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The Poet X Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Elizabeth Acevedo (Author, Narrator), Quill Tree Books (Publisher)
4.7 out of 5 stars 6,702 ratings
Teachers' pick

Don't miss this acclaimed audiobook, read by the author-winner of an Odyssey Honor and an AudioFile Earphones Award winner!

The Poet X is also the winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, the Michael L. Printz Award, and the Pura Belpré Award.

Fans of Jacqueline Woodson, Meg Medina, and Jason Reynolds will fall hard for this astonishing #ownvoices novel-in-verse by an award-winning slam poet, about an Afro-Latina heroine who tells her story with blazing words and powerful truth.

Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.

But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers - especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, whom her family can never know about.

With Mami's determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself. So when she is invited to join her school's slam poetry club, she doesn't know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out. But she still can't stop thinking about performing her poems.

Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent.

"Crackles with energy and snaps with authenticity and voice." (Justina Ireland, author of Dread Nation)

“An incredibly potent debut.” (Jason Reynolds, author of the National Book Award finalist Ghost)

“Acevedo has amplified the voices of girls en el barrio who are equal parts goddess, saint, warrior, and hero.” (Ibi Zoboi, author of American Street)

This young adult novel, a selection of the Schomburg Center's Black Liberation Reading List, is an excellent choice for accelerated tween readers in grades six to eight, in the classroom or for homeschooling.

Plus don't miss Elizabeth Acevedo's With the Fire on High and Clap When You Land!

Previous slide of product details
  1. Listening Length
    3 hours and 30 minutes
  2. Author
    Elizabeth Acevedo
  3. Narrator
    Elizabeth Acevedo
  4. Audible release date
    March 6, 2018
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Quill Tree Books
  7. ASIN
    B0783QX7HY
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
Next slide of product details

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Product details

Listening Length 3 hours and 30 minutes
Author Elizabeth Acevedo
Narrator Elizabeth Acevedo
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date March 06, 2018
Publisher Quill Tree Books
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B0783QX7HY
Best Sellers Rank #12,864 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#2 in Fiction on Emigration & Immigration for Teens
#4 in Teen & Young Adult Fiction about Emigration & Immigration
#7 in Coming of Age Fiction for Teens

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
6,702 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book utterly captivating, with its writing style maintaining the raw energy of slam poetry throughout. Moreover, the novel is powerful and thought-provoking, with one customer noting how it brings up memories and struggles. Additionally, customers appreciate how the character comes alive in the reader's mind, and the book's emotional depth, with one review mentioning how it perfectly captures adolescent angst. The book is particularly suitable for teenagers over 15 years old, and customers praise its quick pacing.

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208 customers mention "Readability"198 positive10 negative

Customers find the book utterly captivating and love reading it, with one customer noting it's wholly relatable.

"...The Poet X was a coming of age story. It was a story of self-discovery, self-love, and the importance of family, friendship, and standing up for..." Read more

"...The whole book is poetry, told in narrative, about Xiomara, a Dominican girl growing up in a strict home, trying to find her voice...." Read more

"...This is an excellent piece of work." Read more

"...has created a story that teenagers, and their parents, will find wholly relatable...." Read more

162 customers mention "Writing style"162 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the writing style of the book, which is told entirely like spoken poetry and maintains the raw energy of slam poetry in its book format.

"...It was powerful, beautiful, and poetic." Read more

"...The whole book is poetry, told in narrative, about Xiomara, a Dominican girl growing up in a strict home, trying to find her voice...." Read more

"...pull of family and a mother you don't understand is so powerful and so relatable. This is an excellent piece of work." Read more

"...Xiomara instead has a natural, easy voice, one clearly designed for stage performance...." Read more

50 customers mention "Impact"50 positive0 negative

Customers find the book impactful and thought-provoking, describing it as incredibly poignant and powerful, with one customer noting how it brings up memories and struggles.

"...It was power. It was a sensational Own Voices story, and it was incredibly poignant, moving and thought provoking! Xiomora was fierce!..." Read more

"...addition of a sweet and caring boyfriend, an understanding and supportive teacher and new friends from the poetry club added some truly wholesome..." Read more

"I highly recommend this book! Emotional and deep on so many levels! I cried more than once while reading. Such a fantastic story !" Read more

"...written a way that isn’t to abstract but is still very poetic and imaginative. I could feel Xiomara’s anguish and frustration and joy...." Read more

50 customers mention "Voice"50 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the character's voice in the book, with several noting how the character comes alive in their minds, and one customer highlighting the authentic portrayal of a young lady.

"...It was beauty. It was power. It was a sensational Own Voices story, and it was incredibly poignant, moving and thought provoking!..." Read more

"...Xiomara instead has a natural, easy voice, one clearly designed for stage performance...." Read more

"...It was easy to adore her as a character when I got such an intimate look into her inner world...." Read more

"...of the story made sense and was compelling and I loved Xiomara’s character development...." Read more

43 customers mention "Emotion"43 positive0 negative

Customers find the book emotionally powerful, with standout poignant moments that make them sad enough to cry.

