novels in verse

In 1980s Brooklyn, new student JJ Pankowski, an autistic, punk-rock-lover, befriends Pie Velez, an Afro-Latinx math geek and graffiti artist.

In 1920s Cuba, Rima is bullied and shunned for her illegitimacy, but finds solace in riding her horse and forges unexpected friendships with others who share her dreams of freedom and suffrage. Includes historical note.

After being sexually assaulted at a party, Mara started experiencing paranoia and delusional thoughts which resulted in a public psychotic episode freshman year. Now a senior in high school, Mara feels like an outcast who would rather keep to herself than risk being judged. However, the only way she'll graduate is if she can pass her least favorite class: public speaking. Mara is ready to publicly reclaim her own story--but will she find acceptance this time around?.

In Cuidad Ju?rez, Mexico in 1999, where kidnapping of girls and women is common, a woman approaches thirteen-year-old Anamaria claiming to be her future self, offering advice and requesting help.

Follows teenager Helen White, who moves with her mother to be with her mother's new boyfriend, going from a middle-class neighborhood to an Indian reservation, where among her new school's 200 kids she is the only one with white skin. She is lonely until she meets King, a dangerous boy who soon twists Helen into breaking molds and behaviors she has always followed.

In this novel in verse, teen Jamie has a secret--she binds her chest every day to feel less like a girl. She questions why she feels drawn to do this, why she can't tell her friends, and if she could be genderqueer.

Osmel's dreams of becoming a meteorologist are shattered when he discovers that he is undocumented. His fears grow when his father is arrested by ICE. Fearful of how others will react, he tells only his school counselor, and tries to deal with his anxiety alone.

Zeke would love to be invisible since his mother struggles to make ends meet and they live with her no-good boyfriend. When he gets a job at a pizza place to earn some extra money, he meets labor activists who want to give him a voice and a living wage. Zeke has to decide between trying to be invisible or letting his voice be heard.

In the summer of 1988, twelve-year-old Chuck Bell is sent to stay with his grandparents, where he discovers jazz and basketball and learns more about his family's past.

Twelve-year-old Emmy feels out of place in her new school. She takes a computer coding class and instantly connects to the material as well as to a new friend, Abigail--a talented singer who secretly wishes to be a coder--and Emmy feels she's finally starting to find her footing. Then she finds out that the teacher who so inspired her is gravely ill and her new-found stability seems to be at risk. Told through prose, verse, and Java code.