In my middle school and upper elementary classrooms, poetry was the licorice of the classroom library. No one was neutral about poetry. Everyone had feelings about it. Many of my students loved to read and write poetry. Others expressed...
In my middle school and upper elementary classrooms, poetry was the licorice of the classroom library. No one was neutral about poetry. Everyone had feelings about it. Many of my students loved to read and write poetry. Others expressed how much they disliked poetry or didn’t understand it. As with any sort of reading my students avoided, I usually discovered that they lacked relevant and engaging reading experiences with poetry. Sharing more poetry through read alouds, cross-curricular activities, and independent reading gave students a variety of entry points for discovering what poetry had to offer them. Of course, our school library collection offered even more poetry and novels in verse for students. When previously poetry-adverse kids start checking out poetry voluntarily in the school library, you know that efforts to engage them with the format are working!
This year’s winners for the 2023 Nerdy Book Club Awards for Poetry and Novels in Verse reflect the wide range of poetry and free verse text available for young people to read. From whimsical word play to the biographies of historical icons, the books on the list reveal an array of poetic expression and provide students with models for crafting their own poetry, too.
Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Nerdies for Best Poetry and Novels in Verse! Thank you to everyone who nominated books on this year’s ballots. Young people will have more engaging access to poetry because of you!
(Book descriptions are taken from publishers’ websites and goodreads.)
This year’s Nerdies are:
A Long Time Coming: A Lyrical Biography of Race in America from Ona Judge to Barack Obama by Ray Anthony Shepard, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
This YA biography-in-verse of six important Black Americans from different eras, including Ona Judge, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, Martin Luther King Jr., and Barack Obama, chronicles the diverse ways each fought racism and shows how much—and how little—has changed for Black Americans since our country’s founding.
Full of daring escapes, deep emotion, and subtle lessons on how racism operates, A Long Time Coming reveals the universal importance of its subjects’ struggles for justice. From freedom seeker Ona Judge, who fled her enslavement by America’s first president, to Barack Obama, the first Black president, all of Shepard’s protagonists fight valiantly for justice for themselves and all Black Americans in any way that they can. But it is also a highly personal book, as Shepard — whose maternal grandfather was enslaved — shows how the grand sweep of history has touched his life, reflecting on how much progress has been made against racism, while also exhorting readers to complete the vast work that remains to be done.
A Work in Progress by Jarrett Lerner
Will is the only round kid in a school full of thin ones. So he hides…in baggy jeans and oversized hoodies, in the back row during class, and anywhere but the cafeteria during lunch. But shame isn’t the only feeling that dominates Will’s life. He’s also got a crush on a girl named Jules who he knows he doesn’t have a chance with, because of his size—but he can’t help wondering what if?
Will’s best shot at attracting Jules’s attention is by slaying the Will Monster inside him by changing his eating habits and getting more exercise. But the results are either frustratingly slow or infuriatingly unsuccessful, and Will’s shame begins to morph into self-loathing.
As he resorts to increasingly drastic measures to transform his appearance, Will meets skateboarder Markus, who helps him see his body and all it contains as an ever-evolving work in progress.
Aniana Del Mar Jumps In by Jasminne Mendez
Aniana del Mar belongs in the water like a dolphin belongs to the sea. But she and Papi keep her swim practices and meets hidden from Mami, who has never recovered from losing someone she loves to the water years ago. That is, until the day Ani’s stiffness and swollen joints mean she can no longer get out of bed, and Ani is forced to reveal just how important swimming is to her. Mami forbids her from returning to the water but Ani and her doctor believe that swimming along with medication will help Ani manage her disease. What follows is the journey of a girl who must grieve who she once was in order to rise like the tide and become the young woman she is meant to be.
Eb and Flow by Kelly J. Baptist
Ebony and De’Kari (aka Flow) do not get along. How could they when their cafeteria scuffle ended with De’Kari’s ruined shoes, Ebony on the ground, and both of them with ten days of at-home suspension? Now Eb and Flow have two weeks to think about and explain their behavior—to their families, to each other, and ultimately to themselves.
