new posts in all blogs
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: novel in verse, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 15 of 15
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts tagged with the words: novel in verse in the JacketFlap blog reader. What is a tag? Think of a tag as a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find posts on JacketFlap.com as well as provide an easy way for you to "remember" and classify posts for later recall. Try adding a tag yourself by clicking "Add a tag" below a post's header. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
I mentioned in
Wednesday's post (about my next-in-the-graphic-novel-series TBR pile) that I love Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales, and this one in particular. From my Goodreads review: "The Donner Party story is filled with idiots who make stupid decisions for all the reasons stupid decisions get made: pride, greed, stubbornness...Here's some history we FOR SURE don't want to repeat!!"
by Nathan Hale
Harry N. Abrams, 2014
by Skila Brown
Candlewick, October 2016
Even though I knew the train-wreck of a story line, I was excited to read this novel in verse about the Donners, and excited for another book from Skila Brown, author of
Caminar. The story is told from the point of view of 19 year-old survivor Mary Ann Graves. Each poem has its own unique structure, which gives the book a satisfying breadth and depth, and which contributes to the pacing of the story. Because of the first person point of view and the emotional quality of the poems, this is a most human telling of this story -- yes, they were stupid; yes, mistakes were made. But in the end, they were humans who did what they needed to do to survive.
This week I reviewed poetry books every day. Click on the day of the week to check out the reviews.
MONDAY
WEDNESDAY
ALSO THURSDAYThe Children's Literature Assembly of the National Council of Teachers of English announced the 2016 Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts. Not all poetry, but of note to lovers of rich language.
For more poetry, check out the Poetry Friday roundup, hosted at Heidi's
Juicy Little Universe this week.
The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementaryby Laura Shovan
jacket and interior art by Abigail Halpin
Wendy Lamb Books (Penguin Random House), April 12, 2016
review ARC provided by the author
What a treat it was to spend a fifth grade year as a fly on the wall in Ms. Hill's classroom at Emerson Elementary!
Except for the fact that she only had 18 students in that class, Ms. Hill's class could have been one of mine. The diversity mix is right, including a hijab-wearer, a Spanish speaker, and a kid on the spectrum. The mix of personality types was also right. There is a queen bee girl (and a reluctant follower who finally stands up for what she wants), an intense rule-follower, a new kid trying to find his place.
I could go on, because one of the things that makes this book so fun to read is that Laura gets her characters so right, so believable, so quirky and likable. Each one has a distinct voice that shines out through his/her poems (and the little headshot sketch at the top of every page also helps the readers keep the characters straight). Just like in a regular classroom, no child ever comes to school without carrying the baggage of their home lives, and Ms. Hill's students' lives make it into their poetry. As I read, I found myself sharing their hopes and wishing their wishes.
And then there's the poetry. When I started reading, I sticky-noted more than a half-dozen poetry forms before I said to myself, "Hey, savvy reader, remember when you got all the way to the end of Love That Dog before you realized that the mentor poems were in the back of the book?" Sure enough, when I flipped to the back, I found information about all the poetry forms found throughout the book, along with a suggestion for trying each one out and a reference back to a mentor poem in that form in the book. Writing prompts from Ms. Hill's "Prompt Jar" are also listed, again each with a mentor poems that was written from that prompt.
Finally, there's the very believable story of a neighborhood in transition and the struggle between what's loved and what's needed that ties together the fabulous characters and the wonderful variety of poems.
I can think of three readers to whom I could hand this book when I get my copy in mid-April, and I can imagine a small group who would love reading it and trying out the writing challenges. Plus, I think it would make a perfect read aloud under the document camera to introduce a whole class to verse novels and, as a bonus, to a variety of poetry forms! Thank you, Laura Shovan, for this wonderful book!
Applesauce Weatherby Helen Frost
illustrated by Amy June Bates
Candlewick, August 2016
review ARC provided by the publisher
When the first apple falls from the tree, it's applesauce weather in Faith and Peter's family. But this year will be different since Aunt Lucy died. Uncle Walter comes back to the farm, but he's not the same.
