She’s recently learned a secret about her father that she hasn’t admitted to anyone.īoth Yahaira and Camino are on the cusp of a terrible loss-and of a profound discovery about their families and the surprising, sometimes uneasy connection between them.Ĭlap When You Land explores themes of heredity, class and privilege, as well as the complex, conflicted emotions the girls feel toward their birthplaces and homes. Yahaira misses him when he returns to the Dominican Republic each summer, but this year, her feelings are more complicated. Thousands of miles away in New York City, Yahaira Rios has just said goodbye to her father, who supports her love of competitive chess and always encourages her to follow her dreams. She can’t wait to finally be closer to her beloved father. Camino, whose mother died a decade earlier, dreams of moving to New York City for college and then medical school. He lives in the United States much of the year but spends summers in the Dominican Republic. Sixteen-year-old Camino Rios is meeting her father at the Santo Domingo airport. The book sees Acevedo return triumphantly to the novel-in-verse format of her multiple award-winning debut, The Poet X. The tragic stories of the lives lost on board Flight 587 and those of the families left behind, as well as author Elizabeth Acevedo’s own memories of trips to visit relatives in the Dominican Republic, inspired Clap When You Land. On November 12, American Airlines Flight 587, en route from New York City to the Dominican Republic, crashed in Queens, killing all 260 people on board, the vast majority of whom were of Dominican descent. Those who remember all too well the tragedy of September 11, 2001, may not recall another tragedy that occurred in its immediate aftermath.

Clap when you land elizabeth acevedo