“Raw, earth-shattering, gut-wrenching, and heartbreaking,” this novel delves into the complexities of grief and the revelation of life-altering family secrets. It intertwines two stories, ones marked by the loss of a loved one and the unraveling of secrets that were not their burden to bear, while also grappling with the mounting stress of life itself. Amidst these profound losses, the characters find solace in each other, drawn together by shared grief and the unburdened weight of secrets. Healing manifests in various forms and often emerges when individuals relinquish their knowledge and place their trust in the guidance of their loved ones. The author’s prose is beautifully crafted, realistic, and emotionally resonant, transporting readers into the heart of the story. Each narrative resonates deeply, evoking a profound emotional response. The author’s exploration of the past that shapes the present and its impact on the future creates a compelling narrative that lingers in the mind long after the last page is turned. This is a truly remarkable read.

Wonderful, poetic! Felt the pull to continue reading and see what happened next. Though I had read it previously, I had to purchase a copy to keep on my bookshelf.

Camino lives in the Dominican Republic with her aunt who works as the community healer. Camino has been dealt a difficult hand with her mother dying when she was young, though she is fortunate that her father lives in the United States and is able to provide for her and her aunt. But when her father dies in a plane crash on his annual trip to the DR to spend the summer with Camino, her entire world is upended. Losing her father equates for so much more for Camino. It means the loss of safety, an education, and possibly even her next meal.

Yahaira lives in New York City with her mother and father. Yahaira found out last year that her father has been having an affair with a woman in the DR and that his annual work trips are actually to visit her. Angry and confused, Yahaira has shut down and pushed her father away. As he leaves again for his annual trip, Yahaira debates asking him to stay. Asking to reconcile when he returns, Yahaira chooses to brush him off again. When he dies on his way to the DR in a plane crash, Yahaira loses any opportunity she had to get answers or make amends.

It is only after Papi's death that Camino learns that Papi had another family in the States. When she finds her half sister Yahaira online, she's shocked and hurt at the undeniable similarities between them. She decides to make contact with Yahaira, if for nothing more than to tell Yahaira she exists and is ultimately entitled to some of the money from airline for Papi's death.

The two girls connect and Yahaira even chooses to fly out to the DR to bury her father and meet her sister. What unfolds is a powerful and moving story of love, family, and forgiveness in the wake of tragedy and deception.

Based on the true story of Flight AA587 that crashed in November 2001 on its way from NYC to the DR, this was an emotional and powerful story. Though Papi led a double life while he was alive, his death brought upon a merging of the two families. This book explored so many deep themes such as love, loss, grief, lies, deceit, heritage, and the bonds of blood.

Written in prose form, I was intimidated at first that it would read too much like poetry, where every word is a double meaning and nothing can be overlooked. However, Acevedo did an exquisite job of letting the language flow and tell its own story. No detail was overlooked. From the chapter separators, to the literal type on the page, the amazing cover (with or without the jacket!), and the unnamed main character, the intention and execution were utter perfection.

I did struggle at times because I felt like Yahaira and Camino had quite similar voices. I would often have to flip back and check which girl was narrating. Additionally, the story felt rushed (the entire story takes place over two months) and I was left with so many questions and a longing for more.

I read this book with a buddy read and highly recommend it for a book club. There are many story lines and deeper themes to explore, questions to be raised, and issues to hash out. I can't recommend this one enough.

TW: trafficking, molestation, attempted rape, stalking,

4.5⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book is told entirely in verse from two different perspectives. Camino, who lives in the Dominican Republic and Yahaira, who lives in New York. They know notthing of one another until tradgety takes their father away. They are half sisters with the same father.

This book tells of the hardships that girls in the Dominican Republic face and Camino is one of the lucky ones because her father works in the states and can provide for her. Several years earlier her mother died and now she is being raised by Tia. Camino dreams of going to the states and going to college to become a Doctor.

Yahaira is native to New York and lives with her mother. She receives support from her long time girlfriend and lives in a good neighborhood.

This book was really intense in its poetic poise and insightful into the minds and lives of our main characters. It was hard hitting and truly wonderful.

My only complaint is the voices of the two girls were not distinct. While I appreciated the perspective of both Camino and Yahaira, it was often hard to tell them apart in this alternating narrative.

What an interesting story. I'm saddened to hear that after the plan crash, there were family secrets like this outed to the world with no concern for how that would affect lives. The author told this tale in a realistic, respectful way, and I appreciate that. Families can be complicated. This one is no exception. But there is love, forgiveness, and hope. Absolutely worth the read.

Whelp, you can’t fault the seller for the contents in the book. It came in great shape…but I’m not a fan of the book. I barely got through it.

I really enjoyed reading this novel. I was intrigued the whole novel, completing it in only a few hours (nonstop). One thing to note is that I was confused in the first hundred pages because I hadn’t realized the perspectives changed. I’m pretty sure it was just me though and the fact that I was so excited to read it hehe.

It is the kind of novel that you’d might expect to get boring after a while, or be predictable. But the flavor of the writing was just so perfectly poised and worded that there was never a stale or bitter after taste. I really recommend at least giving this book a try. Also, this is from the perspective of a 13 year old. Keep that in mind as we may not have the same thoughts and feelings towards this book.

~ Have a lovely evening! (Even if it’s 4am)

🧋💜🍡

This is only the second book I’ve read that’s written in verse, but it’s my first book from this author, so I went into this pretty blind. While I still can’t say anything about the structure of the verses and how that plays into the story tempo, I can say that this was an immensely powerful book. “Clap When You Land” is the story of two sisters who only learn of each other’s existence when unthinkable tragedy and grief pulls them together. The story gives us both sister’s POV so the reader can really see how these two girls, connected by blood, view their world and home, their parents and culture, and how they process grief and betrayal differently. I felt Acevedo captured the different voices of her main characters incredibly well and how she captured their grief, their anger, and just the rawness of their tragedy in an incredible and moving way, but the heavy to the light ratio did seem just a tad disproportional to me come the end.

