Did you know that April is Poetry Month? Help us celebrate by checking out some of these awesome novels in verse! What exactly is a novel in verse? It’s a novel length narrative, which has been told in the form of poetry rather then prose. The poetry can rhyme or not, and and follows a cast of characters just like a regular novel. Novels in verse tend to have a great rhythm and can often make quick reads.
If I Tell You the Truth by Jasmin Kaur
Kiran flees her home in Punjab for a fresh start in Canada after a sexual assault leaves her pregnant. But overstaying her visa and living undocumented brings its own perils for both her and her daughter, Sahaara.
Sahaara would do anything to protect her mother. When she learns the truth about Kiran’s past, she feels compelled to seek justice–even if it means challenging a powerful and dangerous man.
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
As Will, fifteen, sets out to avenge his brother Shawn’s fatal shooting, seven ghosts who knew Shawn board the elevator and reveal truths Will needs to know.
The Truth Project by Dante Medema
When Cordelia’s GeneQuest results reveal that her father is not the person she thought he was, but a stranger who lives thousands of miles away, her entire world shatters. Now she isn’t sure of anything–not the mother who lied, the man she calls Dad, or the girl staring back at her in the mirror. If your life began with a lie, how can you ever be sure of what’s true?
Home is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo
Nima doesn’t feel understood. By her mother, who grew up far away in a different land. By her suburban town, which makes her feel too much like an outsider to fit in and not enough like an outsider to feel like that she belongs somewhere else. At least she has her childhood friend Haitham, with whom she can let her guard down and be herself. Until she doesn’t.
Disillusioned by the propaganda of Nazi Germany, Sophie Scholl, her brother, and his fellow soldiers formed the White Rose. A non-violent resistance group, they write and distribute anonymous letters criticizing the Nazi regime and calling for action from their fellow German citizens. When Sophie and her brother are arrested for treason and interrogated for information about their collaborators, they know that speaking out against Hitler’s regime is punishable by death. Is it too late to try to save their lives?
For more novel in verse or poetry ideas, check out this booklist that we made on Bibliocommons!
