Children's Book Suggestions | Novels in Verse

April is Poetry Month, which is a great month to promote novels in verse! With short lines of text and lots of white space, these books are a great choice for all readers, including striving readers and kids with dyslexia.

For even more poetry, browse the online catalog for more novels in verse or check out the 811 section in Children's Nonfiction.

Updated March 9, 2024
LINCC (Libraries in Clackamas County)Oregon City Public Library
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Flipping forward twisting backward
Fullerton, Alma
Paper Book
A diagnosis of dyslexia could change everything for an aspiring fifth-grade gymnast struggling at school in this authentic, high-energy novel in verse. The print edition of this title is set in a font developed to be easy to read. The gym is where Claire shines and...

Written in a dyslexia-friendly font with plenty of white space, this novel in verse features a talented gymnast learning to advocate for herself in pursuit of a dyslexia diagnosis and the supports that come with it. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Rez dogs
Bruchac, Joseph
Paper Book
Renowned author Joseph Bruchac tells a powerful story of a girl who learns more about her Penacook heritage while sheltering in place with her grandparents during the coronavirus pandemic. Malian loves spending time with her grandparents at their home on a Wabanaki reservation...

With the help of her grandparents and her dog, a young Penacook girl learns more about her heritage while sheltering in place on their reservation in 2020. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

The door of no return
Alexander, Kwame
Paper Book
From the Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award winning author Kwame Alexander, comes the first book in a searing, breathtaking trilogy that tells the story of a boy, a village, and the epic odyssey of an African family. In his village in Upper...

A novel in verse about a nineteenth century Asante boy who is sold into slavery and escapes, with similar themes to the 1976 classic Roots by Alex Haley. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

The crossover
Alexander, Kwame
Paper Book
Series streaming now on Disney+, with executive producers including NBA great LeBron James! The Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award-winning middle grade bestseller! Basketball and heartache share the court in this slam-dunk novel in verse. "With a bolt of lightning on my...

A fast-paced sports story for basketball fans! Check out companion novels Crossed and Booked, as well as the graphic novel adaptation and streaming series. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Iveliz explains it all
Arango, Andrea Beatriz
Paper Book
NEWBERY HONOR AWARD WINNER * In this timely and moving novel in verse, a preteen girl navigates seventh grade while facing mental health challenges. A hopeful, poetic story about learning to advocate for the help and understanding you deserve. "Powerful." --Lisa Fipps,...

A sensitive exploration of mental health from a Latine perspective in this recent Newbery Honor book. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Odder
Applegate, Katherine
Paper Book
From #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wishtree and The One and Only Ivan, Katherine Applegate, a touching and lyrical tale about a remarkable sea otter, also an instant #1 bestseller! Meet Odder, the Queen of Play: ...

A novel in verse told from the perspective of an otter from the author of the beloved Newbery Award winner The One and Only Ivan. (Children's Fiction Grade 3-5)

No matter the distance
Baldwin, Cindy
Paper Book
An unexpected animal companion helps a girl with cystic fibrosis learn to write her own story in this captivating novel in verse by award-winning author and disabled activist Cindy Baldwin. Penny Rooney has cystic fibrosis, which means she has to do breathing treatments to help her lungs...

A middle schooler with cystic fibrosis finds her voice by helping a dolphin stranded in the creek behind her house. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Ode to a nobody
DuBois, Caroline Brooks
Paper Book
A devastating tornado tears apart more than just houses in this striking novel in verse about a girl rebuilding herself. Before the storm, thirteen-year-old Quinn was happy flying under the radar. She was average. Unremarkable. Always looking for an escape from her house, where...

A young teen rebuilds her life after a tornado destroys her home. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Wave
Farid, Diana
Paper Book
Thirteen-year-old Ava loves to surf and to sing. Singing and reading Rumi poems settle her mild OCD, and catching waves with her best friend, Phoenix, lets her fit in-her olive skin looks tan, not foreign. But then Ava has to spend the summer before ninth grade volunteering at the hospital, to...

A Southern California surfer girl learns to cope with the waves of change in this historical novel in verse set in the 1980s. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Call me Adnan
Faruqi, Reem
Paper Book
"An emotional tale of a family's grief and healing, full of courage and hope" --Kirkus Reviews "Faruqi renders this tender story of loss with a deft hand, employing vivid details surrounding Adnan's Pakistani Muslim identity . . . and nuanced characterizations to present a tear-jerking ode...

A Muslim boy copes with grief and self-blame after his little brother drowns on a family vacation. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Golden girl
Faruqi, Reem
Paper Book
From the award-winning, ALA Notable author of Unsettled and Lailah's Lunchbox, this is a captivating coming-of-age middle grade novel in verse about seventh grader Aafiyah Qamar, a Pakistani American girl who hatches a special plan to help her family but finds that doing what...

A tween struggles with the impulse to steal small objects after her father is wrongfully detained and imprisoned on a trip home from Pakistan. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Good different
Kuyatt, Meg Eden
Paper Book
A Schneider Family Book Award Honor Book An extraordinary novel-in-verse for fans of Starfish and A Kind of Spark about a neurodivergent girl who comes to understand and celebrate her difference. Selah knows her rules for being normal. She always, always...

