April is National Poetry Month, but it's always a good time to check out a fast-paced novel in verse. Here are some great novels in verse that are available as ebooks from either Overdrive (Libby) or Hoopla. (If you need help getting started with ebooks, check out this page or contact us with questions!) These books are all aimed at tweens and teens but have a lot to offer older readers too
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Blood water paint (Available on Overdrive)
by Joy McCullough In Renaissance Italy, Artemisia Gentileschi endures the subjugation of women that allows her father to take credit for her extraordinary paintings, rape and the ensuing trial, and torture, buoyed by her deceased mother's stories of strong women of the Bible. |
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Bruiser (Available on Hoopla)
by Neal Shusterman Inexplicable events start to occur when sixteen-year-old twins Tennyson and Bront befriend a troubled and misunderstood outcast, aptly nicknamed Bruiser, and his little brother, Cody. |
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Full cicada moon (Available on Overdrive)
by Marilyn Hilton In 1969 twelve-year-old Mimi and her family move to an all-white town in Vermont, where Mimi's mixed-race background and interest in "boyish" topics like astronomy make her feel like an outsider. |
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Garvey's choice (Available on Overdrive)
by Nikki Grimes Preferring science and reading to the sports his father wants him to pursue, insecure Garvey comforts himself with food and endures teasing by bullies before joining the school chorus, where his musical talents help him accept himself and bond with his father. |
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Girls like me (Available on Hoopla)
by Lola StVil Fifteen-year-old Shay Summers is trying to cope with the death of her father, being overweight and threats from a girl bully in school, so when she falls in love with Blake, a mysterious boy online, she's too insecure to tell him who she is until her two best friends (as well as Kermit and Miss Piggy) help love prevail. |
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Locomotion (Available on Overdrive)
by Jacqueline Woodson In a series of poems, eleven-year-old Lonnie writes about his life, after the death of his parents, separated from his younger sister, living in a foster home, and finding his poetic voice at school. |
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Long way down (Available on Overdrive)
by Jason Reynolds Driven by the secrets and vengeance that mark his street culture, 15-year-old Will contemplates over the course of 60 psychologically suspenseful seconds whether or not he is going to murder the person who killed his brother. |
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Love that dog (Available on Overdrive)
by Sharon Creech A young student, who comes to love poetry through a personal understanding of what different famous poems mean to him, surprises himself by writing his own inspired poem. An ALA Notable Book. Reprint. |
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One (Available on Hoopla)
by Sarah Crossan Despite problems at home, sixteen-year-old conjoined twins Tippi and Grace are loving going to school for the first time and making real friends when they learn that a cardiac problem will force them to have separation surgery, which they have never before considered. |
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The Poet X (Available on Hoopla and Overdrive)
by Elizabeth Acevedo The daughter of devout immigrants discovers the power of slam poetry and begins participating in a school club as part of her effort to understand her mother's strict religious beliefs and her own developing relationship to the world. |
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Ronit & Jamil (Available on Hoopla)
by Pamela L Laskin A lyrical novel in verse retells the story of Romeo and Juliet against a backdrop of the modern-day Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza, where an Israeli girl and a Palestinian boy are brought together by their distrustful fathers' business arrangements and fall into a forbidden love. |
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Saving Red (Available on Hoopla)
by Sonya Sones A novel in verse follows the experiences of Molly, who is forced to confront painful realities in her own life while struggling to help a spirited but mentally ill homeless girl during the holiday season. |
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Solo (Available on Hoopla and Overdrive)
by Kwame Alexander Seventeen-year-old Blade endeavors to resolve painful issues from his past to navigate the challenges of his former rockstar father's addictions, scathing tabloid rumors, and a protected secret that threatens his own identity. |