Clap When You Land – Elizabeth Acevedo
Expectation: A sullen “Parent Trap”-esque young adult novel about two half sisters learning about one another through tragedy.
Reality: A gorgeously understated book-in-verse that delivered strong character development and real emotion without pandering to YA trends.
My Take:
For every five young adult novels I read, usually three are not to my taste, one is mildly enjoyable and one exceeds expectations. “Clap When You Land” represents the one-fifth that fully delivered.
I was consistently engaged with the narrative, which I found largely absent of YA tropes (although the line was toed). The structure — book-in-verse — completely worked for the alternating POVs, and Elizabeth Acevedo built a unique voice for each character through observations, surroundings and experiences. This is no small feat for the format.
In reality, it’s a complex story told simply — and beautifully — and that’s why it worked so well. There’s no talking down to the reader. No needlessly hip references. It anchors in emotion and lets the reader know, over the course of 60 days, how a situation changed our characters’ lives.
That situation — no spoiler — is a plane crash that brings Papi’s double life into focus.
The aftermath is explored through two previously unknown to one another half sisters — Yahaira and Camino — who amidst the grief must chart a path forward, either with or without one another.
The entire novel feels like it’s building to something, and I expected a showdown between the sisters, but that would have been the easy way out for Acevedo — to let the sisters unleash their frustration onto one another rather than the ghost of Papi.
Thankfully, she didn’t take that approach as it would’ve felt inorganic to the narrative presented. Yahaira and Camino both have a strong sense of self, but they are unmoored by Papi’s death and can’t decide if the presence of the other person is a beacon or a siren's call.
This was best illustrated in the chapter “55 Days Later” when Camino receives news that everything she always wanted is coming true, but it will require her to sacrifice her home. It was so poignant that I couldn’t help but tear up.
Huge kudos to Acevedo for delivering a streamlined and intimate story that, while a tad predictable, never lost sight of what it was trying to do — acknowledging that life’s curves do not need to lead to derailment.
The audiobook was narrated by the author and Melania-Luisa Marte. Usually I loathe when an non-actor author narrates a work of fiction, but Acevedo was good, and the two played off each other’s delivery well.
If I haven’t already convinced you that this is a young adult book worth reading, the author’s note should seal the deal. In it, Acevedo shared the events were inspired by the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in New York City, just a few months after 9/11.
It has largely been forgotten by the public at large, but the event had ripples for the Dominican Republic as nearly 90 percent of passengers had a connection to the island. This book isn’t so much a work of fiction as it is a memorial to a forgotten tragedy and a reminder of how those events ripple.
Rating (story): 4/5 stars
Rating (narration): 4/5 stars
Formats: Audiobook (library loan)
Dates read: February 20 – February 23, 2023
Multi-tasking: Good to go. Short chapters mixed with engaging narration means it’s easy to follow along with this story regardless of what you’re doing. However, some of Acevedo’s beautiful phrases may be lost if you aren’t listening closely.
