Ten Things: Novels in Verse

Celebrating Poetry Month with Novels in Verse.

For my first attempt at NaNoWriMo, I wrote a novel in verse about a girl in college:

Emily has spent her entire life waiting for something to happen. Now that she's off to college, she expects her life to completely change. Only nothing does. Luckily, her new roommate is spunky and outgoing, the kind of person who makes things happen and Emily and Lauren become fast friends. The girls struggle to balance class, work, romance and their own friendship during that tumultuous first year of independence. Emily must stop waiting and find happiness on her own terms.

Here's the first page:

I’ve been waiting
my whole life
for this moment:
waiting for the escape
waiting for the independence
waiting to find myself.
And now that it’s here,
I’m waiting to figure out
what to do first.

I wrote this novel because I've read such great novels in verse and because the beginning of the novel came to me in a poem.

For the librarian side of me, novels in verse are great sources for reluctant readers. I often hand these out to people who say they hate reading. Often, they come back for more happy to have finished a book.

What My Mother Doesn't Know: the first novel in verse that I read and adored. I really do like her other books too.
Song of the Sparrow: A beautiful historical fiction from the King Arthur era.
Far From You: I think this might be my favorite of Lisa Schroeder's novels, but it's hard to pick one. She writes amazing verse novels. This one is so haunting - so real.
Seeing Emily: A girl struggles to come to terms with her culture and her heritage.
Sold: I hated reading this book because it was such a horrible subject, but it's such a moving tale and so worth the read.
Hold Up: A thrilling tale based on several perspectives
Crank: A powerful read by Ellen Hopkins - a good, but incredibly powerful read.
Dead on a Town Line : a unique mystery, probably my second verse novel read.
On Pointe: A heart breaking story of a dancer who stops dancing.
A Bad Boy can be Good for a Girl: A great read for girls, reminds me of the movie John Tucker Must Die