Novels in Verse for Teens: A Guidebook with Activities for Teachers and Librarians

by Lisa Krok

Overview

This valuable guide advises teachers and librarians how to use novels in verse in functional, hands-on ways with teens, including reluctant readers.

Novels in verse are popular and have recently won some important awards. They are of great value to teachers and librarians as a way of reaching all teens, including marginalized teens and those who may be struggling or reluctant readers. This guide shows readers how to pair books with teens based on their needs, interests, and specific situations. After teens are paired with books, this guide suggests activities to further engage them with the poetry. Activities are tied to Common Core and AASL standards for ease of lesson planning for teachers.

Verse novels address a widely diverse demographic and a variety of topics, including various cultures, religions, racism, LGBTQ+ themes, mental illness, poverty, homelessness, sexual assault, self-harm/suicide, domestic violence, family dynamics, disabilities, refugees, English language learners, and more.

Novels in verse provide a more modern, practical alternative to some older classics that may not appeal to many teens or that may intimidate them by their sheer number of words per page. This book provides a one-stop resource for choosing and using novels in verse with teen readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440874932
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/24/2020
Pages:	164
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.35(d)

About the Author

Lisa Krok, MLIS, MEd, is the adult and teen services manager at Morley Library in the Cleveland, OH, area and a former teacher.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Understanding and Using Novels in Verse 1

Getting Started: Why Use Novels in Verse? 1

What Types of Books in Verse are There? 10

How Can Novels in Verse Help Reluctant Readers? 12

Advocacy and Rethinking the Canon 16

Conclusion 23

Part 2 Readers' Advisory and Activities 25

The Poet X Elizabeth Acevedo 26

Booked Kwame Alexander 30

The Crossover Kwame Alexander 33

Rebound Kwame Alexander 34

Solo Kwame Alexander 36

Shout Laurie Halse Anderson 38

They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid's Poems David Bowles 41

Freakboy Kristin Elizabeth Clark 44

You Remind Me of You: A Poetry Memoir Eireann Corrigan 48

Sanctuary Somewhere Brenna Dimmig 50

Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir Margarita Engle 52

Jazz Owls: A Novel of the loot Suit Riots Margarita Engle 54

The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba's Greatest Abolitionist Margarita Engle 56

Soaring Earth Margarita Engle 57

With a Star in My Hand: Ruben Dario, Poetry Hero Margarita Engle 58

The Good Braider Terry Farish 60

Two Girls Staring at the Ceiling Lucy Frank 62

Between the Lines Nikki Grimes 63

Bronx Masquerade Nikki Grimes 66

Garvey's Choice Nikki Grimes 67

Ordinary Hazards: A Memoir Nikki Grimes 68

House Arrest K. A. Holt 70

Knock Out K. A. Holt 72

Redwood and Ponytail K. A. Holt 73

Crank Ellen Hopkins 74

Glass (Crank #2) Ellen Hopkins 76

Fallout (Crank #3) Ellen Hopkins 77

Some Girls Bind Rory James 78

Mary's Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein Lita Judge 81

Kiss of Broken Glass Madeleine Kuderick 84

Inside Out & Back Again Thanhha Lai 86

Up from the Sea Leza Lowitz 87

Under the Mesquite Guadalupe Garcia McCall 89

Blood Water Paint Joy McCullough 91

What I Leave Behind Alison McGhee 93

Amiri & Odette: A Love Story Walter Dean Myers 94

Street Love Walter Dean Myers 96

American Ace Marilyn Nelson 97

How I Discovered Poetry Marilyn Nelson 98

Loving vs. Virginia: A Documentary Novel of the Landmark Civil Rights Cast Patricia Hruby Powell 99

