Staff Picks
Children's Novels in Verse
- Jenny D.
- Friday, January 08, 2021
Collection
Want to try something different? Choose one of these novels where the narrative is told entirely through a series of poems. Once you read one, you'll be hooked on this creative way to tell a story.
The Cure for Cold Feet
A Novel in Small Moments
Published in 2018
Now in sixth grade, Izzy continues to face the ups and downs of everyday life in middle school including dances, her brother's increasing distance, and her father's serious relationship.
Izzy Kline Has Butterflies
(a Novel in Small Moments)
Published in 2017
Izzy Kline is nervous about her first day of fourth grade, and with new changes at home, there are plenty of reasons for her to feel the butterflies in her stomach.
Booked
Published in 2016
Twelve-year-old Nick loves soccer and hates books, but soon learns the power of words as he wrestles with problems at home, stands up to a bully, and tries to impress the girl of his dreams.
Finding Wonders
Three Girls Who Changed Science
Published in 2016
"A biographical novel in verse of three different girls in three different time periods who grew up to become groundbreaking scientists"-- Provided by publisher.
All of Me
Published in 2019
Thirteen-year-old Ari faces what it is to be a man while dealing with a cross-country move, his parents' separation, being bullied for his weight, and belatedly starting bar mitzvah preparations.
Little Dog, Lost
Published in 2012
A boy, a dog, and an old man are lonely before the boy plans a rally, the dog looks for a boy, and all the townspeople run to the old man's aid when lightning strikes his home and something miraculous happens.
They Call Me Güero
A Border Kid's Poems
Published in 2018
Twelve-year-old Güero, a red-headed, freckled Mexican American border kid, discovers the joy of writing poetry, thanks to his seventh grade English teacher.
Kaleidoscope Eyes
Published in 2009
In 1968, with the Vietnam War raging, thirteen-year-old Lyza inherits a project from her deceased grandfather, who had been using his knowledge of maps and the geography of Lyza's New Jersey hometown to locate the lost treasure of Captain Kidd.
Serafina's Promise
A Novel in Verse
Published in 2013
In a poor village outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Serafina works hard to help her family, but dreams of going to school and becoming a doctor--then the earthquake hits and Serafina must summon all her courage to find her father and still get medicine for her sick baby brother as she promised.
Hate That Cat
Published in 2008
Jack is studying poetry again in school, and he continues to write poems reflecting his understanding of famous poems and how they relate to his life.
Love That Dog
Published in 2001
A young student, who comes to love poetry through a personal understanding of what different famous poems mean to him, surprises himself by writing his own inspired poem.
Somewhere Among
Published in 2016
Eleven-year-old Emma's life in Tokyo changes for the worse when she and her American mother, who is pregnant, must move in with her Japanese grandmother the summer before 9/11 changes the world.
Bird
Published in 2008
Bird, an artistic young African American boy, expresses himself through drawing as he struggles to understand his older brother's drug addiction and death, while a family friend, Uncle Son, provides guidance and understanding.
Mountain Dog
Published in 2013
When his mother is sent to jail in Los Angeles, eleven-year-old Tony goes to live with his forest ranger great-uncle in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where Tony experiences unconditional love for the first time through his friendship with a rescue dog.
Tropical Secrets
Holocaust Refugees in Cuba
Published in 2009
Escaping from Nazi Germany to Cuba in 1939, a young Jewish refugee dreams of finding his parents again, befriends a local girl with painful secrets of her own, and discovers that the Nazi darkness is never far away.
Salt
A Story of Friendship in a Time of War
Published in 2013
Twelve-year-olds Anikwa, of the Miami village of Kekionga, and James, of the trading post outside Fort Wayne, find their friendship threatened by the rising fear and tension brought by the War of 1812.
Applesauce Weather.
Published in 2016
"When the first apple falls from the tree, Faith and Peter know that it’s applesauce weather, even though Peter is getting a little old for such things. It also means Uncle Arthur should be here to tell his stories, with a twinkle in his eye as he spins tales about how he came to have a missing finger. But this is the first year without Aunt Lucy, and when Uncle Arthur arrives, there’s no twinkle to be found and no stories waiting to be told. Faith is certain, though, that with a little love and patience, she and Peter might finally learn the truth about that missing finger. Paired with warm, expressive illustrations by Amy June Bates, this heartfelt tale by award-winning poet Helen Frost highlights the strength of family and the power of a good story" -- Provided by publisher.
A Slip of a Girl
Published in 2019
"Set during the Irish Land Wars (1879-1882) this novel in verse follows Anna Mallon through a series of tragedies as her mother dies, older sibling immigrate to America, and she and her father and sister with special needs are about to be evicted from their farm"-- Provided by publisher.
Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess
Published in 2017
Dealing with her mother remarrying to a man with twin daughters and her family moving, deaf sixth-grader Macy is told that she must help her elderly neighbor Iris Gillan, who is also getting ready to move to a nursing home.
Planet Middle School
Published in 2011
A series of poems describes all the baffling changes at home and at school in twelve-year-old Joylin's transition from tomboy basketball player to not-quite-girly girl.
Garvey's Choice
Published in 2016
Preferring science and reading to the sports his father wants him to play, Garvey comforts himself with food and endures bullying before joining the school chorus, where he learns how to accept himself and bond with his father.
Out of the Dust
Published in 1997
In a series of poems, fifteen-year-old Billie Jo relates the hardships of living on her family's wheat farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the Depression.
Full Cicada Moon
Published in 2015
In 1969 twelve-year-old Mimi and her family move to an all-white town in Vermont, where Mimi's mixed-race background and interest in "boyish" topics like astronomy make her feel like an outsider.
