Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

'Godtouched...we really must have crawled up from the sea.' 

It was when Elizabeth Acevedo began to describe water, began to describe how Camino Rios' body felt against the current, that I knew this book would shatter my heart. I was brought to a standstill by the quote above. 

I have always had an affinity for the water. If I could change one thing about my life it would be my decision at eleven years old to give up swimming. My overwhelming shyness meant that I couldn't stand the practices, standing shivering on the tiled floors, queueing to dive in. The power I felt once I was within it, though, was almost, almost, enough to keep me going. When I step into water now, I feel the echoes of that power, and I am overwhelmed by a desire to just keep going. To swim until my arms give out. The water is where I belonged as a child, and I cherish every moment I get now to be immersed in it. I was in tune with Camino from this page onwards. 

Then, Acevedo began to describe Yahaira Rios. In particular, her relationship with her own girl-next-door, Andrea 'Dre' Johnson. It was when I got to this point, that I knew this book would rebuild me. I am a queer woman, and, like Yahaira, have not come out 'properly' to my parents. They know, I think, but the only conversation we have had is over text, and never in person. Never face to face. The tension in the room rises when a gay character appears on the television show we watch. I am okay, I am safe. But like Yahaira, there is an uncertainty. 

When I started to read Clap When You Land, I thought finding connection with the two girls on the cover would be impossible. I am a 20-year-old white girl from the south-east of England. I would be sympathetic, not empathetic. Their story would be theirs, and not mine. 

When I opened this book, I did not expect to find poetry. Verse. In fact, as I flicked through the pages to see that the entire book was in short, two or three line fragments, I recoiled. Despite being an English Literature student, poetry has not been something that excites me. I have respect for it, but it is begrudging. 

It did not take long for the style to melt away completely. It did not take long for me to align my life with the lives of Yahaira and Camino. Acevedo's style is complex, and completely human. It never stood out, reading it became as natural as swimming. Despite the low word count, the world Acevedo creates is immense, dense, and incredibly easy to be consumed by. The humidity of the Dominican Republic, the thrill of a chess tournament. Everything was felt, completely. I read the last half of the book in one evening, sobbing through the last fifty pages. Savouring every line. 

I am not finished with 'Clap When You Land'. It is a book that deserves to be read, and read, and read.