When We Make It by Velasquez, Elisabet

"The energy. The clarity. The beauty. Elisabet Velasquez brings it all. . . . Her voice is FIRE!"--NYT bestselling and award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson

An unforgettable, torrential, and hopeful debut young adult novel-in-verse that redefines what it means to "make it," for readers of Nicholasa Mohr and Elizabeth Acevedo.

Sarai is a first-generation Puerto Rican question asker who can see with clarity the truth, pain, and beauty of the world both inside and outside her Bushwick apartment. Together with her older sister, Estrella, she navigates the strain of family traumas and the systemic pressures of toxic masculinity and housing insecurity in a rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn. Sarai questions the society around her, her Boricua identity, and the life she lives with determination and an open heart, learning to celebrate herself in a way that she has long been denied.

When We Make It is a love letter to anyone who was taught to believe that they would not make it. To those who feel their emotions before they can name them. To those who still may not have all the language but they have their story. Velasquez' debut novel is sure to leave an indelible mark on all who read it.

Author: Elisabet Velasquez
Publisher: Dial Books
Published: 09/21/2021
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 8.35h x 5.75w x 1.34d
ISBN: 9780593324486
Age Range: 14-17

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.4
Point Value: 5
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 517117 / When We Make It


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2021
Booklist 09/01/2021 pg. 72
School Library Journal 10/01/2021 pg. 98
Horn Book Magazine 01/01/2022 pg. 125
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2022 - Outstanding, Noteworthy In Style

About the Author
Elisabet Velasquez is a Boricua writer born in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Her work is featured in Muzzle Magazine, Winter Tangerine, Centro Voces, Latina Magazine, Longreads, We Are Mitú, Tidal, and Martín Espada's anthology What Saves Us: Poems of Empathy and Outrage in the Age of Trump. When We Make It is her debut novel. Elisabet lives in Jersey City, New Jersey.