Showing posts with label Novel in Verse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Novel in Verse. Show all posts

Monday, August 28, 2023

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

 



Genre: Young Adult, Novel in Verse
Source: I own a copy

This was an excellent book.  Xiomara and her twin are opposites. Their mother favors "Twin", Xiomara's brother. He goes to a school for the gifted.  Xiomara has spent her entire life looking out for her brother, fighting his battles for him.  How do you survive when it seems no one knows you exist?  you write poetry.  Xiomara's mother speaks limited English. To make matters worse, she never wanted to get married, she wanted to be a nun. This makes life more difficult for Xiomara. She is required to go to confirmation classes. She isn't even sure what she believes about God. She  has ignored the boys who like to make comments about her larger, curvy body.  Aman is the first boy she has given any attention to. But she isn't allowed to do anything except go to church.  She learns about performance poetry from her English teacher, who sees something special in her. She avoids the invitations to join the poetry club because it doesn't fall into line with her mom's church life.  But just because her mom wouldn't agree doesn't mean that she can't write poetry. That is what she does until  her mom takes that away. Something breaks inside and it will take someone her mother trusts to help mend their family.  

I love this book.  I would recommend it to high school students because of some of the more mature themes.


Thursday, July 27, 2023

Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac

 


Genre: Middle Grade, Novel-in-Verse
Source: I own a copy

Rez Dogs is one of those books that seem like a quick read for a lazy day, and it is. However, this book is so much more. We meet a young girl named Malian who is visiting her Penacook grandparents on the reservation when all travel is shut down due to Covid-19. Her parents are in Boston.  She continues her school lessons online, helps her grandparents use video chat all while learning more about her own heritage. She wakes one morning to find a dog sitting in the driveway, as if guarding her and her grandparents. She names him Malsum. 

Through the stories her grandparents tell her, she learns about her Native American heritage as well as life lessons. She learns of the atrocities from the past as well as the good that has come out of them. This is a simple, quick read, so full of simple, and in my opinion, great life lessons all children and adults should hear.  This is just another great book by an author I really admire.


Saturday, April 8, 2023

Student Saturday: Other Words For Home by Jasmine Warga


Student Reviewer Alicia M.
Genre: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Novel in Verse

Jude is a girl from Syria. She was very interested in American songs, actors, and movies. She has black hair and black eyes. She had a very close relationship with her friend Fatima. they have close birthdays and similar intersts. She also shares interests with her older brother Issa.

Violence starts to breakout in her city, Allepo. Her family begins to worry when Issa, Jude's older brother moves to a violent city. Jude finds out her mother is pregnant. Soon after, her mother tells Jude they are going to move to America. Jude struggles to adjust to the "American way" of living. She feels left out and weird when she goes to school. She tries to build a relationship with her cousin Sarah. Jude started her period so she had to wear a hijab. She feels prouder and she feels included in school. Her younger sister is born and that was a sign of hope to her.

If I was Jude I would have felt the same, but I would've handled things differently. If I was homesick I would have told someone so I could have comfort. I recommend this book to anyone who feels bad  about their culture, looks, and religion. Being different shouldn't be a bad thing. This book shows the struggle of a teenage girl trying to fit into a new environment. It encourages people to do things that intersets them no matter looks and culture.

 

Sunday, January 1, 2023

Blue Birds by Caroline Starr Rose

 


Genre: Middle Grade, Historical Fiction, Novel in Verse
Source: I purchased a copy

This is such a powerful book. I love this author's work and the fact that she writes in verse. This is the story of the Roanoke Colony that disappeared. Alis and her family have just landed. She can't wait to meet up with her Uncle, who had sailed away to this strange place. When they arrive, they find the village empty except for some bones and a burned-out building. The natives seem friendly at first. Soon, tensions rise between the two parties.  

This is much more than just a history lesson. This is a story of resilience, of friendship and how sometimes doing the right thing means making hard choices. We meet Kimi, a Roanoak Native, and Alis, one of the settlers. She is the only girl in this group. When she meets Kimi for the first time, a bond is made, and now it will be tested.