"...It was a story of self-discovery, self-love, and the importance of family, friendship, and standing up for those you love...." Read more

"This is a beautiful story that easily evokes emotion as the poems build upon each other, revealing struggles and success...." Read more

"...The relationship of the siblings felt very realistic and I loved reading about it. Some of my absolute favourite bits were about Xiomara and Xavier...." Read more

"I highly recommend this book! Emotional and deep on so many levels! I cried more than once while reading. Such a fantastic story !" Read more

41 customers mention "Ages"41 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate that the book is suitable for teenagers over 15 years old, with one customer noting it resonates with mature readers.

"...Strongly recommended for bold, independent-minded teens." Read more

"...Poet X is very much a YA novel, but it is one that all ages can easily enjoy and devour within a couple of sittings...." Read more

"Perfect for young adults" Read more

"...I think Poet X is a book that teenagers should read in school. The book is diverse, has excellent representation, and fully desires every 5-star..." Read more

18 customers mention "Power"18 positive0 negative

Customers find the book incredibly powerful.

"...How did this amazing, beautiful author manage to capture such power and raw emotion with so few words?..." Read more

"...It’s so powerful, right? Acevedo has such a gift for language...." Read more

"...The push and pull of family and a mother you don't understand is so powerful and so relatable. This is an excellent piece of work." Read more

"...The cover is alluring and powerful and colorfully portrays the defining words that are etched into Xiomara’s very being...." Read more

9 customers mention "Pacing"9 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's pacing, finding it quick and engaging, with one customer mentioning they finished it in one sitting.

"...and her brother Xavier (whom she refers to as Twin), loved the slow and gentle way Xiomara's relationship with Aman developed, loved Ms...." Read more

"...I cannot say enough amazing things - I started and finished it in one sitting!..." Read more

"...and while I did really enjoy the way it was set up, the pacing of the story and the beautiful language and style I just wish the ending hadn't..." Read more

"...It's a very quick yet powerful read but I got so much out of her story in those 357 pages..." Read more

AMAZING!!!
5 out of 5 stars
AMAZING!!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!! This book was so beautiful!! Xiomara is a teenager and she is trying to learn to grow. Life can get hard sometimes. All Xiomara ever wanted was for people to see her and let her be who she wants to be. Elizabeth Acevedo is the author of this book but she also narrated it and I absolutely loved it so much!! I wanted to cry in some parts cause of all of the emotions she had while reading her own book.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Darque Dreamer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Power and Raw Emotion!
    Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Words can not describe how The Poet X made me feel. It took the breath right out of me. My heart was beating like a drum. I felt heaviness in my chest, but also felt like I was flying. Even now that I’ve finished reading, I’m left with an emotional weight in my heart.

    How did this amazing, beautiful author manage to capture such power and raw emotion with so few words? How have I never found the beauty of a story told through verse before? This book was everything! It was beauty. It was power. It was a sensational Own Voices story, and it was incredibly poignant, moving and thought provoking!

    Xiomora was fierce! She was strong, and she fought. She fought through her questioning her faith, she fought for her independence, she fought for her freedom of expression, and she fought for herself! She was brave and intelligent, and she was beautiful!

    Though I never really grew up embracing, or being taught, my Mexican culture, I know my mother and her sisters and brother did. You could say I didn’t have much I could relate to with Xiomora, except for the expression of herself through her poetry, but, I did feel like I could still relate to her home, and neighborhood life, slightly in knowing that my mom’s family was raised Catholic and knowing what kind of neighborhood she grew up in (and had to walk home from school through) where my grandfather and the neighborhood gang members had a mutual respect and understanding with each other. I also remember being taken to church (and completing communion) as a child because it was what grandma had wanted.

    And, though there was still very little I could personally relate to with the story (I could very much relate to writing poetry to express my feelings, as it was an outlet for me during a bout of depression in high school), or see as a reflection of my own life, I realized how important it was that there are readers out there who could. This story was so powerful, and it really showed how important it is to have Own Voices representation.

    The Poet X was a coming of age story. It was a story of self-discovery, self-love, and the importance of family, friendship, and standing up for those you love. It highlighted issues of rape culture, body acceptance, abuse, forced religion, and homophobia. It was powerful, beautiful, and poetic.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • cevu
    5.0 out of 5 stars Quick. Powerful. Meaningful.
    Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Have you ever read a book and literally read every single word? And focus on every single word? Maybe you have, but I haven’t. I read really fast, I mean, fast, and so I go through words like... Pop Rocks. You don’t just eat one Pop Rocks piece at a time, you pour the package into your mouth and get the experience that way. I take in full sentences like that, not word over word, but full sentences at a glance.

    It’s really hard to explain. I understand everything I read, with amazing clarity but I’ve never focused in, really looked at the words used in every single sentence in a book until The Poet X.

