Children's Books in Verse

Check out this list generated by our Youth Services Librarians for the Scotch Plains Public Library's annual summer reading challenge.

Updated April 27, 2023
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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...

Enjoy this book? Check out other novels in verse by the same author: Booked and Rebound.

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: ...
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,...
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...
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.   ...
The canyon's edge
Bowling, Dusti
Paper Book
One year since she lost her mother to a random shooting, Nora and her father are exploring a slot canyon deep in the Arizona desert. They like to stay far away from other people now, or at least Nora's father does. Nora has been working with a therapist to try to heal, and she longs to have a...
Singing with elephants
Engle, Margarita
Paper Book
A powerful novel in verse from Newbery and Pura Belpre Award-winning author Margarita Engle about the friendship between a young girl and the poet Gabriela Mistral that leads to healing and hope for both of them. Cuban-born eleven-year-old Oriol lives in Santa Barbara, California...
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...

Check out Unsettled, another Novel in Verse by Reem Faruqi.

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...
Macy McMillan and the rainbow goddess
Green, Shari
Paper Book
Winner of the 2018 ALA Schneider Family Book Award, Middle Grade Books category Sixth grade is coming to an end, and so is life as Macy McMillan knows it. Already a "For Sale" sign mars the front lawn of her beloved house. Soon her mother will upend their perfect little family,...
Garvey in the dark
Grimes, Nikki
Paper Book
Winner, 2023 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Capturing the shock and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic through the eyes of Garvey, a beloved character, Nikki Grimes's newest novel in verse shows readers how to find hope in difficult times. Garvey's finally happy--he's...

Want to start at the beginning? Check out the first book in this series: Garvey's Choice.

Full cicada moon
Hilton, Marilyn
Paper Book
Inside Out and Back Again meets One Crazy Summerand Brown Girl Dreaming in this novel-in-verse about fitting in and standing up for what's right It's 1969, and the Apollo 11 mission is getting ready to go to the moon. But for half-black, half-Japanese Mimi,...
Closer to nowhere
Hopkins, Ellen
Paper Book
#1 New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins's poignant middle grade novel in verse about coming to terms with indelible truths of family and belonging. For the most part, Hannah's life is just how she wants it. She has two supportive parents, she's popular at school...
Red, white, and whole
LaRocca, Rajani
Paper Book
Newbery Honor Book! A heartbreakingly hopeful novel in verse about an Indian American girl whose life is turned upside down when her mother is diagnosed with leukemia. * Walter Award Winner * New England Book Award Winner * An NCTE Notable Verse Novel * Golden Kite Award...
The red pencil
Pinkney, Andrea Davis
Paper Book
"Amira, look at me," Muma insists. She collects both my hands in hers. "The Janjaweed attack without warning. If ever they come-- run." Finally, Amira is twelve. Old enough to wear a...
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...

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