National Poetry Month - Young Adults

Thirteen-year-old Elio is struggling with "coming of age"--first love, first heartbreak, first real fight (which lands him in the hospital), and what it means to be a "man," a true friend, and an ally, as well as how to overcome a culture of toxic masculinity. Told in verse format.

"Stunning . . . elegant . . . arresting . . . supple and harrowing." - The Wall Street Journal ★"An innovative, entrancing account of a popular figure that will appeal to fans of verse, history, and biography." - Kirkus, starred review In poems that surprise and move readers, bestselling author David Elliott explores how Joan of Arc changed the course of history and remains a figure of fascination centuries after her extraordinary life and death. Told...

"When Walela is diagnosed at twenty-three with advanced stage blood cancer, they're suddenly thrust into the unsympathetic world of tubes and pills, doctors who don't use their correct pronouns, and hordes of "well-meaning" but patronizing people offering unsolicited advice as they navigate rocky personal relationships and share their story online. But this experience also deepens their relationship to their ancestors, providing added support from...

Presents a collection of poems by performance poet Sophia Thakur in which she explores what it means to be a woman in today's society through topics such as identity, relationships, self-love, and more. Thakur's collection of poems explore what it means to be a woman in today's society. With topics such as identity, relationships, and self-love, Thakur weaves together the voices of a grandmother, mother and daughter, examining how past generations...

"Using Olaudah Equiano's autobiography as the source, the text shares Equiano's life story in found verse. Readers will follow his story from his childhood in Africa, enslavement at a young age, liberation, and life as a free man"--

"A true American epic in verse, Walking Gentry Home tells the story of Alora Young's ancestors, from the unnamed women the historical record has forgotten but Alora brings to life through imagination; to Amy, the first of her foremothers to arrive in Tennessee, buried in an unmarked grave unlike the white man who enslaved her and fathered her child; through Alora's great-grandmother Gentry, unhappily married at fourteen; to her own mother, the teenage...

"A powerful biography in poems about Augusta Savage, the trailblazing artist and pillar of the Harlem Renaissance-with an afterword by the curator of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture"--

It is impossible not to root for Ceti, almost fifteen, who tells her story of growing up in shelters, learning soccer from her Gramps, and sleeping in her Mom's red truck where they listened over and over to Rolling Stones discs someone left behind. Following in the steps of her hero, Lionel Messi, Ceti is a shooting star on the field. A U.S. scout is coming to watch her play in the State Championship; she has Ruby, her best friend since kindergarten...

"Consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off, a girl coping with Purely-Obsessional OCD learns to accept herself and take control of her life through her experiences in poetry club"--

Ariel grapples with her fear of her own mind and violent fantasies, driven by her desire to meet her parents' expectations and societal norms, until a summer job at a carnival leads her to new friends who help her discover her struggle with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and find acceptance and support for her true self.