The personalities of the two children shine through their poems -- Lucy, young enough to believe that the twinkle will come back to Uncle Walter's eyes if only they are patient, and Peter, old enough to be interested in the girl down the road, but young enough to be pulled in by Uncle Walter's stories.
And then there's Uncle Walter, a master storyteller who spins a yarn (or tells the truth?) about how he came to have a missing finger.
Even Aunt Lucy has a voice in poems that begin seven of the eight parts of the book.
A quick read, a quiet, gentle story, and sweet illustrations throughout make this an easily accessible verse novel for a reader new to the genre or one who is missing a beloved older relative.
Bully on the Busby Kathryn Apel
University of Queensland Press, 2014
review copy purchased for my classroom library
It's hard to know what to do when a bully is making your life miserable. Katheryn Apel captures the emotional upheaval and the unwillingness to tell trusted adults perfectly in her verse novel for younger readers. An older girl is bullying Leroy every day on the bus and he feels wretched. His big sister Ruby tries to help, but ultimately, Leroy is the one who must reach out for help.
This is a book that might help a child who is being bullied have the courage to tell a trusted adult or stand up to a bully. In an interesting parallel, Leroy's teacher gives him a book that contains HIS secret weapon against the bully!
There are just a few Aussie words that might be unknown to a US reader, but nothing that can't be understood with just a bit of inference.
I haven't had time to read as many upper middle grade/young adult books that I'd like to this year. There have been a few 2014 books that have been on my radar but that I haven't had a chance to read. I am trying to make time to read more of these books lately--at least the few that everyone seems to be talking about.
Last week, I read
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. I had started this book a few times but didn't get past the first few pages. I picked it up last weekend and was hooked in just a few pages. (I always find it so interesting how important timing is when we read books!)
This is a novel in verse. It is a powerful novel in verse intended for upper elementary/middle school kids. It is one that is being talked about as a good one for boy readers but I see it as an amazing book for all readers.
The book is about basketball. But more importantly it is about basketball player Josh Bell and his twin brother Jordan. They are stars on their school basketball team and basketball is clearly their passion. The story revolves around the two of them and their parents--a family you come to love immediately. And a family that will stay with me for a very long time.
But things are changing for both boys-as they grow older, discover girls, and face life issues.
This is an amazing book. A must read for anyone who likes to keep up with great books for this age. A must read for teachers and parents trying to stretch their upper middle grade readers to try something new. So glad I took the time to read this one. Once I was hooked, I didn't get off the couch until I had finished.
An incredible and powerful read.
Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake
by Julie Sternberg
illustrated by Matthew Cordell
Harry N. Abrams, March 18, 2014
review copy purchased for my classroom library
This is my favorite of the three books in this series so far. Eleanor and Pearl's friendship is really put to the test (a new girl comes between them), and at the same time, Eleanor has some trials of her own (getting over stage fright, her puppy going away to a two-week training camp, and her first crush).
by Kwame Alexander
HMH Books for Young Readers, March 18, 2014
review copy purchased for my classroom library
I can't wait to preview this book with my class. I don't think I'll see if for a while after I do! The poetry is a nice blend of edgy and rap-like, plus deep and thoughtful. The main story line is junior high basketball, but along the way there is what it's like to be a twin, young love, and a father who is a basketball legend, and who has health problems.
by Margarita Engle
HMH Books for Young Readers, March 19, 2013
review copy purchased for my classroom library
This book was fascinating to read as I'm listening to THE INVENTION OF WINGS. The story of Tula, in Cuba, parallels the story of Sara Grimke in the United States with amazing similarity.
The Lightning Dreamer belongs in a text set with other biographies and historical fiction about early abolitionists around the world. It is important for our children to know the stories of these people who fought against all odds for what they believed in, and especially the stories of the women who fought for others' freedom while having relatively none of their own (not even the right to vote in the US for another 100 years).
