Young Adult Novels in Verse

Updated November 9, 2023
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Your heart, my sky : love in a time of hunger
Engle, Margarita
Paper Book
Acclaimed author Margarita Engle tells a "deeply felt and engrossing" (Horn Book Magazine) story of love in a time of hunger inspired by her own family's struggles during a dark period in Cuba's history. The people of Cuba are living in el período especial en tiempos de...
Enter the body
McCullough, Joy
Paper Book
"At once tender, poetic and ferocious, Enter The Body breathes new life into the Bard's most tragic heroines. More than a tribute to Shakespeare, this kaleidoscopic, ambitious novel-in-verse gives Juliet, Ophelia, Cordelia, and Lavinia the chance to tell their own stories full of passion,...
Me (Moth)
McBride, Amber
Paper Book
FINALIST FOR THE 2021 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR YOUNG PEOPLE'S LITERATURE A debut YA novel-in-verse by Amber McBride, Me (Moth) is about a teen girl who is grieving the deaths of her family, and a teen boy who crosses her path. Moth has lost her family...
Dear Medusa
Cole, Olivia A.
Paper Book
This searing and intimate novel in verse follows a sixteen-year-old girl coping with sexual abuse as she grapples with how to reclaim her story, her anger, and her body in a world that seems determined to punish her for the sin of surviving. "This is more than a story about sexual...
One last shot : the story of wartime photographer Gerda Taro
Wilson, Kip
Paper Book
"This is not just a story of the violence of fascism, but of the burning joy of freedom, and the exhilaration of shaping, with sweat and blood, a better world."** From critically acclaimed author Kip Wilson comes this gripping coming of age historical fiction novel in verse about Gerda...
Long way down
Reynolds, Jason
Paper Book
A Newbery Honor Book A Coretta Scott King Honor Book A Printz Honor Book A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner for Young Adult Literature Longlisted for the National...
Blood water paint
McCullough, Joy
Paper Book
"Haunting ... teems with raw emotion, and McCullough deftly captures the experience of learning to behave in a male-driven society and then breaking outside of it."--The New Yorker  "I will be haunted and empowered by Artemisia Gentileschi's story for the rest of...
Sold
McCormick, Patricia
Paper Book
The powerful, poignant, bestselling National Book Award finalist gives voice to a young girl robbed of her childhood yet determined to find the strength to triumph. Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on a mountain in...
The language inside
Thompson, Holly.
Paper Book
A nuanced novel in verse that explores identit, friendship, love, loss, and home in a multicultural world. For Emma Karas, Japan is home. It is where she has lived almost her entire life. But when her mother falls ill, Emma's family moves in with her grandmother, back in...
The seventh raven
Elliott, David
Paper Book
Best-selling author David Elliott examines the timeless themes of balance, transformation, and restoration in this evocative tale about a girl who will stop at nothing to reverse a curse that turned her seven brothers into ravens.  And these are the sons ...
Punching the air
Zoboi, Ibi Aanu
Paper Book
New York Times and USA Today bestseller * Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor * Walter Award Winner * Goodreads Finalist for Best Teen Book of the Year * Time Magazine Best Book of the Year * Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year * Shelf Awareness Best Book of...
Voices : the final hours of Joan of Arc
Elliott, David
Paper Book
"Stunning . . . elegant . . . arresting . . . supple and harrowing." - The Wall Street Journal ★"An innovative, entrancing account of a popular figure that will appeal to fans of verse, history, and biography." - Kirkus, starred review In poems that surprise and move...
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...
Rumble
Hopkins, Ellen.
Paper Book
Does it get better? The New York Times bestselling author of Crank and Tricks explores the highly charged landscapes of bullying and forgiveness with brilliant sensitivity and emotional resonance. Matthew Turner knows it doesn't get better. His...
Burned
Hopkins, Ellen.
Paper Book
Raised in a religious -- yet abusive -- family, Pattyn Von Stratten starts asking questions -- about God, a woman's role, sex, love. She experiences the first stirrings of passion, but when her father catches her in a compromising position, events spiral out of control. Pattyn is sent to live with...
Booked
Alexander, Kwame
Paper Book
In this electrifying follow-up to Kwame Alexander's Newbery winner The Crossover, soccer, family, love, and friendship take center stage. A New York Times bestseller and National Book Award Longlist nominee. Twelve-year-old Nick learns the power of words as he wrestles with...
A time to dance
Venkatraman, Padma
Paper Book
Padma Venkatraman's inspiring story of a young girl's struggle to regain her passion and find a new peace is told lyrically through verse that captures the beauty and mystery of India and the ancient bharatanatyam dance form. This is a stunning novel about spiritual awakening, the power of...
Ordinary hazards : a memoir
Grimes, Nikki
Paper Book
In her own voice, acclaimed author and poet Nikki Grimes explores the truth of a harrowing childhood in a compelling and moving memoir in verse. Growing up with a mother suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and a mostly absent father, Nikki Grimes found herself terrorized by...
The poet X
Acevedo, Elizabeth
Paper Book
Winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, the Michael L. Printz Award, and the Pura Belpré Award! Fans of Jacqueline Woodson, Meg Medina, and Jason Reynolds will fall hard for this astonishing New York Times-bestselling novel-in-verse by an award...

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