Iveliz Explains It All

By: Andrea Beatriz Arango

Narrated by: Raquel Merediz

NEWBERY HONOR AWARD WINNER • In this timely and moving novel in verse, a preteen girl navigates seventh grade while facing mental health challenges. A hopeful, poetic story about learning to advocate for the help and understanding you deserve.

"Powerful."—Lisa Fipps, Printz Honor-winning author of Starfish

How do you speak up when it feels like no one is listening?

The end of elementary school?

Worst time of my life.

And the start of middle school?

I just wasn’t quite right.

But this year?

YO VOY A MI.

Seventh grade is going to be Iveliz’s year. She’s going to make a new friend, help her abuela Mimi get settled after moving from Puerto Rico, and she is not going to get into any more trouble at school. . . .

Except is that what happens? Of course not. Because no matter how hard Iveliz tries, sometimes people say things that just make her so mad. And worse, Mimi keeps saying Iveliz’s medicine is unnecessary—even though it helps Iveliz feel less sad. But how do you explain your feelings to others when you’re not even sure what’s going on yourself?

Powerful and compassionate, Andrea Beatriz Arango’s debut navigates mental health, finding your voice, and discovering that those who really love you will stay by your side no matter what.

©2022 Andrea Beatriz Arango (P)2022 Listening Library

Critic reviews

SCBWI Golden Kite Honor Award Winner

Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year

YALSA Best Book for Young Adults

ALSC Notable Children's Book

CCBC Choices Selection

"A lyrical, vital, and spunky debut about mental health, grief, and the healing power of self-love. A must read.”—Mariama J. Lockington, author of For Black Girls Like Me

★ "Superbly woven; a bold, deep portrayal of a young voice who needs to be heard.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ "A compassionate, stirring story that readers will not forget."—School Library Journal, starred review

Intense but perfect

I read this to my 5th grade class and we loved every moment. There were parts that I hesitated to open up to my class but I read on and didn't look back. We had beautiful, honest discussions about mental health, struggles, emotions, family, parenting and so much more. Initially, students resisted the style of writing in verse and resisted the bilingual component but they loved every word. I cannot say enough about this perfectly written novel to address the very real issues occuring.

I enjoy the story about a puertorican girl and a family and their culture and food.

A good story about a teenager that struggles with mental health. A very encouraging story!!!

Beautiful

Truthful. Honest. Gripping from the first minute to the last. Listened in one sitting! Loved it.

outstanding

holy crap. i don’t know if i can put into words how phenomenal this writing is. sometimes YA sounds like an author only has skills of a teenager, and that’s why they write for that age group, and you have to kind of excuse it bc, well, the character IS 13, and the readers will also be 13, so i guess it doesn’t really matter? but you can somehow tell that arango is an EXCEPTIONAL writer despite only viewing the story through the journal of a seventh grader. i’m kind of not even really sure how she does it. i think it’s bc of the actual story rather than just how the story is presented to you and told to you? idk but it’s so impressive

this book was really good and also really sad. i kept saying that out loud, “wow this is so good and so sad.” not that it’s good BECAUSE it’s sad. arango perfectly captures the very complicated feeling of anxiety and stress within a troubled teenager. i honestly really just don’t know how she does it. i will also say that idk how much of this is bc i also felt similarly when i was in middle school, and idk if anyone who doesn’t relate would think it’s as crazy good. i feel like middle school is this big cloud of confusing emotions—still wanting to get your parents’ approval when they’ve started being harder on you bc you’re not just a cute kid anymore, and so your pure love for them is starting to fade away too, and you feel like you don’t have that support security anymore and it’s terrifying, and you don’t know how to put any of it into words, so you just sit there feeling it all, and it comes across as being stoic or rudely quiet or weird, and then you have to deal with peers who are increasingly getting more judgmental instead of “let’s all get along and share” that’s in elementary school. and arango does an EXCELLLLLLLENT job at capturing this feeling. holy freaking crap

the one thing that i did have a problem with in this book was the resolution. i think it all came together way too easily, and it felt like “remember kids, this is what you do when you see bullying” or something, when you’re watching a kids show, and you can tell “oh, the writers are trying to tell this message to kids, i get it” instead of character acting realistically anymore. i could believe amir’s forgiveness, i could believe the teachers working with iveliz, i could believe mimi saying “you’re my granddaughter no matter what (paraphrased),” and i could believe mami awkwardly trying her best through family therapy. but i could NOT believe it when iveliz told akiko, “you shouldn’t make fun of someone for their mental health,” and akiko came back the next day and said, “you’re right, i’m sorry. can we still be friends?” and then it felt like iveliz turned to the audience and was like, “and that made me wonder how many other kids out there also don’t know what they don’t know, bc people dont speak up. so that’s why we have to say our feelings, kids.” that resolution made me go oookay, yeah, this is a book for kids, there’s a lesson of the day. i really think that when akiko was like “it was just a joke,” then iveliz would have snapped and been like, “you’re a joke, and you’re not funny,” and then they would never be friends again, and i thought it would have been a message saying that like sometimes when you’re lonely, you cling onto toxic people without realizing it, and then when you take a stand, then toxic people realize they can’t just do whatever they want with you, and you’ll realize you don’t actually need them anyway, and you’re better off without them. i really thought it was gonna go there, with the whole arc with akiko, “wow i made a new friend!!” and then slowly she turns out to be crappy, but there’s this push and pull “do i like her do i not does she like me does she not” that ultimately ends with “no i’m better off without fake people who are actually just lonely and bitter.” and it felt like it was leading up to that too bc of what happened with mimi and the pills, and dr turnip saying that the people who love you will understand and stick around (paraphrased). so i’m kinda like ??? at the akiko arc but wtvr

overall gr8 book. i read this trying to find good reads to recommend to my middle school students once i finish my masters program to be a teacher, and i will wholeheartedly recommend this one