Novels in Verse

Three things I know are true / Betty Culley

Tells the story of two families dealing with the aftermath of a tragic gun accident.

The poet X / Elizabeth Acevedo

When Xiomara Batista, who pours all her frustrations and passion into poetry, is invited to join the school slam poetry club, she struggles with her mother's expectations and her need to be heard.

Lifeboat 12 / Susan Hood

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.

Swing / Kwame Alexander with Mary Rand Hess

Noah and his best friend Walt want to become cool, make the baseball team, and win over Sam, the girl Noah has loved for years. When Noah finds old love letters, Walt hatches a plan to woo Sam. But as Noah's love life and Walt's baseball career begin, the letters alter everything.

Turtle under ice / Juleah del Rosario

Two sisters narrate their grief through free verse poetry after losing their mother.

Chlorine sky / Mahogany L. Browne

Picked on at home, criticized for talking trash while beating boys at basketball, and always seen as less than her best friend, a girl struggles to like and accept herself.

Starfish / Lisa Fipps

Bullied and shamed her whole life for being fat, twelve-year-old Ellie finally gains the confidence to stand up for herself, with the help of some wonderful new allies.

I am here now / Barbara Bottner

In the Bronx in the early 1960s, fourteen-year-old Maisie and her longtime friend Richie start high school, as each struggles with an abusive parent.

Muted / Tami Charles

A tale inspired by true events traces the experiences of a talented singer who wants to escape her all-white community before catching the attention of an R&B star who gives her access to fame and luxury in exchange for unscrupulous sacrifices.

Golden girl / Reem Faruqi

When her father is accused of a crime he didn't commit, seventh grader Aafiyah, a Pakastani American girl who has a habit of "borrowing" glittery things, decides to use her bad habit to reunite her family.

People kill people / Ellen Hopkins

Follows six teenagers as they are brought into close contact over the course of one tense week, in a town with political and personal tensions.

The sound of letting go / Stasia Ward Kehoe

Infuriated by her parents' decision to send her autistic brother to an institution, jazz prodigy Daisy engages in rebellious behavior. She is soon confronted by Cal, who encourages her not to give up her talents.

White rose / Kip Wilson

Tells the story of Sophie Scholl, a young German college student who challenges the Nazi regime during World War II as part of the White Rose, a non-violent resistance group.

Home is not a country / Safia Elhillo

A novel in verse follows the experiences of a misfit teen in a discriminatory suburban community who questions her mixed heritage before unexpected family revelations force her to fight for her own identity.

Blood water paint / Joy McCullough

Her mother died when she was twelve, and suddenly Artemisia Gentileschi had a stark choice: a life as a nun in a convent or a life grinding pigment for her father's paint.

What about Will / Ellen Hopkins

Trace's relationship with his older brother Will become increasingly complicated after Will suffers a traumatic brain injury and becomes addicted to pain pills.

Red, white, and whole / Rajani LaRocca

Feeling disconnected from her heritage as the only Indian-American student in her community, young Reha commits herself to a future different from her dreams when her mother becomes dangerously ill.

Every body looking / Candice Iloh

A mixed-heritage dancer's coming of age within the African diaspora is shaped by abuse at the hands of a cousin, her mother's descent into addiction, and her father's efforts to create a Nigerian-inspired home in America.

Long way down / Jason Reynolds

There are three rules in the neighborhood: Don't cry; Don't snitch; Get revenge. Will takes his dead brother Shawn's gun, and gets in the elevator on the 7th floor. As the elevator stops on each floor, someone connected to Shawn gets on. Someone already dead. Dead by teenage gun violence. And each has something to share with Will.

Punching the air / Ibi Zoboi with Yusef Salaam; illustrations by Omar T. Pasha

A young artist and poet's prospects at a diverse art school are threatened by a racially biased system and a tragic altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood.

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Book List: Novels in Verse

Sachem Public Library