In 'Family Lore,' award-winning YA author Elizabeth Acevedo turns to adult readers

https://www.npr.org/2023/07/29/ [login to see] /in-family-lore-award-winning-ya-author-elizabeth-acevedo-turns-to-adult-readers
Flor Marte knows someone will die. She knows when and how, because it came to her in a dream. That's her gift – all the women in the Marte family have one.

But Flor refuses to share who the dream is about. Instead, she insists on throwing herself a living wake, a reason for the entire family to come together and celebrate their lives. That's the starting point for Elizabeth Acevedo's debut novel for adults, Family Lore.

Acevedo grew up in Harlem, with summer visits to the Dominican Republic, and aspirations of becoming a rapper – until a literature teacher invited her to join an after-school poetry club.

She attended reluctantly; but what she found in spoken word performance broke her world and the possibilities of language wide open.

"I think for folks who maybe have felt it difficult to occupy their bodies and take up space and demand attention, to have three minutes where that is the requirement is really powerful," she says.