Review: Clap When You Land

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Elizabeth Acevedo is fast becoming one of my favorite young adult authors. In her latest novel, she captures the devastating moment in the cultural memory of New York City's Dominican population- the crash of American Airlines flight 587 on November 12, 2001, in Belle Harbor/Rockway, Queens. AA587, on its way to Santo Domingo, crashed due to what is colloquially called pilot error. All 260 people on board perished, as did five people on the ground. The majority of the passengers were of Dominican heritage, and many people either knew someone on the flight or had taken that flight to the DR many a time. It was a visceral and devastating moment for the Dominican community. Out of this dark moment, there emerged, as Acevedo mentions in her "Author's Note" at the end of the novel, the fact that there were stories of people with multiple families- in NY and the DR- and whose secrets were exposed by their sudden deaths. The story resonated for me because of a similar situation in my paternal family history- messy families were and probably still are all too ordinary in Hispanic culture.

Clap When You Land tells the story of two seventeen-year-old half-sisters, Camino and Yahaira Rios, who until their father Yano dies on AA587, know nothing of each other's existence. The adults involved, Camino's Aunt Solana, and Yahaira's mother know all about the two sisters' because Yahaira's mother and Solana's sister were once best friends. Camino lost her mother at an early age, and her aunt has been raising her like her own child since. When Yahaira learns about Camino and her father Yano's wish that he be buried back home in the DR, she travels, without her mother's permission, to fulfill her father's request and meet the sister she didn't know she had. Meanwhile, Camino is looking at piles of private school bills, and the potential for the loss of her dreams of going to Columbia University and becoming a doctor. She also has some very scary issues she is now facing without her father's support. Her father's assets are all going to his American family. He had plans to ask his wife to help bring Camino to the US, but he died before they were realized. When Yahaira's mother follows her daughter to the DR, the chance for the two girls to forge a different path for Camino may help her life get back on course.

This novel is a heartfelt story of sisterhood and of recognizing and accepting the very human failures of our parents. Forgiveness and acceptance are so vital in families. Leaving them vulnerable in multiple ways — without the comfort of his having understood things like the events that led to Yahaira's refusing to continue playing chess, or Camino's being at risk of exploitation by a local thug, Yano has failed both his daughters. Yet the sisters find they can support each other in surprising ways. Clap When You Land is another excellent novel for teens in which Yahaira's openness to her newly discovered sister enriches both their lives.

The audiobook, narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo herself, is terrific.

I received an Advance Readers Edition of this book from Harper Teen in exchange for an honest review.

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