Poems That Tell Stories

Worlds Afire	Janeczko, Paul B.	811.54 JAN
In a collection of narrative poems, Janeczko describes a circus fire that took place on July 6, 1944 in Hartford, CT, from the viewpoints of those who were there.
Carver, a Life in Poems	Nelson, Marilyn	811.54 NEL
In a fine biography in poems, Nelson beautifully and movingly revives educator and botanist George Washington Carver's reputation, from his recovery after being kidnapped in infancy to his death while the famous Tuskegee airmen fill the campus on which he had worked since 1896.
Hugging the Rock	Brown, Susan Taylor	YA F Brown
Through a series of poems, Rachel expresses her feelings about her parents' divorce, living without her mother, and her changing attitude towards her father.
The Trial	Bryant, Jen	YA F Bryant
Living in Flemington, New Jersey in 1935, twelve-year-old Katie Leigh Flynn describes, in a series of poems, the effect on her small town of the ongoing trial of Bruno Hauptmann for the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh's baby son.
Frenchtown Summer	Cormier, Robert	YA F Cormier
In this series of vignettes in free verse, the writer reminisces about his life as a twelve-year-old boy living in a small town during the hot summer of 1938.
Comfort	Dean, Carolee	YA F Dean
Fourteen-year-old Kenny Roy Willson fantasizes about escape from his hometown of Comfort, Texas, following his alcoholic father's release from prison.
Seedfolks	Fleischman, Paul	YA F Fleischman
One by one, a number of people of varying ages and backgrounds transform a trash-filled inner-city into a productive and beautiful garden, and in doing so, the gardeners are themselves transformed.
Keesha's House	Frost, Helen	YA F Frost
Seven teens facing such problems as pregnancy, foster care, and abuse each describe in poetic forms what caused them to leave home and where they found home again.
Who Killed Mr. Chippendale?	Glenn, Mel	YA F Glenn
A mystery story told in free verse poems describes the reactions of students, colleagues, and others when a high school teacher is shot to death as the school day begins.
Bronx Masquerade	Grimes, Nikki	YA F Grimes
While studying the Harlem Renaissance, students at a Bronx high school read aloud poems they've written, revealing their innermost thoughts and fears to their formerly clueless classmates.
On Pointe	Grover, Lorie Ann	YA F Grover
Clare and her grandfather must deal with changes in their lives when Clare's summer growth spurt threatens to end her dream of becoming a ballet dancer and her grandfather suffers a stroke.
By the River	Herrick, Steven	YA F Herrick
A fourteen-year-old describes, through prose poems, his life in a small Australian town in 1962, where, since their mother's death, he and his brother have been mainly on their own to learn about life, death, and love.
The Simple Gift	Herrick, Steven	YA F Herrick
Sixteen-year-old Billy leaves behind his drunken, abusive father, takes refuge in an abandoned freight train, falls in with the wealthy, restless Caitlin, and discovers the true meaning of friendship and family.
Out of the Dust	Hesse, Karen	YA F Hesse
In a series of poems, fourteen-year-old Billie Jo relates the hardships of living on her family's wheat farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the Depression.
Witness	Hesse, Karen	YA F Hesse
A series of poems express the views of various people in a small Vermont town, including a young black girl and a young Jewish girl, during the early 1920s when the Ku Klux Klan is trying to infiltrate the town.
Street Love	Myers, Walter Dean	YA F Myers
This story told in free verse is set against a background of street gangs and poverty in Harlem in which seventeen-year-old African American Damien takes a bold step to ensure that he and his new love will not be separated.
Song of the Sparrow	Sandell, Lisa Ann	YA F Sandell
In fifth-century Britain, Elaine describes her changing perceptions of war and the people around her as she becomes increasingly involved in the bitter struggle against the invading Saxons.
I Heart You, I Haunt You	Schroeder, Lisa	YA F Schroeder
When her recently deceased boyfriend, Jackson, reappears as a ghost, Ava is thrilled to have him in her life in any way she can, but when she finally begins to move on with her life, Jackson must find a way to let her go.
The Geography of Girlhood	Smith, Kirsten	YA F Smith
A novel written in verse follows Penny Morrow in her transition from middle school to high school as her father remarries, she acquires a new stepbrother, and she experiences her first dance, first kiss, and other hazards of growing up.
What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know	Sones, Sonya	YA F Sones
Fourteen-year-old Robin Murphy is so unpopular at high school that his name is slang for "loser," and so when he begins dating the beautiful and popular Sophie her reputation plummets, but he finds acceptance as a student in a drawing class at Harvard.
What My Mother Doesn't Know	Sones, Sonya	YA F Sones
A series of poems reflect the thoughts and feelings of Sophie, a fifteen-year-old-girl, as she describes her relationships with a series of boys and as she searches for Mr. Right.
One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies	Sones, Sonya	YA F Sones
Fifteen-year-old Ruby Milliken leaves her best friend, her boyfriend, her aunt, and her mother's grave in Boston and reluctantly flies to Los Angeles to live with her father, a famous movie star who divorced her mother before Ruby was born.
Make Lemonade	Wolff, Virginia Euwer	YA F Wolff
"This word COLLEGE is in my house--and you have to walk around it in the rooms--like furniture." So LaVaughn, an urban 14-year-old, tries to earn the money she needs to make college a reality by babysitting for Jolly, an abused, 17-year-old single parent.
True Believer	Wolff, Virginia Euwer	YA F Wolff
Living in the inner city amidst guns and poverty, fifteen-year-old LaVaughn learns from old and new friends, and inspiring mentors, that life is what you make it, an occasion to rise to.
Rubber Houses	Yeomans, Ellen	YA F Yeomans
A novel in verse relates seventeen-year-old Kit's experiences as her younger brother is diagnosed with and dies of cancer and as she withdraws into and gradually emerges from her grief.