SJPL Picks: Novels in Verse for TeensLike this list

42 items

• The Siren and the Star

  Smith, Colby Cedar,

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  A promising young singer recovers from a traumatic experience by traveling to Venice and connecting with the work of a 17th-century female composer in this gorgeous and sensual novel-in-verse from the acclaimed author of Call Me Athena.

• I Am the Swarm

  Chewins, Hayley,

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  "An intense, emotional read simmering with rage and magic, I Am the Swarm is a captivating YA novel in verse that beautifully speaks to the complicated nature of growing up as a girl."

• Everything Is Poison

  McCullough, Joy,

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  "Sixteen-year-old Carmela Tofana finally gains access to her mother's apothecary in early 17th-century Rome, where she discovers that alongside healing remedies are dangerous potions that can change women's lives."

• (S)kin

  Zoboi, Ibi Aanu,

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  "From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Ibi Zoboi comes her groundbreaking contemporary fantasy debut—a novel in verse based on Caribbean folklore—about the power of inherited magic and the price we must pay to live the life we yearn…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Bridge Across the Sky

  Ng, Freeman,

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  Tai Go and his family have crossed an ocean wider than a thousand rivers, joining countless other Chinese immigrants in search of a better life in the United States. Instead, they’re met with hostility and racism. Empowered by the Chinese Exclusion…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• 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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  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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  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 confident in her identity.

• 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 victim,…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 rhythms of…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 testement…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 oblivious to…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Million Quiet Revolutions

  Gow, Robin,

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  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 American Revolution.

• Only on the Weekends

  Atta, Dean,

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  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, right before Mack has to relocate to Scotland. Not wanting to lose his first…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Don't Call Me a Hurricane

  Hagan, Ellen,

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  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 who is at the center of a redevelopment that could put her…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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  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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  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 protected secret that threatens his own identity.

• 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 Vanilla is…Read moreRead more of this annotation