Knockout
Published in 2018
Told in assonant free verse, Levi was once a premature baby who suffered from respiratory problems; he recovered, and now in seventh grade, he struggles to demonstrate to his divorced mother and overprotective brother that he is okay--so when his father suggests he take up boxing, he falls in love with the sport, but he still must find a way to convince his family to set him free to follow his dream.
Lifeboat 12
Based on a True Story
Published in 2018
In 1940, a group of British children, their escorts, and some sailors struggle to survive in a lifeboat when the ship taking them to safety in Canada is torpedoed. Includes historical notes.
Addie on the Inside
Published in 2011
Outspoken thirteen-year-old Addie Carle learns about love, loss, and staying true to herself as she navigates seventh grade, enjoys a visit from her grandmother, fights with her boyfriend, and endures gossip and meanness from her former best friend.
Worlds Afire
Published in 2004
In this collection of eyewitness poems, the excitement and anticipation of attending the circus on July 6, 1944 in Hartford, Connecticut, turns to horror when a fire engulfs the circus tent, killing nearly 170 people, mostly women and children.
Inside out & Back Again
Published in 2011
Through a series of poems, a young girl chronicles the life-changing year of 1975, when she, her mother, and her brothers leave Vietnam and resettle in Alabama.
Never Forgotten
Published in 2011
In eighteenth-century West Africa, a boy raised by his blacksmith father and the Mother Elements--Wind, Fire, Water, and Earth--is captured and taken to America as a slave.
It Rained Warm Bread
Moishe Moskowitz's Story of Hope
Published in 2019
A fictionalized account of the experiences of a Polish Jew, Moishe, who with his parents, brother, and sister, struggles to survive the Nazi invasion and Holocaust.
Toppling
Published in 2012
All John cares about is setting the world record for knocking down dominoes and spending time with his best friends at school until his closest friend, Dom, is hospitalized, leaving John and the gang wondering what to do for him.
Amiri and Odette
A Love Story
Published in 2009
Presents a modern, urban retelling in verse of the ballet in which brave Amiri falls in love with beautiful Odette and fights evil Big Red for her on the streets of the Swan Lake Projects.
Dust of Eden
Published in 2014
"Thirteen-year-old Mina Tagawa and her Japanese-American family are forced to evacuate their Seattle home and are relocated to an internment camp in Idaho, where they live for three years"-- Provided by publisher.
The Red Pencil
Published in 2014
"After her tribal village is attacked by militants, Amira, a young Sudanese girl, must flee to safety at a refugee camp, where she finds hope and the chance to pursue an education in the form of a single red pencil and the friendship and encouragement of a wise elder"-- Provided by publisher.
May B.
Published in 2012
When a failed wheat crop nearly bankrupts the Betterly family, Pa pulls twelve-year-old May from school and hires her out to a couple new to the Kansas frontier.
Tofu Quilt
Published in 2009
Growing up in 1960s Hong Kong, a young girl dreams of becoming a writer in spite of conventional limits placed on her by society and family.
God Got a Dog
Published in 2013
"Newbery Medalist Cynthia Rylant and two-time Caldecott Honor medalist Marla Frazee imagine a God inspired to go out and experience human things"-- Provided by publisher.
The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary
Published in 2016
"A story told in verse from multiple perspectives of the graduating fifth grade class of Emerson Elementary. The kids join together to try to save their school from being torn down to make way for a supermarket"-- Provided by publisher.
Red Butterfly
Published in 2015
In China, a foundling girl with a deformed hand raised in secret by an American woman must navigate China's strict adoption system when she is torn away from the only family she has ever known.
Another Day As Emily
Published in 2014
"Susie is jealous when her brother is deemed a town hero, so she finds solace in the poetry and reclusive lifestyle of Emily Dickinson"-- Provided by publisher.
Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie
Published in 2011
When nine-year-old Eleanor's beloved babysitter Bibi moves away to care for her ailing father, Eleanor must spend the summer adjusting to a new babysitter while mourning the loss of her old one.
Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake
Published in 2014
A new girl at school throws nine-year-old Eleanor's relationship with her best friend Pearl into disarray.
The Lonely Ones
Published in 2016
The stress of her father's job loss causes Fain to feel invisible at home and in her new school, but she escapes with the monsters of her imagination until a family crisis and a human friend cause her to reconsider.
Other Words for Home
Published in 2019
Sent with her mother to the safety of a relative's home in Cincinnati when her Syrian hometown is overshadowed by violence, Jude worries for the family members who were left behind as she adjusts to a new life with unexpected surprises.
Zorgamazoo
Published in 2008
Imaginative and adventurous Katrina eludes her maniacal guardian to help Morty, a member of a vanishing breed of zorgles, with his quest to uncover the fate of the fabled zorgles of Zorgmazoo as well as of other creatures that seem to have disappeared from the earth.
Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart
The Story of Amber and Essie Told Here in Poems and Pictures
Published in 2001
A series of poems tells how two sisters help each other deal with life while their mother is working and their father has been sent to jail.
Gone Fishing
A Novel in Verse
Published in 2013
In this novel told through poems, nine-year-old Sam loves fishing with his dad, so when his pesky little sister horns in on their fishing trip, he is none too pleased. Includes primer on rhyme, poetry techniques, rhythm, stanzas, and poetic forms.
Gone Camping
A Novel in Verse
Published in 2017
"Camping is fun. Until it's time to sleep. Then, Lucy wonders, what kinds of creatures lurk in the dark? With only her brother and grandpa as tent mates, will Lucy be able to face her camping fears? Includes a variety of poetic forms--from aubade to haiku--as well as writing tips about rhyme and rhythm"-- Provided by publisher.
Locomotion
Published in 2003
In a series of poems, eleven-year-old Lonnie writes about his life, after the death of his parents, separated from his younger sister, living in a foster home, and finding his poetic voice at school.