Like Bug Juice on a Burger
by Julie Sternberg
illustrated by Matthew Cordell
Abrams, on shelves April 2013
This sweet little novel in verse is the sequel to
Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie
.
In this book, the main character, Eleanor, is going to go to summer sleep-over camp. Her grandmother gives it to her as a gift, remembering that Eleanor's mother loved it when she was Eleanor's age.
Eleanor does NOT like camp -- the food is bad, she's the only one who can't swim, and she misses her parents and New York City.
Luckily, she makes a new friend. Joplin is VERY tall and VERY different from Eleanor, but she winds up making ALL the difference to Eleanor.
By: Julie,
on 9/5/2012
Blog:
Manga Maniac Cafe
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Waiting on Wednesday,
Cultures,
YA,
Young Adult,
Japan,
Wow,
Coming of Age,
Families,
Drama,
Novel in Verse,
Add a tag
Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.
Holly Thompson’s Orchards was one of my favorite reads in 2011. I loved the book, and it got me hooked on novels in free verse; previously, I wouldn’t touch them with a 10 foot pole. Her latest release, The Language Inside, will be in stores 2013. I can hardly wait!
| A beautiful novel in verse that deals with post-tsunami Japan, Cambodian culture, and one girl’s search for identity and home. Emma Karas was raised in Japan; it’s the country she calls home. But when her mother is diagnosed with breast cancer, Emma’s family moves to a town outside Lowell, Massachusetts, to stay with her grandmother while her mom undergoes treatment. Emma feels out of place in the United States, begins to have migraines, and longs to be back in Japan. At her grandmother’s urging, she volunteers in a long-term care center to help Zena, a patient with locked-in syndrome, write down her poems. There, Emma meets Samnang, another volunteer, who assists elderly Cambodian refugees. Weekly visits to the care center, Zena’s poems, dance, and noodle soup bring Emma and Samnang closer, until Emma must make a painful choice: stay in Massachusetts, or return early to Japan. |
What are you waiting on?
| Title: Inside Out & Back Again Author: Thanhha Lai Publisher: Harper Collins |
May Contain Spoilers
From Amazon:
No one would believe me but at times I would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama. For all the ten years of her life, HÀ has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by . . . and the beauty of her very own papaya tree. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. HÀ and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, HÀ discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape . . . and the strength of her very own family. This is the moving story of one girl’s year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next. |
Review:
I love books about different cultures or ways of life, and Inside Out & Back Again delivers up an emotionally enthralling account of a young Vietnamese girl’s flight from her home country to the US. As I read Ha’s adventures, recounted in simple yet moving free verse, I wondered what it would be like to have everything familiar ripped away. Before the fall of Saigon, life for Ha was happy and content, despite the growing hardships caused by the war. Her father has been missing in action since she was an infant, but her family still holds out hope that he will return home one day. She loves her family, she is doing well in school, and she is eager for her papaya tree to finally yield fruit. Her three brothers are happy, as well, and they are excellent students with bright futures ahead of them. Everything changes with the fall of Saigon.
Ha’s mother is trying valiantly to raise four children by herself, but life has gotten more difficult. It’s harder to make ends meet, and the price of everything keeps climbing. As the communists threaten Saigon, she has a family meeting and asks everyone what they should do. Should they flee, and try to built a new life in a country without Ho Chi Min and the war? Ha and her brother Thoi don’t want to go. How can they leave Ha’s papaya tree and Thoi’s chicken? The pain of leaving their most prized possessions was a bitter pill to swallow for a new life with no guarantees. I don’t think I could have done it. Photographs, clothing, memories; all were left behind in Vietnam.
