Novels in verse...the new #1 request

Within the past year, I've noticed an increase in the requests made by my students for novels in verse.  At first, I suspected that they liked them because they appeared shorter and easier to read.  But once I sat down and talked with my students about the complex plots and characters, I realized they not only love the format, but the authors' abilities to connect with them using fewer words.  Several students are able to use those reading skills that require them to "read between the lines".  Thank goodness!  

Yes, I have students who choose them because they look easy and short.  It's a double-edged sword, really.  I let them check them out even though I know they're attempting a shortcut.  However, I'm placing high-quality novels in their hands regardless of the format.  If I can expose them to these wonderfully talented authors who have life lessons to share with my students, then so be it.  I am forever in debt to these authors who continue to inspire my students to read.  I just wish they'd write more because once a reluctant reader latches on to this format, I can hardly get them to read anything else!  LOL

Here's a list of some favorites among the MNMS students.  If you have a reluctant reader, you may want to try a novel in verse.  It's truly less intimidating and still a good, quality read.  :)


I plan on creating a display of all the titles we own (shown below) once I return from Spring Break.  I predict the table will be empty in less than two days.  

*The first novel in verse I read and my favorite thus far...   
                       Trash by Sharon Darrow
*A novel read by one of our 7th grade teams each year...
                       Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
*Witness by Karen Hesse
*Aleutian Sparrow by Karen Hesse
*An old favorite...  Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech
*Love that Dog by Sharon Creech 
*Heartbeat by Sharon Creech
*A new favorite...  Hard Hit by Ann Turner
*Newbery Honor book...  Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

*A tween girl favorite... I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Shroeder
*And another... Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Shroeder
*Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff
*All the Broken Pieces by Ann Burg 
*Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate
*Call Me Maria by Judith Ortiz Cofer
*Addie on the Inside by James Howe
*Shakespeare Bats Clean Up and Shakespeare Make the Playoffs by Ronald Koertge
*The Voyage of the Arctic Tern by Hugh Montgomery
*May B by Caroline Starr Rose 
*Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell
*Where I Live by Eileen Spinelli
*Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer

Happy Reading (something in verse!)
RC