Showing posts with label novels in verse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label novels in verse. Show all posts
Friday, January 14, 2022
Tuesday, October 20, 2020
Book Review - Punching the Air
📖Recommend for Grades 8 and up📖
by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam
Sixteen-year-old Amal is an artist and poet. One day, he is found guilty of a crime he didn’t commit because of a biased system. Now he’s another Black teen in prison, and he’s angry. Thankfully he has his words and art to turn to for help.
Written in-verse by the talented Ibi Zoboi and Exonerated Five member Yusef Salaam this book is an absolute must-read. This book is timely, controversial, power, and will make you think and feel. It is not Yusef’s story, but the character of Amal is inspired by him. Yusef is also an artist and poet, and some of the poetry he wrote while incarcerated can be found in this book.
Oh, and fun fact, the narrator of the audiobook is Ethan Herisse. He is also the actor who played Yusef Salaam in the movie When They See Us, which tells the story of The Central Park Five—now known as the Exonerated Five.
Friday, September 11, 2020
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
Book Review - Clap When You Land
📖Recommend for Grades 8 and up📖
by Elizabeth Acevedo
Camino Rios favorite time of year is summer, as that is when Papi comes back to the Dominican Republic. On the day he is set to return, she goes to the airport only to find people crying. Yahaira Rios was having a typical school day when she is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to take her home. Her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash. Little do these girls know, the man they are grieving is the same one. Kept apart by distance and secrets, their lives are forever altered by his death in this plane crash, and the discovery of each other.
Written in-verse, this story alternates between Camino and Yahaira’s perspectives. In the last section, the girl’s voices are blended. The girls are both wonderfully distinct but yet contain certain similarities. The plane crash in which the girl’s father passes away is loosely based on the real crash of American Airlines 857 that crashed in Queens on November 12, 2001. The story though is about the girls and how their father’s secrets have affected their lives.
Saturday, April 4, 2020
E-books - In-Verse
Special Post to Help You Select a book for Yakkity Snackity
- The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
- Also available on Hoopla
- Swing by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess
- Also available on Hoopla
- In Paris with You by Clémentine Beauvais
- House Arrest by K.A. Holt
- People Kill People by Ellen Hopkins
- Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
- Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga
Friday, June 7, 2019
Peer Book Review - Long Way Down
📖Recommend for Grades 8 and up📖
by Jason Reynolds
Reviewed by 10th Grader alias Marty McFly.
“Will’s older brothers,
has been shot dead. Wills a sadness so great he can’t explain it. But in his the neighborhood, there are rules:
No. 1:
Crying: No matter what don’t cry
No. 2:
Snitching: Don’t no matter what
No. 3: Revenge:
Do no matter what”
I thought
this book was amazing. It had so many underlying themes in it and I thought it
was great. The character really reminded me about myself and my past life. Even
though the plot was inconclusive and you don’t get a proper ending, I thought
it was a great way to end the book.
Read Ms. Amanda's review here
Friday, May 24, 2019
Book Review - Shout
📖Recommend for Grades 9 and up📖
by Laurie Halse Anderson
Laurie Halse Anderson is an award
winning author who is now sharing her personal story. Maybe you are familiar
with her books (Fever 1793, Ashes,
Twisted, Wintergirls, Prom, and Speak),
maybe you are not. Anderson’s story in Shout
is similar to Melinda’s in Speak. She
is a survivor who no longer wishes to remain silent and is now calling for
others to also speak up and take action. Most importantly, allowing others to
know that they are not alone.
This is a beautifully written novel
in verse. Anderson shares her experience, the downward spiral her life took
after it, and pulling herself together again. With the subject matter being on
the tougher side, this read may be difficult for some at the present moment or
overall. For those who can handle the topic addressed, this is highly
recommended.
Read the review for the graphic
novel version of Speak here.
Sunday, February 17, 2019
Book Review - Long Way Down
📖Recommend for Grades 8 and up📖
by Jason Reynolds
The
Rules are simple: don’t cry, don’t snitch, always get revenge. When Will learns
that his brother was shot and killed, he decides to follow the rules. On the
elevator ride down from his apartment to the main floor though, Will encounters
somebody on each floor who was killed because of the same cycle of violence.
Each person provides Will with knowledge and makes him question if he will
follow the rules.
While
this book maybe 306 pages long, the entire story takes place in about a
minute. Jason Reynolds does a magnificent job of sharing this story about the
cycle of violence in beautiful verse. The only issue readers may have with this
book is the ending.
Check out a peer review here
Tuesday, December 25, 2018
Book Review - The Poet X
📖Recommended for Grades 9 and up📖
by Elizabeth Acevedo
All Xiomara Barista wants to do is
express herself through her poetry. Unfortunately, her strict Catholic mother
causes her to be unable to share it with her family, Xiomara keeps them to
herself. Xiomara is struggling with living the life she wants and uses her
poetry to deal with the struggles she is facing with her family, her religion,
and herself.
A story written beautifully in
verse. While the book is written mainly in English, there are some parts
written in Spanish. Some readers will find themselves relating to Xiomara,
while others may find themselves grateful for the ways that they don’t.
Library Catalog - E-book - Downloadable Audio
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