religious, God gave us choices. You do not get to choose for us. Or judge for that matter.
Reviewers had issues with the fact the book was written in poetic, spoken word style. And... what's wrong with a different way of story telling? Just because it's not your usual writing style, why is that wrong? I feel like the reviewers are coming from a privileged lens where they are stuck in their own ways of thinking without keeping an open mind. Hell, it took me forever to get through Jane Eyre and I was just reading it for the sake of reading a so-called "classic." Did I complain about it? No. Once I got used to the style and language, I found a great story within.
To the pearl clutchers who are so offended by the language, content and overall theme with a girl who fights and a brother who is struggling with being gay, please step into the twenty-first century. You may think your child is innocent, but in the age of the internet, social media, Tik Tok, I'm sure your child knows a lot more than you think. Once again, your entitled life has blinded you to realities that many communities face, especially communities of color. Drive by or park by a middle or high school when the kids are leaving and listen closely. I can guarantee your string of pearls will be broken by the time you leave when you hear what kids say.
Finally, the comments about abuse. I do not ever, ever, ever excuse abuse or abusive behaviors. But how many of us grew up with a brown or black mama? I grew up with a white, southern mama who did not spare the rod! Seriously, though, when I read the story, I could relate. Do I think I was abused? Not at all. I was disciplined as were my siblings and cousins. I've disciplined my own children. Have you seen Facebook posts about how you can identify things that were used for spanking? Or how we were taught respect? Fa'aaloalo. Communities of color, especially those who have parents who did not grow up in the U.S. can understand the dynamics of discipline, sometimes going too far to become abuse. There are struggles in families between religious beliefs, sexuality, cultural practices, and coming of age. Would these same readers turn away from a story about an Afghan woman who grows up in extreme abuse? These are real issues.
I'll review another author later, but I just needed to get this off my chest. When reviewers are offended or appalled that their children are required to read books like this, what I read is that they don't want authors of color to be introduced. They don't want books that show real life struggles, especially those of communities of color. They want to keep things the same, with white dominated history and watered down stories of people of color, because that makes them feel safe. From a lens of entitlement and privilege. Guess what? The world isn't all butterflies and roses. There are thorns, mosquitos, and flying cockroaches. But also guess what? We get through it all. And we continue to share our stories. Real life, raw, in your face, cultural stories. Let us continue to fight to get our stories into the school curriculum and into the hands of our kids. They need them. We need them.