I loved Ha and found her easy to relate to. She has been thrust into a new life that she doesn’t want, and one that doesn’t seem to want her. Her new neighbors in Alabama aren’t very neighborly, she can’t understand the confusing language she is immersed in, and her classmates mock and bully her. Her teacher doesn’t understand her and doesn’t try to make her feel welcome. Instead, Ha, a bright, curious girl, is left feeling stupid and ignorant. As she begins to pick up the language, she wishes she did not understand the names she is called or the jokes that her peers make about her. She is angry, justifiably, but there is no outlet for her rage. Ha is the one who must make concessions to fit in with a group of kids who can only see
by Juan Filipe Herrera
HarperTeen 2011
A teen journal, mostly in verse, of a boy ironically nicknamed Lucky as he picks up the pieces of his life following an accident that leaves him in a wheelchair.
It isn't a hard and fast rule, but when I come across a novel in verse, or one that purports to be the inner most thoughts of a teen, I kind expect it to blow me away. Otherwise, why bother
A Zombie Novel in Haiku?!
by K. A. Holt
illustrated by Gahan Wilson
Neal Porter / Roaring Brook Press 2010
zombied middle school
desegregation among
living and undead
haiku and romance
bullies and librarians
imperfect but fun
Loeb's a zombie
smart, but he hides it from friends
has brains, eats them, too
cute librarian
suggests Loeb enters contest
reading his
The Surrender Tree (Henry Holt & Company)ISBN: 9780805086744Hardcover: 169 p. List Price: $16.95**** (4 out of 5 stars: very good; without serious flaws; highly recommended)Slavery all day,and then, suddenly, by nightfall – freedom!*Can it
Leave Comment
The reason Lenny Henry isn't in these photos is that he took them on his cameraphone. Here's me, Doña (Mrs Noah) and Rudolph (Mr Nancy).
]
Here's Petra Letang (Rosie) and Matt Lucas (Graham Coats and Tiger). Matt has the best smile of anyone I know. You could run power stations off Matt's smile.
A group shot. That man Lenny Henry took it, and is thus not in it. Clockwise from the pinkness of Matt, Rudolph, Doña, Jocelyn (Daisy), Petra and me.
Me and Matt. I look tired and like I'm ready to be done with touring and go home and spend time in my own bed now if you don't mind thank you. Matt looks luminous.
For the people who are writing in to point out that the Hay website is no longer accepting online ticket bookings for later today, you're right. Now you have to take your chances -- they had 150 tickets left when it closed, so you should be fine...
Read the rest of this post
The nice people at MARV films invited me to a magazine launch dinner last night. (A free magazine for men called Shortlist.) The food was lovely, and I met Rob Brydon; I'm a huge fan of Rob's, from Human Remains to Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story. MOre importantly for me, he was in MirrorMask, playing the father and the Prime Minister, but was not filming the days I was around, and so I wanted to say thank you. I wasn't really sure what to expect -- probably that I'd wander over and say "Hullo, I'm Neil Gaiman. Er I wrote MirrorMask, thank you for being in it," and he'd say "Not a problem, nice to meet you Mr um," and that would be that. But it didn't go like that at all -- he started talking about this blog, and then we had to explain MirrorMask to the other people, and then we talked about everything else. He's an astonishingly nice man who, he told me rpoudly, has a film of him reading The Wolves in the Walls to his kids. I kept telling him how much I love his work, and I do. I never found out why I should read Barry Gibb's blog, though.
In a couple of weeks the BBC World Service will be recording a dramatisation of ANANSI BOYS, starring Lenny Henry and Matt Lucas (as Fat Charlie's boss). I'll put more details up as I get them.
Right. They just posted that my plane for Stockholm is boarding...
Read the rest of this post
What a title! It sounds like a fun book. I look forward to seeing this one.
I read Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie to my third graders last year and it's picked up quite often this year from the classroom library. I want to add this new one to our basket. I know some kids who will love it.
I love books like this - where characters learn from each other, and, through them, learn about themselves. And I love characters named Eleanor, like this one, because she reminds me of another Eleanor (Roosevelt, that is), also tall and kind and wise.