Elly Sloman

“It is easy in a moment like this to want to speak over this woman, to tell Tía there is nothing more we can do, to say out loud the woman is lucky that her lungs still draw breath. But I learned young, you do not speak of the dying as if they are already dead. You do not call bad spirits into the room, & you do not smudge a person's dignity by pretending they are not still alive, & right in front of you, and perhaps about to receive a miracle. You do not let your words stunt unknown possibilities.”
― Elizabeth Acevedo, Clap When You Land

“Never, ever, let them see you sweat, negra. Fight until you can’t breathe, & if you have to forfeit, you forfeit smiling, make them think you let them win.”
― Elizabeth Acevedo, Clap When You Land

“I am beginning to learn that life-altering news is often like a premature birth: ill-timed, catching someone unaware, emotionally unprepared & often where they shouldn’t be:”
― Elizabeth Acevedo, Clap When You Land

“Mami wanted me to be a lady:
sit up straight, cross my ankles,

let men protect me.
Papi wanted me to be a leader.

To think quick & strike hard,
to speak rarely, but when I did,

to always be heard. Me?
Playing chess taught me a queen is both:

deadly & graceful, poised & ruthless.
Quiet & cunning. A queen

offers her hand to be kissed,

& can form it into a fist
while smiling the whole damn time.

But what happens when those principles
only apply in a game? & in the real world,

I am not treated as a lady or a queen,
as a defender or opponent

but as a girl so many want to strike off the board.”
― Elizabeth Acevedo, Clap When You Land