Virtual Pachanga: The YA Edition

Name: Virtual Pachanga: The YA Edition
Start: 2020-11-14T19:00:00-05:00
End: 2020-11-15T18:59:59-05:00
Location: On Demand

Author:

Elizabeth Acevedo, Ismée Williams

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Grades 9 – 12

In Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo, 16-year-old Camino Rios lives for the summer – especially the first week of June – 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. Roughly 1,500 miles away in New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where she meets her “Ms. Universe-perfect” mother with her hair in rollers waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash, and her entire world changes. Separated by distance – and Papi’s secrets – the two girls are forced to face a new reality, one in which their worlds collide, and their lives are forever altered.

Ismée Williams’ This Train is Being Held is about Alex, a baseball player. A great one. His papi is pushing him to go pro, but Alex maybe wants to be a poet. Not that Papi would understand or allow that. Isa is a dancer. She’d love to go pro, if only her Havana-born mom weren’t dead set against it, just like she’s dead set against her daughter falling for a Latino. And Isa’s privileged private-school life – with her dad losing his job and her older brother struggling with mental illness – is falling apart. Not that she’d ever tell that to Alex. Fate, and the New York City subway, bring Alex and Isa together. Is it enough to keep them together when they need each other most?

FREE bonus download: Official Spotify playlist for This Train is Being Held

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Ismée Williams

Ismée Williams, a pediatric cardiologist by day, is an accomplished author by night. Her first book Water in May, was published in 2017.Williams’ This Train Is Being Held (Harry N. Abrams) tells the story of the slow-burn romance between Isabelle Warren, a half-Cuban private school girl, and Alex Rosario, Dominican-American and forced-baseball player. After an unexpected subway encounter in the downtown 1 train and over the course of the next three years, Isabelle learns of Alex’s struggle with his father, who is hell-bent on Alex being a major leaguer, despite Alex’s desire to go to college and become a poet. Meanwhile, Alex learns how Isabelle has to do her dance routines in secret due to a strict, unstable mother, a woman who also has a prejudice against Latino men. But fate—and the 1 train— has brought them together. The New York Times celebrated This Train Is Being Held. “We root for these young lovers — the self-conscious poet with the killer fastball and the shy ballerina who would take a bullet for those she loves — as they learn to let their guards down and be more honest with each other, and with themselves. When their story rolls into its final stop we’re sad the ride is over but delighted we caught this train.”

Elizabeth Acevedo

Elizabeth Acevedo is the New York Times bestselling author of With the Fire on High and National Book Award-winning novel The Poet X. She is a National Poetry Slam champion. In Clap When You Land (Quill Tree Books) a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives. 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, she arrives at the airport to see crowds of people crying. 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. In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews noted that Clap When You Land “Tackles family secrets, toxic masculinity, and socio-economic differences with incisive clarity and candor… Every line is laced with betrayal and longing as the teens struggle with loving someone despite his imperfections. A standing ovation.”

Virtual Pachanga: The YA Edition