Underneath the story of grief is this tension around family secrets and what that can do to people. I loved how Acevedo captured this mentality of “we didn’t tell you because we wanted to protect you” and how selfish and damaging that is. Ultimately, the person “you” are protecting, isn’t really the person you’re protecting, “you’re” only protecting yourself from a painful reality. By taking the choice away from someone, the consequences of that secret become far more damaging, and as someone who has been in a similar situation, Acevedo captured those raw feelings, that anger from the person being “protected” perfectly. But beyond that, and how atmospheric Acevedo writes especially when the POV takes the reader to the Dominican Republic (I’ve been once, and it is a gorgeous country full of vibrant and passionate people), it can’t be understated how important this book is for how it looks at the grieving process without vilifying how these characters process their trauma. These characters show that you can still love someone even if they are complex and severely flawed, and even when someone unexpectedly leaves your life, they still leave a mark, and sometimes leave behind new family for you to get to know and discover. The journey these two sisters take to get to know each other and navigate these unfamiliar waters is as powerful as it is moving, but it took awhile to get to that uplifting part of sisterhood.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved how these sisters processed their grief and how the tragedy impacted them differently, but the book pretty much starts on the worst day of these girls’ lives, and for almost 80% of the story, the reader stays firmly in these girls’ trauma. Which is a lot, and can be incredibly heavy and scary at times, especially as one of the sisters is in more danger now with her father gone. The book does end on an uplifting note, things turn around for both girls and the reader is left feeling hopeful for both of their futures and excited that this fractured family is building and becoming whole again, but I felt it was almost too little of the “good” with how much the book hyper focused in on these girl’s pain. It could simply be that I read this at a bad time, the world is still raw and scary and so my emotional capacity for heavy topics is already pretty low, but that’s ultimately why I’m giving this 4 stars. I just wanted a little more of their life after tragedy, especially as Acevedo’s writing was such a joy to read. I would highly recommend this book though, maybe not when someone is emotionally tender, but it is an important read for both diversity and for normalizing grief. I also wonder if listening to the audio version of this book would have a different impact as then, I’d imagine, the verse format can really shine, and maybe the heavier parts wouldn't have weighed me down as much as they did.

Such an emotional story, wish there was more to their story would love to see how their future works out.

Loved it, easy read, beautifully executed. Poetic in exactly the right way it needed to be. Great for adults and teens

"I was 13 years old when flight AA587 crashed to the ground in Queens, New York. It was on its way to the Dominican Republic. Two hundred sixty people, plus five people on the ground, died. More than 90% of the passengers were of Dominican descent. Many were returning home. It completely rocked New York Dominican community. I have wanted to write about that flight for as long as I can remember. I was a writer even then. I think even at 12 or 13. I was trying to write through what that meant—or keeping track of the news and writing down different dates or when new research came out. I will say that in college, the idea of "Clap When You Land" came to me. I was an undergrad, and I remember wanting to capture the joy of that moment when the plane first skids right against the runway, and you know you made it. We are okay, but that's a celebration, that almost communal exhalation on the plane, releasing the breath that you didn't know you had been holding. At some point, these two ideas kind of came together. It is that exhale. It is that joy. But also, what does it mean to my memory to think through the days and the moment that they didn't end up in celebration. And can we honour the morning? "

- Elizabeth Acevedo.

When I first came across this book, I was not aware of the backstory of what led to this incredible book. I had casually picked it up and started reading without sparing much thought. The pain, and the hope the book has given me, are difficult to bind within a few words. But still, I'll try.

I'm someone who doesn't have the slightest idea of the New York-Dominican community, but still, it reaps my heart in every possible way. I was able to feel each and every word of Camino and Yahaira.

Clap When You land is the story of two sisters, Yahaira and Camino, who do not know about each other until their father dies in a plane crash. It is loosely based on events that happened in the 2011 New York-Dominican plane crash (two months after the attack on World Trade Centre). I feel this book is very personal to the author, which is why it struck those chords in your heart even more vividly.

It is a book about loss. It is a book about gain. It's about what it means to have to reconfigure ideas of family.

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"The old lady in the seat beside me said in Spanish,

"They don't do that as much anymore. This must be a plane of Dominicans returning home;

when you touch down on this soil, you must clap when you land.

Para dar gracias a dios. Regrezamos." & I smiled back."

How can you lose an entire person, only to gain a part of them back in someone entirely new?" ⁣⁣

⁣⁣

On November 2001, an American Airlines scheduled to fly from JFK International Airport to Las Americas Airport in Santa Domingo crashed into Belle Harbor/on the Rockaway Peninsula of Queens and took 260 people’s lives. Mostly whom were Dominican and it’s descent.⁣⁣

⁣⁣

So was #ClapWhenYouLand story based on.⁣⁣ A story of loss/grief/secrets /forgiveness. When the father of Camino and Yhaira was in a plane crash and how both girls (who had no idea they both existed) get to find out while processing their grief.

.

Emotional but heart-warming, Acevedo has quickly become one of my favorite/auto buy authors.

This was my first contact with any of Acevedo's books, I knew all of them, but it was also my first experience with a book in verse.

These verses are pretty simple and not hard to read, Acevedo writes beautiful and poetic verses, with lots of amazing descriptions about food, religious ceremonies, hobbies and sisterhood.

It made me tear up a few times, one thing that I didn't like was how long it took for the two sisters to finally meet, but when we got there it stopped bothering me because it was so well written. I was so immersed in this story of these two sisters and all the lies their dad kept and their personal issues.