A girl on the autism spectrum tries to figure out what it takes to be "Normal" and ends up learning to appreciate what makes her unique. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Starfish
Fipps, Lisa
Paper Book
A PRINTZ HONOR BOOK * Ellie is tired of being fat-shamed and does something about it in this poignant novel-in-verse. "In her debut novel, Starfish, Lisa Fipps confronts diet culture and fat phobia head-on. . . .  The book reads as if Ellie herself is writing these poems,...

A middle school girl learns to stand up to friends and family who bully her about her weight in this novel in verse inspired by the author's childhood. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Before the ever after
Woodson, Jacqueline
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER OF THE CORETTA SCOTT KING AUTHOR AWARD National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson's stirring novel-in-verse explores how a family moves forward when their glory days have passed and the cost of professional sports on Black bodies...

A middle school boy chronicles his NFL-playing father's progressive CTE in this heartbreaking novel in verse from a master of the form. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 3-5)

Reckless, glorious, girl
Hagan, Ellen
Paper Book
The co-author of Watch Us Rise pens a novel in verse about all the good and bad that comes with middle school, growing up girl, and the strength of family that gets you through it. Beatrice Miller may have a granny's name (her granny's, to be more specific), but she...
The summer before seventh grade starts, a middle school girl manages her ambivalence about moving into her teen years against the backdrop of her small Kentucky town. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)
Something like home
Arango, Andrea Beatriz
Paper Book
The Pura Belpré Honor winning novel in verse, in which a lost dog helps a lonely girl find a way home to her family . . . only for them to find family in each other along the way. From the Newbery Honor winning author of Iveliz Explains It All. "Trust me: this book will touch...

After an attempt to get her parents help lands her parents in rehab and sends Laura to live with a relative she barely knows, she copes by training a stray puppy to be a therapy dog. (Young Teen Graphic Novel Grades 5-7)

What about Will
Hopkins, Ellen
Paper Book
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins comes a new heartbreakingly tender middle grade novel in verse about the bonds between two brothers and the love they share. Twelve-year-old Trace Reynolds has always looked up to his brother, mostly because Will, who...

After Will incurs a traumatic brain injury playing high school football and their mother walks out, twelve-year-old Trace tries to help his older brother as his grief and pain morphs into drug addiction. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Eb & Flow
Baptist, Kelly J.
Paper Book
A ten-day suspension has tweens De'Kari and Ebony seeing the world with a fresh perspective. Don't miss this poignant novel in verse from the award-winning author of Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero. Two kids. One fight. No one thinks they're wrong.   ...

A misunderstanding leads to a fight that gets two kids suspended and tells both sides of the story as they reflect and grow during the time out of school. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Dear Mothman
Gow, Robin
Paper Book
Halfway through sixth grade, Noah's best friend and the only other trans boy in his school, Lewis, passed away in a car accident. Lewis was adventurous and curious, always bringing a new paranormal story to share with Noah. Together they daydreamed about cryptids and shared discovering their genders...

A trans boy mourns the death of his best friend with the help of journal entries addressed to a fictional cryptid--who begins to write back. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Other words for home
Warga, Jasmine
Paper Book
New York Times bestseller and Newbery Honor Book! A gorgeously written, hopeful middle grade novel in verse about a young girl who must leave Syria to move to the United States, perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds and Aisha Saeed. Jude never thought she'd be...

A Syrian girl adjusts to life in Ohio after her mother sends her to live with relatives during the early years of the Syrian war. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

When clouds touch us
Lai, Thanhha
Paper Book
A Boston Globe-Horn Book Award finalist! Inspired by the author's own childhood, this stunning novel in verse, the sequel to the award-winning #1 bestseller Inside Out and Back Again, picks up two years after Hà and her family arrive in Alabama as refugees from the Việt Nam War....

A follow up to Lai's award-winning novel in verse Inside Out and Back Again, inspired by her experiences as a Vietnam War refugee whose family moved to Alabama in the 1970s. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Mirror to mirror
LaRocca, Rajani
Paper Book
Rajani LaRocca, recipient of a Newbery Honor and Walter Award for Red, White, and Whole, is back with an evocative novel in verse about identical twin sisters who do everything together--until external pressures threaten to break them apart. Maya is the pragmatic...

Twin sisters find their lives diverging for the first time as they take different paths in middle school. Be sure to also take a look at Red, White, and Whole, LaRocca's Newbery Honor novel in verse about a girl who loses her mother to leukemia in the 1980s. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Warrior girl
Tafolla, Carmen
Paper Book
An insightful novel in verse about the joys and struggles of a Chicana girl who is a warrior for her name, her history, and her right to choose what she celebrates in life. Celina and her family are bilingual and follow both Mexican and American traditions. Celina revels in her...

A bilingual Mexican American teen finds her voice as she navigates middle school during the 2020 pandemic and George Floyd protests. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Mascot
Waters, Charles
Paper Book
What if a school's mascot is seen as racist, but not by everyone? In this compelling middle-grade novel in verse, two best-selling BIPOC authors tackle this hot-button issue. A perfect book for future changemakers and activists seeking contemporary stories about systematic racism and...
Six students from different backgrounds explore the variety of perspectives around Indigenous school mascots in this novel in verse from a pair of award-winning writers. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

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