Our teen book spotlight this week is on YA books that are Novels in Verse! Novels in verse are stories that are uniquely told through a series of poems instead of paragraphs; even if you are not the biggest fan of poetry I promise you will enjoy these!! You may not even realize that you are reading poetry as you turn page after page to get to the endings. We have titles that are historical, romance, and realistic to just name a few. These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the search tag #yaverse as well as on Libby and Hoopla. Check back next week for a new teen book spotlight and if you have any book suggestions, please let us know!!
Love and Leftovers by Sarah Tregay--When Marcie's mother discovers her husband has left her for a male bartender, she takes Marcie to her childhood hometown in New Hampshire. Although Marcie is initially reluctant to leave her established group of friends – the Leftovers – she comes to view this change as an opportunity to reinvent herself. Marcie quickly falls into the arms of a popular jock at her new school, cheating on her old boyfriend back home (who she never truly broke up with). Just when she seems to be settling in, her mother decides they would be better off back in Boise, Idaho. Marcie is tossed back into her old life and the implications that come with it.
Bull by David Elliott--This darkly comedic retelling of the Greek myth of the Minotaur offers a fresh take on a classic.
Loving vs. Virginia by Patricia Hruby Powell--In 1955, in Caroline County, Virginia, two teenagers met and fell in love. One was black, the other white. At that time, amid the injustice of segregation and prejudice, this was illegal. They could not get married—but Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving fought the law, married anyway, and their story led to the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Virginia's anti-miscegenation statute, which forbade interracial marriage!
Audacity by Melanie Crowder--The real-life story of Clara Lemlich, a Jewish Russian girl who emigrated to New York at the turn of the 20th century and spearheaded the fight for equal rights for laborers and women, is told by author Crowder in this novel-in-verse. Clara bucked both her traditional Jewish family's norms and the conventions of the society she found herself in, to stand up for laborers working in substandard conditions in the factories of Manhattan, like the sweatshop she was forced into. Year after year she fought for labor rights, organizing a women's union, and leading the Uprising of the 20,000.
Exposed by Kimberly Marcus--High school senior Liz, a gifted photographer, can no longer see things clearly after her best friend accuses Liz's older brother of a terrible crime.
The Watch that Ends the Night by Allan Wolf--The sinking of the Titanic told through the points of view of 24 people and objects.