# The Poet X

**Author:** Elizabeth Acevedo
**Lexile:** 800L
**Grade range:** Grades 8–12
**Age range:** 13–18
**First published:** 2018
**Page count:** 368
**Genre:** Young Adult Fiction
**ISBN-13:** `9780062662811`
**ISBN-10:** `0062662813`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/the-poet-x
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

Xiomara, a Dominican-American teenager in Harlem, pours the feelings she can't say aloud into a leather notebook, then finds her voice through her school's slam-poetry club — against her devout mother's wishes. Told entirely in verse, Elizabeth Acevedo's debut won the Printz Award, the National Book Award, and the Carnegie Medal. It is widely assigned in grades 8-12 for its accessible verse form and themes of identity, faith, and self-expression.

## Themes

- identity
- coming of age
- family
- voice and silence
- writing and voice

## Content notes

- sexual content
- religious conflict

## Where this book is assigned

### Boston Globe–Horn Book Award

- **recommended** · 8th grade — [source: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 2018 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Globe%E2%80%93Horn_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 9th grade — [source: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 2018 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Globe%E2%80%93Horn_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 10th grade — [source: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 2018 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Globe%E2%80%93Horn_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 11th grade — [source: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 2018 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Globe%E2%80%93Horn_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 12th grade — [source: Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners, via Wikipedia — 2018 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Globe%E2%80%93Horn_Book_Award)

### Michael L. Printz Award

- **recommended** · 9th grade — [source: Michael L. Printz Award winners (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2019 Printz Award](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_L._Printz_Award)
- **recommended** · 10th grade — [source: Michael L. Printz Award winners (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2019 Printz Award](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_L._Printz_Award)
- **recommended** · 11th grade — [source: Michael L. Printz Award winners (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2019 Printz Award](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_L._Printz_Award)
- **recommended** · 12th grade — [source: Michael L. Printz Award winners (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2019 Printz Award](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_L._Printz_Award)

### National Book Award for Young People's Literature

- **recommended** · 9th grade — [source: National Book Award for Young People's Literature winners (National Book Foundation), via Wikipedia — 2018 winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Book_Award_for_Young_People%27s_Literature)
- **recommended** · 10th grade — [source: National Book Award for Young People's Literature winners (National Book Foundation), via Wikipedia — 2018 winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Book_Award_for_Young_People%27s_Literature)
- **recommended** · 11th grade — [source: National Book Award for Young People's Literature winners (National Book Foundation), via Wikipedia — 2018 winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Book_Award_for_Young_People%27s_Literature)
- **recommended** · 12th grade — [source: National Book Award for Young People's Literature winners (National Book Foundation), via Wikipedia — 2018 winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Book_Award_for_Young_People%27s_Literature)

### Odyssey Award (Best Audiobook)

- **recommended** · 8th grade — [source: Odyssey Award (best audiobook) winners + honors, via Wikipedia — 2019 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey_Award)
- **recommended** · 9th grade — [source: Odyssey Award (best audiobook) winners + honors, via Wikipedia — 2019 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey_Award)
- **recommended** · 10th grade — [source: Odyssey Award (best audiobook) winners + honors, via Wikipedia — 2019 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey_Award)
- **recommended** · 11th grade — [source: Odyssey Award (best audiobook) winners + honors, via Wikipedia — 2019 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey_Award)
- **recommended** · 12th grade — [source: Odyssey Award (best audiobook) winners + honors, via Wikipedia — 2019 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey_Award)

### Oregon Reader's Choice Award (ORCA)

- **recommended** · 8th grade · Oregon — [source: Oregon Library Association — Oregon Reader's Choice Award (ORCA) winners by division (statewide young readers' choice program; students vote)](https://oregonreaderschoiceaward.wordpress.com/past-winners/)
- **recommended** · 9th grade · Oregon — [source: Oregon Library Association — Oregon Reader's Choice Award (ORCA) winners by division (statewide young readers' choice program; students vote)](https://oregonreaderschoiceaward.wordpress.com/past-winners/)
- **recommended** · 10th grade · Oregon — [source: Oregon Library Association — Oregon Reader's Choice Award (ORCA) winners by division (statewide young readers' choice program; students vote)](https://oregonreaderschoiceaward.wordpress.com/past-winners/)
- **recommended** · 11th grade · Oregon — [source: Oregon Library Association — Oregon Reader's Choice Award (ORCA) winners by division (statewide young readers' choice program; students vote)](https://oregonreaderschoiceaward.wordpress.com/past-winners/)
- **recommended** · 12th grade · Oregon — [source: Oregon Library Association — Oregon Reader's Choice Award (ORCA) winners by division (statewide young readers' choice program; students vote)](https://oregonreaderschoiceaward.wordpress.com/past-winners/)

### Pura Belpré Author Award

- **recommended** · 9th grade — [source: Pura Belpré Author Award winners (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2019 Belpré Author Award](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pura_Belpr%C3%A9_Award)
- **recommended** · 10th grade — [source: Pura Belpré Author Award winners (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2019 Belpré Author Award](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pura_Belpr%C3%A9_Award)
- **recommended** · 11th grade — [source: Pura Belpré Author Award winners (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2019 Belpré Author Award](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pura_Belpr%C3%A9_Award)
- **recommended** · 12th grade — [source: Pura Belpré Author Award winners (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2019 Belpré Author Award](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pura_Belpr%C3%A9_Award)

## Banned / challenged record

Documented removals or formal challenges in at least one school district in 5 states: FL, IA, NC, TX, VA. Source: [PEN America's Index of School Book Bans](https://pen.org/banned-book-list/) 2022-2024.

---

_Generated from primary-source citations indexed on ReadingList.school. For the full HTML view with reading-list cross-references, see https://readinglist.school/book/the-poet-x._