Poetry and Novels in Verse - Tweens

"In a warlike land of wind and sunlight, "ringed by a restless sea," live Rhaskos and Melisto, spiritual twins with little in common beyond the violent and mysterious forces that dictate their lives. A Thracian slave in a Greek household, Rhaskos is as common as clay, a stable boy worth less than a donkey, much less a horse. Wrenched from his mother at a tender age, he nurtures in secret, aided by Socrates, his passions for art and philosophy. Melisto...

"Edited by award-winning and bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith, this collection of intersecting stories by both new and veteran Native writers bursts with hope, joy, resilience, the strength of community, and Native pride."--Publisher's description.

"Before he was a household name, Cassius Clay was a kid with struggles like any other. Kwame Alexander and James Patterson join forces to ... [imagine] his life up to age seventeen in both prose and verse, including his childhood friends, struggles in school, the racism he faced, and his discovery of boxing"--Publisher marketing.

Told in multiple voices, four summer school classmates band together to save their teacher and their academic futures after Ms J.'s unorthodox teaching methods are questioned.

"Ashley Bryan illustrates 19th century poet Christina Rossetti's classic nursery rhymes and poems"--

This moving, lyrical tale about the cost and fragility of freedom follows the life of a man who courageously shipped himself out of slavery.

A year after the death of her mother in a restaurant shooting, Nora is left struggling to stay alive when a climbing trip with her father goes terribly wrong.

"Poet Naomi Shihab Nye shines a spotlight on the things we cast away, from plastic water bottles to refugees"--

A collection of humorous poems about stars, planets, moons, and other astronomical wonders.

Sixth-grader Emmy tries to find her place in a new school and to figure out how she can create her own kind of music using a computer.