Top Five Wednesday/ Novels In Verse

As I mentioned yesterday, my goal for April is to read as much as possible from my Kindle, but I have a few books that are tempting to derail my plans. I found five novels in verse that I want to read, but I haven’t added them to my TBR list so as not to be discouraged by the large number of books. I need to list them somewhere so I can remember what novels I have, plus I think book lists are a fun post to do.

Goodreads Blurb:

his is the year. Yes, Ofe, on this gloomy first day of my last year of high school, I swear before your grave, Hermana, this is the year I am getting out of here.

So swears Julieta Villareal, a seventeen-year-old wannabe writer whose twin sister died in a hit-and-run a few months ago. Juli’s Florida home is crumbling in the face of climate disaster, and with Ofelia gone, Juli can’t stand to stay any longer in a place that doesn’t seem to have room for her. She’s not sure how she’s going to do it—everyone knows brown-skinned, poverty-stricken New Americans like Juli have no options—but she’s getting out.

Then, Juli is recruited by the Cometa Initiative, a private space program enlisting high-aptitude New American teens for a high-stakes mission to establish a human sanctuary on the Moon. Cometa pitches this as an opportunity for Juli to give back to her adopted country; Juli sees it as her only chance to do something big with her life.

Juli begins her training, convinced Cometa is her path to freedom. But her senior year is full of surprises, including new friendships and fresh love, and against all odds, Juli begins to find hope where she was sure there wasn’t any. As her world collapses from the ramifications—both environmental and social—of the climate crisis, Juli must decide if she’ll carry her loss together with her community or leave it all behind.

Goodreads Blurb:

Fifteen-year-old Marisol is the daughter of a soucouyant. Every new moon, she sheds her skin like the many women before her, shifting into a fireball witch who must fly into the night and slowly sip from the lives of others to sustain her own. But Brooklyn is no place for fireball witches with all its bright lights, shut windows, and bolt-locked doors.… While Marisol hoped they would leave their old traditions behind when they emigrated from the islands, she knows this will never happen while she remains ensnared by the one person who keeps her chained to her magical past—her mother.

Seventeen-year-old Genevieve is the daughter of a college professor and a newly minted older half sister of twins. Her worsening skin condition and the babies’ constant wailing keep her up at night, when she stares at the dark sky with a deep longing to inhale it all. She hopes to quench the hunger that gnaws at her, one that seems to reach for some memory of her estranged mother. When a new nanny arrives to help with the twins, a family secret connecting her to Marisol is revealed, and Gen begins to find answers to questions she hasn’t even thought to ask.

But the girls soon discover that the very skin keeping their flames locked beneath the surface may be more explosive to the relationships around them than any ancient magic.

Goodreads Blurb:

A heart-breaking and poignant novel from award-winning author Sita Brahmachari. Kai, Orla and Zak grew up together, their days spent on the patch of wilderness in between their homes, a small green space in a sprawling grey city. Music, laughter and friendship bind them together and they have big plans for their future – until Kai’s family suffers a huge loss. Trying to cope with his own grief, as well as watching it tear his family apart, Kai is drawn into a more dangerous crowd, until his dreams for the future are a distant memory. Excluded from school and retreating from his loved ones, it seems as though his path is set, his story foretold. Orla, Zak and classmate Om are determined to help him find his way back. But are they too late?

Goodreads Blurb:

When Geetha and her mom move from India to Rhode Island after her parents’ divorce, they leave everything Geetha loves behind—her family, her friends, her dog, and all that’s familiar. As if that’s not hard enough, Geetha is bullied at her new school for her clothes, her food, and her English (who knew so many English words could be spelled or pronounced differently in the US—or just be altogether different!). She finds some solace in playing her flute and writing poetry, and even more when she meets Miguel, a kid with whom she has a lot in common, and the two of them help rescue an injured harp seal stranded on the beach. But Geetha can feel her anger building over lots of things—careless people who pollute the sea and hurt animals, and her mom for making her move. She’s never been so sad and angry. She can see a lot of her fears mirrored in the injured seal when she visits it at the Marine Mammal Rehabilitation Center, and this broadens her understanding of survival skills. And when she and Miguel start a beach-clean-up venture, she’s surprised to find how many kind kids are out there. Geetha is torn as the time comes to let the seal go, knowing she’ll miss him, but wanting the best for him. She’s learning to live with mixed feelings and accept that while there will always be rough waters, there are plenty of safe harbors too.

Goodreads Blurb:

Grief, pain, hope, and love collide in this short story collection.

In New York City, teens, their families, and their communities feel the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst the fear and loss, these teens and the adults around them persevere with love and hope while living in difficult

Malachi writes an Armageddon short story inspired by his pandemic reality. Tariq helps their ailing grandmother survive during quarantine. Zamira struggles with depression and loneliness after losing her parents. Mohamed tries to help keep his community spirit alive. A social worker reflects on the ways the foster system fails their children.

Alex