Verse

by Christina S.

Have you ever read a novel in verse? If not, I highly encourage you to do so! These are books where the narrative is expressed through poetry. They can be both fiction and non-fiction, and while many are written with Juvenile and Young Adults in mind they are easily enjoyed by readers of all ages. I love reading Novels in Verse because they flow and are so lyrical.

Below are some of the titles we have in our collection, but rather than giving the typical plot description, I have decided to showcase a quote from each.

I hope you are inspired to try out a Novel in Verse soon!

Nothing Burns as Bright as You by Ashley Woodfolk

“I am not a poet.
But I have to write about us.
To prove that we were here.
To prove that it,
all of it
(all of us),
happened.”

We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride

“Do you understand now (reader)? There is someone out there rooting for you. You are not alone, in any Forest. You there, hello, bonjour, hola— we are rooting, cheering for you to live & thrive.”

Baby Teeth: a novel in verse by Meg Grehan

“There is a specific type of
Shame
I think
That comes with realising
Exactly how little
You understand yourself
It’s
It’s embarrassing
One little life to figure out

One little self
But

For us
It’s sitting at a piano
And playing
Note for note
with a deftness belonging to someone
You’ve never met
But who knows you so deeply
A song
You’ve never heard”

Saints of the Household by Ari Tison

“Dad flinched the smallest bit; I still remember the centimeter. He swore and yelled at us to get our asses into gear and get him a different hammer from his truck. Wasn’t much like the dad who used to check our seat belts twice, then give us a poke on the cheek. If he could see himself today, if he really got a good look, I think the man he was would apologize. The better man.”

Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds

“And I’m sitting here wondering why my mother won’t change the channel and why the news won’t change the story and why the story won’t change into something new instead of the every-hour rerun about how we won’t change the world or the way we treat the world or the way we treat each other […]”

Inheritance : a visual poem by Elizabeth Acevedo

“Some people tell me

to ‘fix’ my hair.

And by fix, they mean

Straighten;

They mean whiten.”

The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin by Kip Wilson

When Gretchen left
six months
one week
and two days ago

she didn’t

look back
come back
drop me a line

not even a single
Liebe Hilde

though she promised

she would.

If I Tell You the Truth by Jasmin Kaur

“this isn’t a poem.

instead it’s an obituary
for the girl i used to be

the girl who belonged to
everyone but herself

the girl who swallowed
her heart and bit her tongue

the girl who would have
never dared to run.”

The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta

“Don’t.
Don’t come out unless you want to. Don’t come out for anyone else’s sake. Don’t come out because you think society expects you to.
Come out for yourself.
Come out to yourself.
Shout, sing it.
Softly stutter.
Correct those who say they knew before you did.
That’s not how sexuality works, it’s yours to define.”

The Name She Gave Me: a novel by Betty Culley

“Douglas is safe
and Dad knew
all along
that I hid
from Mom
under the porch.
He saved Douglas,
but he never saved me.

“And right there on the ground
I decide I’m going to save
anyone I can.
It won’t matter if I’ve known them
a day or a year or their whole life—
I’ll never choose one person
over the other,
no matter who they are.”