I heard so many great things about Clap When You Land, and I was super eager to get my hands on it. A friend of mine said that she'd been listening to the audio version which is partly read by the author. She said that it had really brought the book alive for her, so I thought I'd give it a try. I loved the experience of listening to Elizabeth reading her story - it led to the characters being fully formed in my mind, and it was amazing to hear how the different names, phrases and proverbs were pronounced in Spanish.

Clap When you Land, written entirely in verse, tells the story of Camino and Yahaira - the two daughters of Papi, who know nothing about each other. Camino lives in the Dominican Republic and looks forward to the summers when her father returns from working in New York. She always meets him at the airport - it's just that on this occasion, she finds out that his plane has crashed.

Yahaira has a difficult relationship with her father and they've argued when he left on the plane to go to the Dominican Republic. She finds out the news about the plane crash at school. Her beautiful, helpless mother can't stop crying.

Both girls are heartbroken by the loss of their Papi, and his secrets begin unravelling they are forced to deal with his deceit and the impact that it has had on their respective families.

There are many beautiful extracts which highlight the girls' emotions in the immediate aftermath of Papi's death. Here is a description of what Yahaira is going through:

My school absences are not a secret.

I've been skipping school on & off for two weeks.

& when I go back, somehow we are taking finals.

I let my teachers' words float around me

but how now idea what is due when or to who.

It all feels like such a fake world.

None of this can be real. How is it almost summer break?

The story is one of grief and forgiveness, and of understanding why the people we love the most sometimes behave in ways that we don't expect. At its heart, it's a celebration of the bond between a father and a child. It's unique, moving and brilliant, and you should definitely read it.