Great Middle Grade Reads discussion

I have a special place in my heart for books in verse. I can't be the only one, right?

What are your thoughts about books in verse? Have you read any great ones that you'd like to share? Any titles you didn't enjoy?

The first book in verse I ever read was Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. I loved it so much I've been seeking out books in verse ever since.

I just finished reading Kaleidoscope Eyes by Jen Bryant. A kind of adventure story set in the 1960s. Cute book. Not as emotionally deep as some others I've read, but a fun read.

Those look like great books!

Inside Out & Back Again is a book in verse that you would enjoy. It was awarded a Newbery Honor a couple of years ago. Lyrical and emotionally rich, it tells the story of a young girl who is forced to flee Vietnam and comes to live in the United States.

Great topic, btw! Can't wait to hear about some other titles.

M.G., that sounds right up my alley! Recently I read The War within These Walls. It's about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Heart stopping moments. Great book!

May B. by Caroline Starr Rose is a good middle grade novel in verse. It's almost a "Little House on the Prairie" for reluctant readers. Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate is another one I adored. It features a 10yo boy from Sudan who moves in with a family in Minnesota. So good. And if you're looking for YA, Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas is really good as is anything by Lisa Schroeder. It's funny -- Lisa's YA books are in verse, but her middle grade novels aren't! One more I would recommend is Three Rivers Rising. It's a historical novel in verse about the Johnstown Flood.

Sherrie, I'm going to have to look for Three Rivers Rising! I also teach 5th and 6th social studies and I'd probably love that one! Thanks for giving me more to add to my TBR list! lol

Glad to help!

Great topic, let's keep it going.

Don't forget Love That Dog by Sharon Creech and the not-quite-as-good sequel, Hate That Cat.

And there's Worlds Afire which is historical fiction made alive by the different voices having their own 'verses.'

Personally, I want books in verse to be actually poetic. Sometimes I read one that seems like it's just reformatted prose... but chopping up your story into lines of similar length just doesn't cut it....

And then there's truly poetic writing that is formatted as prose, with actual paragraphs and everything. I'd like to see some of Kathi Appelt's work (for example) formatted into lines to look like the poetry it is.

Cheryl, I agree with you that some of these books just look like verse but aren't really poetic. Kaleidoscope Eyes was a like that.

I adore Love That Dog!

One that I've taught before to my class is Locomotion. I enjoy that one because the author uses all kinds of different styles of poems to tell the character's story. It's a good one to teach poetry with for that reason.

I'll have to look for Locomotion - thanks!

I loved Home of the Brave and highly recommend it.

Sherrie wrote: "May B. by Caroline Starr Rose is a good middle grade novel in verse. It's almost a "Little House on the Prairie" for reluctant readers. Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate is another one I ado..."

How can anyone pass up a title like Because I Am Furniture? I haven't read a lot of books in verse, even though I love poetry. Will definitely have to check out more of these suggested titles!

Glad to have found this thread! Sharon Creech's Heartbeat is one of my favourite novels-in-verse. Inside Out & Back Again is very good, too. And I'll read anything (prose or verse) by Karen Hesse. (Will check out the other titles mentioned here, especially World's Afire, Three Rivers Rising, and May B., which I've heard of last year but haven't got to.)

The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan is a wonderful novel in verse.

The Weight of Water for the link.

Serafina's Promise is another good one. It is about a young girl in Haiti who dreams of becoming a doctor. I especially like the way the author worked the earthquake in to the story without making it the central theme of the book.

Megan wrote: "The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan is a wonderful novel in verse."

Yes! I recently read this one. Enjoyed it.

Lea wrote: "I have a special place in my heart for books in verse. I can't be the only one, right?

What are your thoughts about books in verse? Have you read any great ones that you'd like to share? Any tit..."

I love books in verse. I had a list at one time if I can find it I will post a list of them. Some of them I have read and some I have not!

here are two titles
Words with Wings
Keesha's House

Thanks! Have you read either of those? If so did you like them?

Song of the Sparrowand anything by Sonya Sones.

I struggle with books in verse. On the one hand, the sparse language tends to make for elegant stories in which every word counts. On the other hand, the spare language leaves out so much...

Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "Thanks! Have you read either of those? If so did you like them?"
Yes I have read them. They were both good. I have also read Out of the Dust which i enjoyed

Out of the Dust I did like. Hesse does very well at telling a story in few words.