April is Poetry Month, and here at the South Huntington Public Library, we can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with a lovely little list of novels in verse! We hope that you will try out one of these books that tells a novel length story using poetry as a lyrical writing form. Novels in verse make for smooth, easy reads while packing a lot of emotion and character development onto every page.
Odder by Katherine Applegate
FICTION APPLEGATE
Odder spends her days off the coast of central California, practicing her underwater acrobatics and spinning the quirky stories for which she's known. She's a fearless daredevil, curious to a fault. But when Odder comes face-to-face with a hungry great white shark, her life takes a dramatic turn, one that will challenge everything she believes about herself--and about the humans who hope to save her.
The Canyon’s Edge by Dusti Bowling
FICTION BOWLING
Accompanying her father on a slot-canyon expedition in the Arizona desert a year after a random shooting changed their family forever, Nora is separated from her father and their supplies by a flash flood and must navigate the deadly natural hazards of the desert to survive.
Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac
FICTION BRUCHAC
When the COVID-19 pandemic starts, Malian, a young Wabanaki girl, is quarantined with her grandparents on the reservation, where she befriends a local dog and learns about her ancestors and how they always survive together.
Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
PAPERBACKS CREECH
Jack hates poetry. Only girls write it and every time he tries to, his brain feels empty. But his teacher won't stop giving the class poetry assignments—and Jack can't avoid them. But then something amazing happens: the more he writes, the more he learns that he does have something to say. Love this book? Try the sequel, Hate That Cat.
Golden Girl by Reem Faruqi
FICTION FARUQI
When her father is accused of a crime he didn't commit, seventh grader Aafiyah, a Pakistani American girl who has a habit of "borrowing" glittery things, decides to use her bad habit to reunite her family.
Lifeboat 12 by Susan Hood
FICTION HOOD
In 1940, a group of British children, their escorts, and some sailors struggle to survive in a lifeboat when the ship taking them to safety in Canada is torpedoed. Based on a true story, this book includes historical notes.
Good Different by Meg Eden Kuyatt
FICTION KUYATT
A neurodivergent girl who always tries to keep her feelings in check—especially her anger—explodes at school one day, hitting a fellow student. Consequently, she must figure out more about who she is in order to understand that different doesn’t mean damaged.
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
FICTION LAI
Through a series of poems, a young girl chronicles the life-changing year of 1975, when she, her mother, and her brothers leave Vietnam and resettle in Alabama. If you want to learn more about Ha’s fictional journey, check out the recently published sequel, When Clouds Touch Us.
Aniana del Mar Jumps In by Jasminne Mendez
FICTION MENDEZ
Aniana del Mar belongs in the water like a dolphin belongs to the sea. But she and Papi keep her swim practices and meets hidden from Mami, who has never recovered from losing someone she loves to the water years ago. That is, until the day Ani's stiffness and swollen joints mean she can no longer get out of bed, and Ani is forced to reveal just how important swimming is to her. What follows is the journey of a girl who must grieve who she once was in order to rise like the tide and become the young woman she is meant to be.
Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson
FICTION WOODSON
The son of an idolized pro-football star begins noticing the contrast between his father’s angry, forgetful behavior and his superhero reputation before adjusting to a new reality involving difficult symptoms stemming from his father’s numerous head injuries.