Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people...
In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal's office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.
Separated by distance-and Papi's secrets-the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered. And then, when it seems like they've lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.
Papi's death uncovers all the painful truths he kept hidden, and the love he divided across an ocean. And now, Yahaira and Camino are both left to grapple with what this new sister means to them, and what it will now take to keep their dreams alive.
In a dual narrative novel in verse that brims with both grief and love, award-winning and bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.
Review: I absolutely love Elizabeth Acevedo’s writing. Her way with poetry and prose is just stunning and I love listening to her books because I love the candor of her writing. I did this book on audio and some of the poetry was just beautiful in places. The whole thing is written in verse but some sections read more like a traditional poetic style than others. Obviously the fact that this book is written in verse does make this a quick read but I do recommend listening to the audiobook if you can because having this style of writing read to you is just so beautiful.
This book is all about identity, it is at heart and soul of the text. I loved watching our two main characters discover themselves and learn more about their identities as the book went on. Their idea of their family identity changed as the plot thickened as well as their identity in relation to their heritage, There is discussion of the differences between where you were raised versus where you come from and how that differs from the way you comport yourself in everyday life and I really like that this writer went deeply into this issue.
If you have read books by Elizabeth Acevedo before you will know that she creates strong female characters and I loved reading about Yahaira and Camino. They are so different and yet so similar. I love the fact that they both have a strong sense of self and have built themselves a support network. Both of them have insecurities and fears though and so they are also united in that. I was so desperate to find out if these young women would ever meet and what that would be like and I think that is because I found them so intriguing as characters.
I highly recommend this novel and really recommend the audiobook.
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