April is National Poetry Month, so why not take a break with one of these novels in verse written for teen and adult audiences? Novels in verse are beautifully compact ways to tell a story–and as a bonus, that usually means they’re pretty quick reads.
Angel & Hannah : a novel in verse
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Told in seasons, this hip-hop love story follows Hannah, a Korean American girl from Queens, New York, and Angel, a Puerto Rican boy from Brooklyn, as their forbidden love wildly blooms along the Jackie Robinson Expressway in the spring of 1993.
Told in seasons, this hip-hop love story follows Hannah, a Korean American girl from Queens, New York, and Angel, a Puerto Rican boy from Brooklyn, as their forbidden love wildly blooms along the Jackie Robinson Expressway in the spring of 1993.
Blood water paint
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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.
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.
Brown girl dreaming
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In vivid poems that reflect the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, an award-winning author shares what it was like to grow up in the 1960s and 1970s in both the North and the South.
In vivid poems that reflect the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, an award-winning author shares what it was like to grow up in the 1960s and 1970s in both the North and the South.
The door of no return
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From New York Times best-selling author comes the first book in a searing, breathtaking trilogy that tells the story of 11-year-old Kofi Offin, a village, and the epic odyssey of an African family. Simultaneous eBook.
From New York Times best-selling author comes the first book in a searing, breathtaking trilogy that tells the story of 11-year-old Kofi Offin, a village, and the epic odyssey of an African family. Simultaneous eBook.
Dreaming of you : a novel in verse
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A young Latinx poet grappling with loneliness and heartache decides one day to bring Tejano pop star Selena Quintanilla back to life. The seance kicks off an uncanny trip narrated by a Greek chorus of gossiping spirits as she journeys through a dead celebrity prom, encounters her shadow self, and performs karaoke in hell. In visceral poems embodying millennial angst, paragraph-long conversations overheard at her local coffeeshop, and unhinged Twitter rants, Lozada-Oliva reveals an eerie, sometimes gruesome, yet moving love story,
A young Latinx poet grappling with loneliness and heartache decides one day to bring Tejano pop star Selena Quintanilla back to life. The seance kicks off an uncanny trip narrated by a Greek chorus of gossiping spirits as she journeys through a dead celebrity prom, encounters her shadow self, and performs karaoke in hell. In visceral poems embodying millennial angst, paragraph-long conversations overheard at her local coffeeshop, and unhinged Twitter rants, Lozada-Oliva reveals an eerie, sometimes gruesome, yet moving love story,
Ethel's song : Ethel Rosenberg's life in poems
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In 1953, Ethel Rosenberg, a devoted wife and loving mother, faces the electric chair. People say she's a spy, a Communist, a traitor, a red. How did she get here? In a series of heart-wrenching poems, Ethel tells her story. This first book for young readers about Ethel Rosenberg is a fascinating portrait of a commonly misunderstood figure from American history, and vividly relates a story that continues to have relevance today.
In 1953, Ethel Rosenberg, a devoted wife and loving mother, faces the electric chair. People say she's a spy, a Communist, a traitor, a red. How did she get here? In a series of heart-wrenching poems, Ethel tells her story. This first book for young readers about Ethel Rosenberg is a fascinating portrait of a commonly misunderstood figure from American history, and vividly relates a story that continues to have relevance today.
Hidden powers : Lise Meitner's call to science
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A biographical novel in verse about Lise Meitner, an Austrian Jew and physics professor in Nazi Germany who escaped to Sweden and whose work led to the discovery of nuclear fission.
A biographical novel in verse about Lise Meitner, an Austrian Jew and physics professor in Nazi Germany who escaped to Sweden and whose work led to the discovery of nuclear fission.
Hourglass
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A love story about a boy who meets a girl, loses the girl, then loses his mind before gradually recovering is told in lyrical prose by the poet and author of For the Chorus.
A love story about a boy who meets a girl, loses the girl, then loses his mind before gradually recovering is told in lyrical prose by the poet and author of For the Chorus.
Kent State
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The author of the National Book Award finalist Each Little Bird That Sings presents a compelling account of the tragic May 1970 shooting of four students who were protesting against the Vietnam War before they were fired upon by American National Guardsmen.
The author of the National Book Award finalist Each Little Bird That Sings presents a compelling account of the tragic May 1970 shooting of four students who were protesting against the Vietnam War before they were fired upon by American National Guardsmen.
The Lehman trilogy : a novel
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This dramatic story of immigration, ambition and success spans three generations and 150 years, following the rise of modern capitalism through the eyes of the infamous Lehman brothers and their descendants.
This dramatic story of immigration, ambition and success spans three generations and 150 years, following the rise of modern capitalism through the eyes of the infamous Lehman brothers and their descendants.
Marigold and Rose : a fiction
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Imagined as a fairy tale that is also a multigenerational saga, this astonishing chronicle of the first year in the life of twin girls investigates the great mystery of language and of time itself, of what is and what has been and what will be.
Imagined as a fairy tale that is also a multigenerational saga, this astonishing chronicle of the first year in the life of twin girls investigates the great mystery of language and of time itself, of what is and what has been and what will be.
A million quiet revolutions
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A modern love story told in verse, Oliver and Aaron, when Aaron moves away, write each other letters, inspired by two Revolutionary soldiers, who they believe to be trans men in love, and must each take ownership of their own stories.
A modern love story told in verse, Oliver and Aaron, when Aaron moves away, write each other letters, inspired by two Revolutionary soldiers, who they believe to be trans men in love, and must each take ownership of their own stories.
Oxota : a short Russian novel
A verse novel composed of 14-line stanzas inspired by Pushkin's Evgeny Onegin. Between 1983 and 1991 author Lyn Hejinian visited the USSR seven times, often staying with her friends the poet Arkadii Dragomoshchenko and his wife Zina in Leningrad. She decided to write a novel reflecting her experiences of literary and lived life in Leningrad and Moscow, and cognizant of a general sense that the Russian novel is stereotypically "long," she determined that hers would be "short." The result is an experimental novel whose structure (271 chapters, each 14 lines long) pays homage to Alexander Pushkin's Eugene Onegin (generally regarded to be the first Russian novel: a verse novel composed in 14-line stanzas). Oxota (which means variously "huntress," "hunt," and "desire" in Russian) is a novel in which contexts, rather than contents, are kept in the foreground.
The perfect nine : the epic of Gäikäuyäu and Mäumbi
In his first attempt at the epic form, Ngũgĩ tells the story of the founding of the Gĩkũyũ people of Kenya, from a strongly feminist perspective. A verse narrative, blending folklore, mythology, adventure, and allegory, The Perfect Nine chronicles the efforts the Gĩkũyũ founders make to find partners for their ten beautiful daughters—called “The Perfect Nine” —and the challenges they set for the 99 suitors who seek their hands in marriage. The epic has all the elements of adventure, with suspense, danger, humor, and sacrifice.
We are all so good at smiling
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Whimsy, who is clinically depressed, befriends a boy named Faerry, with whom she feels a magical connection, and together they brave the Forest, a place of monsters, fairy tales and pain that they have both been running from for 11 years.
Whimsy, who is clinically depressed, befriends a boy named Faerry, with whom she feels a magical connection, and together they brave the Forest, a place of monsters, fairy tales and pain that they have both been running from for 11 years.