Poetry Month for Middle and High School Readers

 Poetry Month is a time to reintroduce the art of language to readers. In the middle and high school level, I am often met with groans and eye-rolls when the topic of poetry comes up, however, with these recommended books, I've been able to turn around the minds of even the most reluctant readers.  These writers are creating literary experiences for readers to celebrate ideas through language and those groans and eye-rolls turn into expressions of piqued curiosity and intrigue.

The poetry collection, Wearing My Mother’s Heart by Sophia Thakur is full of multigenerational voices of a grandmother, mother and daughter describing their experiences of being women through different lenses. This is recommended for middle grade readers and up. 

A non-fiction novel-in-verse, The Mysterious Virginia Hall World War II’s Most Dangerous Spy by Claudia Friddell is about an American woman who becomes a spy for the British during WWII. Her many aliases and missions are detailed with photographs and maps of her adventurous experiences. This is recommended for middle grade readers and up. 

Historical fiction novel-in-verse, One Step Forward by Marcie Flinchum Atkins, is about Matilda Young, a 15 year old girl who takes up the cause of suffrage in 1913 & becomes the youngest protestor to be arrested for it. Over the course of 7 years the reader goes with Matilda on her journey of activism. This is recommended for middle grade readers and up. 

Contemporary fiction novel-in-verse thriller, Blood Gone Cold by Katy Grant is about two quarreling sisters who are going through a home invasion at their family’s cabin in the woods. They must put their differences aside in order to survive. This book is a hi-Lo book in that it’s of high interest to young adults but is written at a lower, elementary reading level. 

Everything is Poison by Joy McCullough is a historical fiction story that takes place in Rome in the 1600s. 16 year old Carmela is finally old enough to work alongside her mother in the apothecary but soon learns that healing potions aren’t the only concoctions that are made there: poisons are also distributed to women who are in desperate need of them. This is a mixed-format book in that it is written in both novel-in-verse and prose and it is recommended for young adult readers and up. 

Away by Megan E. Freeman is the follow-up to her award-winning novel in verse, Alone. In Alone, there is an emergency evacuation of a town in Colorado while twelve year old, Maddie, gets left behind. For months without human contact, news or electricity, she, along with her dog, tries to survive and figure out what happened that sent her entire community far away. 

In Away, there are four teens who find one another while at the emergency evacuation camp and as they get to know one another, they uncover mysteries around the emergency. What information is being kept from the public and why?  This book is a mix of formats from verse to letters and scripts. It can be read as a stand alone story or as a sequel to Alone. Both books are recommeded for middle grade readers and up. 

 The contemporary, novel-in-verse, I Can't Even Think Straight by Dean Atta, tells the story of teenager, Kai, who is grappling with his identity. It's not easy because his best friends are giving him different kinds of advice:  does he stay closeted or share who he really is with his family and community?  Kai's journey gets even tougher when he falls for the new boy at school who returns his feelings.  Kai finds his way to deal with the consequences of his choices and faces his family and friends with renewed self-confidence. This book is recommeded for young adult readers and up. 

 The contemporary, novel-in-verse mystery, Wolfpack by Amelia Brunskill, captures the reader's attention immediately as one of the nine teenage girls living isolated from society in the woods disappears. Her fellow cult members, also teenage girls, are determined to uncover what happened to her. The story is told in alternating perspectives so the layers of what each person knows to be true are revealed, but only to the reader.  Will they find out if their missing friend left on purpose or did something or someone make them disappear? This book is recommended for young adult readers and up. 

Do you have any novels-in-verse that you'd recommend? Please share in the comments below and we can keep the conversation going.  

PET: a sci-fi view at society's monsters

PET an award-winning, sci-fi, young adult book by Nigerian writer, Akwaeke Emezi is a 200-page story that makes the reader think deeply about today's villains who lurk in the shadows and those operating in plain sight.  

Jam is a selective mute, trans girl who lives in the utopian society of Lucille with her artist mother and father.  When her mom paints a ferocious mash-up of creatures and it comes to life, Jam doesn't believe her eyes.  The creature, PET,  tells her it's there to hunt a monster but Jam thought all of the monsters were eliminated in her town.  The creature won't budge with its intention to fulfill its purpose.  Only then does Jam agree to help in order to get to the truth.  

The story grabbed my attention from the first chapter.  It would be a good read aloud for students to listen to and discuss what they think is going to happen in the book.  I loved how Jam relied on the library and  the librarian to get her access to the past through its collection to truly learn what happened before she was born and the angels took over.  It stresses the importance of studying history and looking for signs of it possibly repeating again. Jam thinks, 

"So, yes, people forget.  But forgetting is dangerous. Forgetting is how the monsters come back."  

Another part of this story that stands out is the way Jam's identity and relationships with her family and best friend are depicted.  Her transition to changing her gender is explained in the first chapter and but it's not the plot of the book at all.  Her family and best friend treat her with respect and value her identity, as does the rest of the community.   She is a strong, curious, brave person who faces a moral dilemma and the creature, PET, may or may not help her through it.  The whole time I was second-guessing who would be the monster and how it would unfold.  The ending completely satisfied my deep appreciation for the journey Emezi took me on and I look forward to reading more stories by them.

Here is an interview Emezi did with author, Christopher Myers, on their novel PET:

If I Disappear: a mystery from an unreliable narrator

 

If I Disappear, by debut author, Eliza Jane Brazier, is a thrilling adult novel aimed at true-crime podcast fans.  Rachel, a popular host of a true-crime podcast, has gone missing.  A long-time fan, Sera, feels like she has the skills to follow-up and help find Rachel.  Sera travels to Rachel's family's ranch and gets a job there alongside Rachel's peculiar parents and odd townsfolk.  Sera uses the clues from past episodes of Rachel's podcast to get to the center of the disappearance, if that is truly what it is.  Will Sera get answers or will she be the one who disappears next?  

Scary Stories for Young Foxes: family, sacrifice & bone-chilling danger

 

Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker and illustrations by Junyi Wu is a chapter book for older readers (age 10 and above) who enjoy good stories with danger, villains, underdogs and family.  

When 6 kits approach an older vixen storyteller for a spooky tale, it's not surprising that only one kit remains to hear the last of the story.  Told in 8 chapters, each story builds upon the last one with clues that make them more complex than they seem.  Readers can use the names of the chapters and the illustrations that accompany them to predict what will happen next.  There are humorous moments but those moments change to doubt as to the survival of the foxes in the story. 

The way the story is told from the perspective of the foxes is what makes this book stand out. There is always fear and uncertainty in the wild but to read it from the point of view an animal in that world is unique.  It made me understand animals much better and what they have to do in order to survive.  

Questions that come to mind when reading this is if the reader agrees with the decisions made by the various characters in the story.  Which chapter did they like the most?  Were they surprised by the ending or did they see it coming?