It's Friday and time for Fast Five Fiction! April is National Poetry Month so today's roundup features five novels in verse. A verse novel is a type of narrative poetry in which a novel-length narrative is told through the medium of poetry rather than prose.
Click the title to be directed to the book in our catalog. Book descriptions are from Goodreads.
If your house were on fire, what one thing would you save? Newbery Medalist Linda Sue Park explores different answers to this provocative question in linked poems that capture the diverse voices of a middle school class.
When a teacher asks her class what one thing they would save in an emergency, some students know the answer right away. Others come to their decisions more slowly. And some change their minds when they hear their classmates' responses. A lively dialog ignites as the students discover unexpected facets of one another--and themselves.
For as long as ZJ can remember, his dad has been everyone's hero. As a charming, talented pro football star, he's as beloved to the neighborhood kids he plays with as he is to his millions of adoring sports fans. But lately life at ZJ's house is anything but charming. His dad is having trouble remembering things and seems to be angry all the time. ZJ's mom explains it's because of all the head injuries his dad sustained during his career. ZJ can understand that--but it doesn't make the sting any less real when his own father forgets his name. As ZJ contemplates his new reality, he has to figure out how to hold on tight to family traditions and recollections of the glory days, all the while wondering what their past amounts to if his father can't remember it. And most importantly, can those happy feelings ever be reclaimed when they are all so busy aching for the past?
Ever since Ellie wore a whale swimsuit and made a big splash at her fifth birthday party, she's been bullied about her weight. To cope, she tries to live by the Fat Girl Rules-like "no making waves," "avoid eating in public," and "don't move so fast that your body jiggles." And she's found her safe space-her swimming pool-where she feels weightless in a fat-obsessed world. In the water, she can stretch herself out like a starfish and take up all the room she wants. It's also where she can get away from her pushy mom, who thinks criticizing Ellie's weight will motivate her to diet. Fortunately, Ellie has allies in her dad, her therapist, and her new neighbor, Catalina, who loves Ellie for who she is. With this support buoying her, Ellie might finally be able to cast aside the Fat Girl Rules and starfish in real life--by unapologetically being her own fabulous self
Packed with silly rhymes and witty wordplay, A.F. Harrold's poetry is positively bursting with fun--and advice. But it's not always the most useful. . .
Never apologize to a door you've walked into, unless it's a really special door.
Don't serve a cat soup when the cat wants jelly. Tomato soup won't fill a feline belly.
Don't put a rock in a roll, unless you hate having teeth.
Among the seemingly nonsensical stanzas on onions, sausages, and kilted koalas are exercises in critical thinking--what advice should readers follow, and what should they dismiss? Harrold's short, clever poems work seamlessly alongside Mini Grey's vibrant art to create visual gags that will have readers in stitches. Both silly and poignant, this book is perfect for curious readers, poets, and cabbages everywhere.
BenBee and the Teacher Griefer is a funny, clever novel-in-verse series about Ben Bellows--who failed the Language Arts section of the Florida State test--and three classmates who get stuck in a summer school class.
But these kids aren't dumb--they're divergent thinkers, as Ms. J tells them: they simply approach things in a different way than traditional school demands.
Each chapter is told through the perspective of one of the four students, who each write in a different style (art, verse, stream of consciousness). This book is a heartwarming, laugh-out-loud novel-in-verse.
Happy Friday and happy reading!
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