Top Five Wednesday/ Novels In Verse

The plan for today was to check five books from the book lists I made last year, from the ones I haven’t read, pick five and read them, since, as you know, I’m trying to clear content to hopefully get some blog storage back, but then I saw that Stephanie at Books Less Travelled has posted prompts for July so of course I knew I had to change my plans. As I said, Top Five Wednesday is currently being hosted by Stephanie at Books Less Travelled.

July 16th – Okay, so this one’s a little different. It’s Take Your Poet to Work Day! Today’s the day to share any poetry books you might have enjoyed or are hoping to read soon, or maybe share some quotes from your favourite poet. You can also share about your favourite poetry-loving characters if that’s more your style. As you might know, I love reading and writing in verse, so I’m sharing with you the five novels in verse I got.

Goodreads Blurb:

For Elio Solis, eighth grade fizzes with change–his body teeming with hormones. His feelings that flow like lava. His relationship with Pops, who’s always telling him to man up, the Solis way. And especially Camelia, his first girlfriend. But when betrayal and heartbreak send Elio spiraling toward revenge, he doesn’t anticipate that a fight to prove his manhood and defend Camelia’s honor will lead to dire consequences–or that Camelia’s not looking for a savior. Crackling with comedy and unflinching candor, Ultraviolet digs deep into themes of consent, puberty, masculinity, and the emotional lives of boys, as it challenges stereotypes and offers another way to be in the world. It speaks directly to tweens’ and young teens’ lived experiences and will make them feel seen.

Goodreads Blurb:

Sixteen-year-old Jaelyn Coleman lives for Saturdays at WestSide Roll, the iconic neighborhood roller rink. On these magical nights, Jae can lose herself in the music of DJ Sunny, the smell of nachos from the concession, and the crowd of some of her favorite people—old heads, dance crews, and other regulars like herself. Here, Jae and other Black teens can fully be themselves.

One Saturday, as Jae skates away her worries, she crashes into the cutest boy she’s ever seen. Trey’s dimples, rich brown skin, and warm smile make it impossible for her to be mad at him though. Best of all, he can’t stop finding excuses to be around her. A nice change for once, in contrast with her best friend’s cold distance of late or her estranged father creeping back into her life.

Just as Jae thinks her summer might change for the better, devastating news hits: Westside Roll is shutting down. The gentrification rapidly taking over her predominantly Black Indianapolis neighborhood, filling it with luxury apartments and fancy boutiques, has come for her safe-haven. And this is just one trouble Jae can’t skate away from.

Goodreads Blurb:

There is a Before and an After for eighth grader Bea Coughlin. Before the shooting at her school that took the lives of her classmates and teacher and After, when she must figure out how to grieve, live, and keep rolling forward. But as her community rallies in a tidal wave of marches and speeches and protests, Bea can’t get past the helplessness she felt in her wheelchair as others around her took cover.

Through the help of therapeutic horseback riding, Bea finally begins to feel like herself again. And as she heals, she finds her voice and the bravery to demand change.

Goodreads Blurb:

Pearl loves watching the majestic loggerhead turtles and octopuses glide through the water at the aquarium. Pearl finds it especially easy to identify with the octopuses, who have millions of touch receptors all over their bodies. They feel everything. Sometimes, Pearl wishes she was more like a turtle, with a hard outer shell—it hurts too much to feel everything.

And the changes at the start of fifth grade don’t feel good to Pearl at all. New teachers, lockers, and being in different classes than her friends is unsettling. Pearl tries her best to pretend she’s fine, but she starts to struggle with things that used to come easy, like schoolwork, laughing and skateboarding with her best friend, Rosie, running and even sleeping.

After a disastrous parent-teacher conference, her parents decide to bring Pearl to Dr. Jill, who diagnoses her with depression. At first Pearl is resistant to Dr. Jill’s help; she doesn’t like feeling different, but she also doesn’t want to continue feeling so bad all the time. When Dr. Jill asks Pearl to try one Impossible Thing each day, like running, skateboarding, or walking her dog Tuck, she decides to try. For each impossible thing she attempts, Pearl puts a bead on a string. Bead by bead, and with the support of family and friends, Pearl finds her way back to herself. She discovers just like the moon is always there in the sky, even if it isn’t full, she’ll always be herself even when she doesn’t feel whole.

Goodreads Blurb:

Seventh-grade Alex’s favorite things to do are watching YouTube videos of rocket launches with his Papi and spending hours on the NASA website reading about astronauts and planets. He even dreams of going to space one day himself, and knows he’ll have to study hard in order to get there.

But Alex is in his grade’s SC (self-contained) classroom, which means doing the same dull worksheets every day and reading books his sister read back in the third grade. Worst of all, being in SC means nobody thinks he’s ready to join Ms. Rosef’s mainstream science class—the class Alex knows will be the first step on his path to NASA.

When his teacher says “not yet” for the millionth time, Alex decides it’s time to make a change. Now he’s ready to try everything he can to get the people in his life—his teachers, his parents, and the kids at school—to understand that he, Alex Ramirez, is capable of the extraordinary.