Award-winning author Kelly J. Baptist delivers a novel in verse that follows Eb and Flow as they navigate their parallel lives. Single-parent homes, tight funds, and sibling dynamics provide a balancing act for the growing tweens. And whether they realize it or not, these two have a lot more in common than they think.
Good Different by Meg Eden Kuyatt
Selah knows her rules for being normal.
She always, always sticks to them. This means keeping her feelings locked tightly inside, despite the way they build up inside her as each school day goes on, so that she has to run to the bathroom and hide in the stall until she can calm down. So that she has to tear off her normal-person mask the second she gets home from school, and listen to her favorite pop song on repeat, trying to recharge. Selah feels like a dragon stuck in a world of humans, but she knows how to hide it.
Until the day she explodes and hits a fellow student.
Selah’s friends pull away from her, her school threatens expulsion, and her comfortable, familiar world starts to crumble.
But as Selah starts to figure out more about who she is, she comes to understand that different doesn’t mean damaged. Can she get her school to understand that, too, before it’s too late?
How to Write a Poem by Kwame Alexander and Diana Nikaido, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
In this evocative and playful companion to their New York Times bestselling picture book How to Read a Book , Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander teams up with poet Deanna Nikaido and Caldecott Honoree Melissa Sweet to celebrate the magic of discovering your very own poetry in the world around you. Begin with a question like an acorn waiting for spring. From this first stanza, readers are invited to pay attention—and to see that paying attention itself is poetry. Kwame Alexander and Deanna Nikaido’s playful text and Melissa Sweet’s dynamic, inventive artwork are paired together to encourage readers to listen, feel, and discover the words that dance in the world around them—poems just waiting to be written down.
Mascot by Charles Waters and Traci Sorell
What if a school’s mascot is seen as racist, but not by everyone? In this compelling middle-grade novel in verse, two best-selling BIPOC authors tackle this hot-button issue.
In Rye, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC, people work hard, kids go to school, and football is big on Friday nights. An eighth-grade English teacher creates an assignment for her class to debate whether Rye’s mascot should stay or change. Now six middle-schoolers—all with different backgrounds and beliefs—get involved in the contentious issue that already has the suburb turned upside down with everyone choosing sides and arguments getting ugly.
Mirror to Mirror by Rajani LaRocca
Maya is the pragmatic twin. But when her sister threatens to reveal her secret anxiety to their parents, she feels completely betrayed.
Chaya is the outgoing twin. With Maya shutting her out, she decides to make a drastic change to give her twin the space she seems to need.
The once-close sisters can’t seem to find their rhythm, but they know that something has to give. So they make a bet: they’ll switch places at summer camp, and whoever can keep the ruse going longer will get to decide where they both attend high school—the source of frequent arguments. But stepping into each other’s shoes isn’t as easy as it sounds. Will the twins’ relationship recover?
Remember by Joy Harjo
US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo’s iconic poem Remember, illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Michaela Goade, invites young readers to pause and reflect on the wonder of the world around them, and to remember the importance of their place in it.
Remember the sky you were born under,
Know each of the star’s stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun’s birth at dawn,
That is the strongest point of time.
So begins the picture book adaptation of the renowned poem that encourages young readers to reflect on family, nature, and their heritage. In simple and direct language, Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Nation, urges readers to pay close attention to who they are, the world they were born into, and how all inhabitants on earth are connected. Michaela Goade, drawing from her Tlingit culture, has created vivid illustrations that make the words come alive in an engaging and accessible way.
This timeless poem paired with magnificent paintings makes for a picture book that is a true celebration of life and our human role within it.
Spin by Rebecca Caprara
Sixteen-year-old Arachne is ostracized by all but her family and closest friend, Celandine. Turning to her loom for solace, Arachne learns to weave, finding her voice and her strength through the craft. After the tragic loss of her family, Arachne and Celandine flee to the city of Colophon, where Arachne’s skills are put to the test. Word of her talent spreads quickly, leading to a confrontation with the goddess Athena, who demands that Arachne repent.
