Author and poet Elizabeth Acevedo will make two virtual visits to the high school on December 1. Acevedo has written books such as With the Fire on High, Clap When You Land, and The Poet X. Incoming freshmen taking CP and ACP English 9 were assigned the latter as summer reading. The novel has been awarded the Michael L. Printz award for excellence in Young Adult Literature and the Pura Belpre award. The Poet X made the New York TImes Best Seller List, won the National Book Award, and won the Carnegie Medal.
Acevedo’s poems include Hair and Afro-Latina. Her poem Hair opens with “My mother tells me to fix my hair. And by ‘fix,’ she means straighten. She means whiten.” The poem details the way in which straight hair is viewed as beauty. The poem concludes with “Momma that tells me to fix my hair, and so many words remain unspoken. Because all I can reply is, ‘You can’t fix what was never broken.’”
Certain English classes will attend one of these virtual events. However, students who would like to partake in the virtual visit can do so if they are available either Yellow or Green block (after lunch.)
Students can sign up for one of the sessions using the following link: https://forms.gle/z15bp6h74epPxTpQA