SJPL Picks: Novels in Verse for TeensLike this list

37 items

• When the Mapou Sings

  Pinede, Nadine,

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  "Infused with magical realism, this story blends first love and political intrigue with a quest for justice and self-determination in 1930s Haiti."

• The Boy Lost in the Maze.

  Coelho, Joseph

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  Also available in ebook. This story is about two boys, separated by centuries, parted by myth, divided by reality. Two boys hoping to be men. Two boys severed from their fathers. Two boys searching a maze of manhood.

• Ode to My First Car

  Gow, Robin,

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  Also available as ebook and downloadable audiobook. Claire Kemp, a closeted bisexual who might be in love with her best friend, gets a summer job at a local nursing home where an eighty-eight-year-old lesbian helps Claire grow more…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Dear Medusa

  Cole, Olivia A.,

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  This intense and intimate novel-in-verse follows 16-year-old Alicia, who feels isolated and alone after being sexually abused by a teacher then cast as the slut who asked for it, until she receives mysterious letters hinting at another…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• An Impossible Thing to Say

  Shahi, Arya,

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  In the aftermath of 9/11, high school sophomore Omid grapples with finding the right words to connect with his grandfather, embrace his Iranian heritage, and express his feelings towards a girl, until he immerses himself in the rhymes and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Enter the Body

  McCullough, Joy,

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  In the room beneath a stage's trapdoor, Shakespeare’s dead teenage girls compare their experiences and retell the stories of their lives, their loves, and their fates in their own words. Bestselling author Joy McCullough offers a brilliant…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• One Last Shot

  the Story of Wartime Photographer Gerda Taro

  Wilson, Kip,

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  Also available as ebook and downloadable audiobook. Tells the story of Gerda Taro, a headstrong photojournalist with a passion for capturing the truth amid political turmoil and the first woman photojournalist killed in combat.

• The Name She Gave Me

  Culley, Betty,

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  When Rynn was born, her birth mother named her Scheherazade. It’s one of the only things Rynn has from her. Now sixteen, Rynn and her adoptive parents live on a small garlic farm in central Maine. Rynn’s father is kind and gentle but…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Million Quiet Revolutions

  Gow, Robin,

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  Also available in ebook. Two seventeen-year-old trans boys in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, struggling to understand themselves and their love for each other, are inspired by an online story about trans soldiers who fell in love during the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Only on the Weekends

  Atta, Dean,

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  Also available as ebook and downloadable audiobook. Told in verse. The son of a film director, Mack grows up on set and into a hopeless romantic -- one who falls hard for the handsome and popular Karim, who eventually notices him back,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Don't Call Me a Hurricane

  Hagan, Ellen,

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  Also available as ebook and downloadable audiobook. Told in verse, seventeen-year-old Eliza, an environmental activist, is navigating the after-effects of a hurricane that devastated her coastal town while falling for Milo, a rich tourist…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Baby Teeth

  a Novel in Verse

  Grehan, Meg,

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  Immy has never been as deeply in love as she is with Claudia. Meanwhile, the forbidden thirst for blood runs deep in Immy.

• Long Way Down

  Reynolds, Jason,

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  Also available as ebook and downloadable audiobook. As Will, fifteen, sets out to avenge his brother Shawn's fatal shooting, seven ghosts who knew Shawn board the elevator and reveal truths Will needs to know.

• Solo

  Alexander, Kwame,

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  Also available in ebook and dowloadable audiobook. Seventeen-year-old Blade, who endeavors to resolve painful issues from his past to navigate the challenges of his former rockstar father's addictions, scathing tabloid rumors, and a…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Vanilla

  Merrill, Billy,

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  Told in a series of blank verse poems, two boys Van (called Vanilla) and Hunter tell of their relationship which began before they were teenagers, but foundered in high school, mostly because Hunter thinks they should be having sex and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Spin

  Caprara, Rebecca,

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  Sixteen-year-old Archne turns to weaving for solace, but when word spreads of her skill she is confronted by the goddess Athena and the two enter a weaving contest that results in transformation and redemption.

• All the Fighting Parts

  Sawyerr, Hannah V.,

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  In the wake of being sexually assaulted by her pastor, sixteen-year-old Amina struggles to regain her footing until she finds the strength within herself to confront her abuser in court.

• Forever Is Now

  Lockington, Mariama,

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  Suffering from agoraphobia after witnessing a scene of police brutality, Sadie discovers, with the help of family, friends and online activists, that she can build a safe place inside herself.

• We Are All So Good at Smiling

  McBride, Amber,

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  Whimsy is back in the hospital for treatment of clinical depression. When she meets a boy named Faerry, she recognizes they both have magic in the marrow of their bones. And when Faerry and his family move to the same street, the two start…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• An Appetite for Miracles

  Kemp, Laekan Zea,

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  Also available as an eBook and eAudiobook. "Award-winning author Laekan Zea Kemp’s heart-wrenching novel-in-verse follows two teens who must come together to heal the pain from their pasts, perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo and Nicola…Read moreRead more of this annotation