But Arachne will not be silenced. She challenges Athena, and a fateful weaving contest ensues, resulting in an exposé of divine misdeeds, a shocking transformation, and unexpected redemption.
The Order of Things by Kaija Langley
Eleven-year-old April Jackson loves playing the drums, almost as much as she loves her best friend, Zee, a violin prodigy. They both dream of becoming professional musicians one day. When Zee starts attending a new school that will nurture his talent, April decides it’s time for her to pursue her dreams, too, and finally take drum lessons. She knows she isn’t very good to start, but with Zee’s support, she also knows someday she can be just as good as her hero, Sheila E., and travel all around the world with a pair of drumsticks in her hand.
When the unthinkable happens and Zee suddenly passes away, April is crushed by grief. Without Zee, nothing is the way it’s supposed to be. Zee’s Dad isn’t delivering the mail for his postal route like he should. April’s Mom is suddenly dating someone new who is occupying too much space in their lives. And every time April tries to play the drums, all she can think about is Zee.
April isn’t sure how to move on from the awful feeling of being without Zee. Desperate to help Papa Zee, she decides to secretly deliver the mail he’s been neglecting. But when on her route she discovers a classmate in trouble, she doesn’t second guess what she knows is the right thing to do.
The Red Ear Blows Its Nose by Robert Schechter
The Red Ear Blows Its Nose dishes out uproarious hilarity, cutting wit, wordplay, and sobering wisdom in an illustrated collection of poems for children and others. It considers thinking and the brain, identity and what it means to be a person, nature and the seasons, and assorted creatures, including a horse who says “Moo.” This debut collection from Robert Schechter proves to be the work of a master, complemented by S. Federico’s stunning illustrations, which visually leap off the page. This collection is an experience not to be missed.
The Sculptors of Light: Poems About Cuban Women Artists by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Cecilia Puglesi
From folk art to photography, architecture to painting, sculpture to music, female Cuban artists have long gone unnoticed on a global scale. This poetry collection highlights the lives and legacies of eight Cuban women who have redefined art in their communities.
When Clouds Touch Us by Thanhha Lai
Hŕ and her family have worked hard to make a life for themselves in the US, but it hasn’t come easy. Hŕ has only just started to feel settled when Mother decides that the family will move to Texas for a new job.
Hŕ knows how hard starting over is and doesn’t want to have to do it again. But sometimes even an unwanted change can bring opportunity, new friends, and a place to call home.
This lyrical and compelling sequel to the National Book Award Medalist and Newbery Honor winning, #1 New York Times bestselling novel Inside Out and Back Again follows Hŕ and her family through another year of upheaval, growth, and love.
Zilot and Other Important Rhymes by Bob Odenkirk, illustrated by Erin Odenkirk
Bob Odenkirk began writing these poems with his children when they were little, compiling the poetry into a homemade book entitled Olde Time Rhymes. He wanted Nate and Erin to understand that actual people had written the books the family loved to read and to instill in them the feeling that they could be writers and illustrators themselves. Almost twenty years later, when the Odenkirks found themselves quarantined under the same roof, they revisited these mostly silly, sometimes poignant works. It wasn’t until Erin began to create illustrations to accompany the words, though, that the book grew to be something much bigger than an Odenkirk family treasure.
From the titular made-up word for a blanket fort, an adorable dog with a penchant for the zoomies, and a father teaching his kids how umbrellas work, the subjects of these works, complemented by Erin’s whimsical and detailed linework, come alive on these pages. Featuring over seventy poems, Zilot & Other Important Rhymes will delight readers young and old.
We are halfway through the Nerdies announcements, and we have so many exciting titles coming up in the next few days! What a fun way to kick off another year of reading with students and kids.
Donalyn Miller is a Texas educator and the author or co-author of numerous books, articles, and essays about engaging young people with reading and ensuring meaningful book access. Her most recent books are The Joy of Reading (2022) co-written with Teri Lesesne and The Commonsense Guide to Your Classroom Library (2022) co-written with Colby Sharp. Donalyn lives in downtown San Antonio with her spouse and their overflowing bookshelves. You can find Donalyn online on Twitter (she refuses to call it X) and Instagram.
