Fall 2021: Wild Readers Group 5 discussion

The book I decided to read for this book review is “Clap When You Land”, written by Elizabeth Acevedo. This book is a coming-of-age, sisterhood, and mourning story that was inspired by the tragic crash of flight AA587 that was flying to the Dominican Republic from New York City. This plane crash was the second deadliest aviation accident in the U.S. with 260 fatalities. This accident had happened shortly after 9/11 so there was minimal coverage on this tragedy at the time. Elizabeth Acevedo wrote this story in the hope to offer insight to the Dominican American community. “Clap When You Land” is an emotional coming-of-age story that focuses on two young girls, Yahaira and Camina, who know nothing about each other and happen to be sisters. The two girls have spent their entire lives in separate countries without knowing each other exists. Throughout the story, both the girls deal with the tragedy of losing their father on flight 1112 that was traveling from New York to the Dominican Republic. Through the loss of their father, the Camino and Yahaira find out about each other and the secrets their father had kept from them. The two sisters deal with disagreements, resentment, and jealousy in this novel but soon realize the growing affection and bond they have for each other. Overall, I found this book to be very enjoyable and interesting to read through the stories of each sister finding themselves and their perspective on the world. This book not only kept my attention but informed me of events I had never heard about in the past.