    Of course I’ve analyzed literature and poetry for school work, and I read words out loud of course, but if I think about words on the page, The Poet X, made me think about the economy of words, and the precision with which to use them.

    The whole book is poetry, told in narrative, about Xiomara, a Dominican girl growing up in a strict home, trying to find her voice. She uses this book as her journal so readers gain insight to her as she writes her feelings down about her family, religion, growing up, boys, and poetry.

    Acevedo has a powerful way of expressing the thoughts and feelings of a girl growing up in a stifling home. Of a girl growing up in a body she has no control over. She’s got so many powerful poems in this book.

    My favorite is “Unhide-able” because Xiomara is trying to come to terms with her body in a house that wants her to cover up her body, in a neighbor that wants to catcall her body, in a generation that wants to speak out about her body and the jealousy that comes along with it. She writes:

    “I am I unhide-able.

    Taller than even my father, with what Mami has always said / was “a little too much body for such a young girl.” / I am the baby fat that settles into D cups and swinging hips / so that the boys who called me a whale in middle school / now ask me to send them pictures of myself in a thong.

    The other girls call me conceited. Ho. Thot. Fast. / When your body takes up more room then your voice / you are always the target of well-aimed rumors, / which is why I let my knuckles talk for me. / Which is why I learned to shrug when I name was replaced by insults.

    I’ve forced my skin just as thick as I am” (7).

    So many women go through this same thing. So many teenagers and women alike just have to take this kind of criticism and this kind of rumor gossip mill stuff and Xio captures it perfectly here in this one poem. Xio learns to shrug the gossip off, like many of us do, but at 16 --- what kind of message is she internalizing?

    At the climax of the book, Xio writes, “The world is almost peaceful / when you stop trying / to understand it” (223). It’s so powerful, right? Acevedo has such a gift for language. If you’ve never heard any of her actual spoken word, please do yourself a favor and go now. She’s so amazing.

    The story Acevedo weaves through her poetry is one about self acceptance more than anything but it takes a huge family detonation to come about. That hit home for me. I think it does for a lot of people. It’s so relatable and honest. It’s hard to find out what we’re meant to be when we aren’t allowed to be ourselves, right? I think Acevedo captures that so well in this book.

    Do yourselves a favor. Get this book. Binge it. You’ll thank me.
    21 people found this helpful
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  • Laura Smith
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent piece of work
    Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    I really love this story. I love the poetry within the poetry.
    The push and pull of family and a mother you don't understand is so powerful and so relatable.
    This is an excellent piece of work.
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Luísa Fajardo
    5.0 out of 5 stars Uma escrita que toca, feita pra ser ouvida
    Reviewed in Brazil on January 9, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Ouvi o audiobook em inglês desse livro pelo scribd enquanto acompanhava pelo e-book e totalmente me apaixonei. A escrita de Elizabeth Acevedo carrega força, e sua narração potencializa essa força. A história de Xiomara me lembrou as histórias da Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. As duas autoras escrevem sobre a dor, sobre o silenciamento, sobre o fortalecimento e sobre o amor de forma única e bela. The Poet X é um livro singular que retrata os percalços de uma garota descobrindo suas potencialidades mas que tem sua liberdade e descoberta privadas desde sempre. Dificilmente alguma mulher não se sentiu assim em algum momento da vida.
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    Luísa Fajardo
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Uma escrita que toca, feita pra ser ouvida

    Reviewed in Brazil on January 9, 2019
    Ouvi o audiobook em inglês desse livro pelo scribd enquanto acompanhava pelo e-book e totalmente me apaixonei. A escrita de Elizabeth Acevedo carrega força, e sua narração potencializa essa força. A história de Xiomara me lembrou as histórias da Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. As duas autoras escrevem sobre a dor, sobre o silenciamento, sobre o fortalecimento e sobre o amor de forma única e bela. The Poet X é um livro singular que retrata os percalços de uma garota descobrindo suas potencialidades mas que tem sua liberdade e descoberta privadas desde sempre. Dificilmente alguma mulher não se sentiu assim em algum momento da vida.
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  • Roger claude
    5.0 out of 5 stars Qualité
    Reviewed in Canada on January 24, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Bon produit
    Report
  • Yamil Narchi
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great
    Reviewed in Mexico on December 25, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    A surprising, exciting coming of age novel made out of poems that are meant to be delivered out loud. So... you imagine the delivery. A testimony of dignity and youth. Loved it.
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  • Roberto
    4.0 out of 5 stars Poet x
    Reviewed in Spain on January 25, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Todo correcto, edición sencilla y humilde perfecta para el uso que se va dar:la lectura recomendada del cole
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  • Richardi Lilly Aurea
    5.0 out of 5 stars ✨
    Reviewed in Germany on March 9, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    such a beautiful and empowering story.
    i just love reading Elizabeth Acevedos’ books in verse.
    so touching it made me cry multiple times because it’s written in an incredibly emotional way and illustrates social issues very well
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