Gobi, a Girl in Pieces Isabel Quintero 101

For Every One Jason Reynolds 103

Long Way Down Jason Reynolds 104

Girls Like Me Lola StVil 107

The Moon Within Aida Salazar 108

The Opposite of Innocent Sonya Sones 109

Saving Red Sonya Sones 111

A Time to Dance Padma Venkatraman 114

Other Words for Home Jasmine Warga 116

Becoming Billie Holiday Carole Boston Weatherford 118

White Rose Kip Wilson 120

Brown Girl Dreaming Jacqueline Woodson 122

Finding Baha Yaga Jane Yolen 124

Glossary of Poetic Devices 125

Works Cited 129

Author/Title Index 137

Content Tag Index 139

What People are Saying About This

Padma Venkatraman

"Novels in Verse for Teens is a wonderful guide that should be used by ELA teachers and librarians everywhere! Lisa Krok highlights and showcases exemplary verse novels and provides activities that are sure to not only engage but also captivate students. I found this guidebook so appealing that I want to try some of Lisa’s exercises myself...in fact I will surely be recommending it when I speak to writers about creating poetry and verse novels, because the activities are presented so insightfully that even adult writers will surely enjoy them. This book is for anyone interested in honing their craft by reading and learning from the wide variety of brilliant contemporary verse novels."

Sylvia Vardell

"Lisa Krok gives us a wonderful overview and poetry handbook for YA in Novels in Verse for Teens: A Guidebook with Activities for Teachers and Librarians. She provides a strong research-based rationale for the value of sharing novels in verse with teens for providing unique and powerful perspectives, building newfound empathy, valuing diversity, and disrupting the canon in reaching marginalized and reluctant readers. Her reader’s advisory component offers a rich annotated bibliography along with engaging activities to encourage critical reading, responding, and writing focused on poetic forms and educational standards. Krok addresses cataloging and shelving issues and provides selection criteria, searchable content tags, a glossary of poetic devices, and QR codes linked to additional resources. Her focus on access (white space) and voice (reader engagement) through poetry is a powerful, practical model of literacy building with teens."

Jill Elizabeth Aufill

"Welcome to a riveting genre of teen reading—young-adult novels written in verse! Move the canon over to create space for fresh reading adventures. J.K. Rowling said “something very magical can happen when you read a good book.” This genre, with its dramatically different look on the page and perspectives that sync with contemporary teen experience, is the subject of research-supported Novels in Verse for Teens. Bursting with innovative instruction, this is a must-have text for educators who live to invite all students to find themselves in the magic of good books."

Nikki Grimes

"Celebrating the novel in verse, this book defines and explains its place and importance in the YA literary landscape. Offering multiple entry points for sharing, teaching, and exploring this accessible genre, Krok has created an essential tool for teachers and librarians looking to diversify their collections and deepen the reading experience of the students they serve. Brava!"

Margarita Engle

"This study of verse novels is a valuable classroom resource, loaded with an impressive level of educational information and many challenging activities. Highly recommended."

Editorial Reviews

Teachers and librarians will find Krok's resource highly useful.” —VOYA

“Recommended for anyone looking to diversify collections, learn more about novels in verse, or expand their use of poetry in the classroom or library.” —School Library Jourbanal

From the Publisher

06/01/2020

This slim but useful guide is split into two parts. The first examines the need for diverse, inclusive literature for teens and the ways in which the verse novel can powerfully engage readers. Krok anchors her exploration in the work of scholars such as Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, Dr. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, and Dr. Debbie Reese and cites educators including Dr. Kim Parker and Tricia Ebarvia, two of the cofounders of the #DisruptTexts community. In the second part, Krok offers activity ideas for more than 50 novels in verse. While most of the titles suggested are best suited for a YA audience, there are some upper middle grade selections as well, and Krok centers #OwnVoices works and BIPOC creators as much as possible. Each entry includes publication information, content tags, a short summary, suggested grade levels, relevant Common Core and AASL standards, one or more poetry exercises, and recommended resources for further support and exploration. QR codes are also featured, which readers can scan to view websites and videos that supplement the content. Most of the exercises are designed to help teens experiment with poetry as a way to express their voices, often for purposes of self-reflection, empathy-building, or activism. Some activities are repeated for multiple titles, and Krok relies heavily on powerpoetry.org for explaining various poetic forms and how to begin using them. Back matter includes a glossary of poetic devices, an extensive works cited list, an author/title index, and a content tag index. VERDICT Recommended for anyone looking to diversify collections, learn more about novels in verse, or expand their use of poetry in the classroom or library.—Lauren Strohecker, McKinley Elem. School, Elkins Park, PA

School Library Journal