I am glad I made this one of my first reads of the new year. It was worth it. 

Monday, November 21, 2022

A Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

 





Genre: Realistic Fiction, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Novel in Verse
Source: I purchased a copy

This is one of those books that grabs you in the beginning and won't let go. Will is outside his apartment with his best friend when a shooting occurs. From the time he was young, he has been taught what to do. If you hear shots, you "eat the pavement." After a few minutes, he stands up to see who the unlucky person is, only to discover it is his brother. Another thing he is taught is you never cry. He takes his mother back inside, where she numbs herself the way she always does. Finally, he goes to the room he shared with his brother. He looks through his brother's drawer until he finds the gun his brother has. He slides it under his pillow. The third rule of the code he has grown up with is you kill the person who killed your loved one. The next morning Will puts the gun in the back of his pants and gets on the elevator to take care of business. When the elevator stops on each floor, someone from his past gets on and talks with him, his uncle, his dad, and others. They each have advice for him. All of these are people who have died. The question we read to find an answer to is, on this long way down, would he listen to them?

My heart broke for the character losing his brother the way he did. It broke even more, knowing that so many young people live this very life. I had a student many years ago who told me he had not done his homework because they had several drive-by shootings that night. He said his biggest fear was getting struck by a bullet while sitting in his room. This is a quick read since it is written in verse. I am not sure how I feel about the ending. If you want to know what I am referring to you need to read the book.

Monday, April 25, 2022

Spinning Through the Universe by Helen Frost

Genre: Middle Grade, Poetry, Novel in Verse
Source: I own a copy


Once again another favorite author. Helen Frost writes novels in verse. This is a book of poems from "room 214". This is a book that kids will be able to identify with. Although the teacher and students in this book are fiction, they could be any teacher or any student anywhere. She touches on topics such as; bikes. Jon's bike has gone missing in one poem. He talks about how special it is, noise and all. Then on the next page we read a poem by Andrew who took the bike because he had seen it lying in the rain. He didn't steal it because he wanted it. He took it to fix it up and return to Jon in better condition. There are poems about abuse, families and babies.  These are all topics kids deal with today. Helen's books are a must for all school and classroom libraries. I think the thing I enjoy the most about her books is at the back of each one. She has a section on the forms of poems she used and how to write them. Since reading her books I write more poetry and I have my students write more poetry. This is a must read.


Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Alone by Megan E. Freeman


Genre: Novel in Verse, Realistic Fiction

Source: Purchased

 

Maddie is a typical teen living in Colorado. Maddie splits her time between her mom and step-dad’s house and her dad and step-mom’s house. She and two of her friends hatch a plan to spend a night at Maddie’s grandparents apartment alone. Maddie tells her mom she is staying with her dad and tells her dad she is staying with her mom to babysit. She goes to her grandma’s apartment and waits for her two friends to arrive. Unfortunately, their parents call her mom and are told she is at her dad’s so they can’t go anywhere. Then the unimaginable happens. Maddie hears sounds of panic outside of her grandma’s apartment. People are being rounded up. She hears the neighbor tell the person in charge that the owners are out of state.  Maddy wakes the next morning to learn that everyone in her town has been evacuated due to an “imminent threat”. This begins Maddie’s journey to survive. She doesn’t know what the threat is. As she goes about town she finds a barrel with cell phones in it. She dials her mom’s number and hears a phone ring in one of the barrels, she tries her dad’s phone and her friends’ phones only to realize every one of them were left behind. This is a story of survival. It starts with Maddie talking to one of her step-brothers about the book “Island of the Blue Dolphins”. There are definite similarities between the book and Maddie’s new reality. I loved that this was told in verse which made it a very quick read. The emotional aspect as you go day by day and year by year on this ride with Maddie makes you wonder what you would do if you were left behind.  Can’t wait to put this on my school shelves.