December
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THE 2016 NERDIES: POETRY AND NOVELS IN VERSE ANNOUNCED BY MARY LEE HAHN
One third of humanity and four fifths of Americans can no longer see the Milky Way at night. With or without us, the stars shine on.
Love is as constant as the stars. At times, it as hidden as the Milky Way from our view.
The poetry category of the Nerdies, and the seventeen books that make up this year’s chosen constellation, shine with the light of love for all to see —
LOVE BOOKS AND READING
LOVE OTHERS, NO MATTER THEIR AGE
LOVE CREATIVITY
LOVE THE NATURAL WORLD
LOVE PEOPLE, PLACES, YOURSELF, YOUR LIFE
LOVE HISTORY
LOVE FREEDOM
LOVE BOOKS AND READING
A Poem for Peter
by Andrea Davis Pinkney
illustrated by Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson
Viking Books for Young Readers
Author’s website: http://andreadavispinkney.com/
Ezra Jack Keats was more than the creator of The Snowy Day; he opened the door for the inclusion of characters of color in children’s books. Andrea Davis Pinkney’s flowing free verse is a beautiful tribute to an artist’s relentless pursuit of his dream, and how it changed the world of reading for so many.
Booked
by Kwame Alexander
HMH Books for Young Readers
Author’s website: http://kwamealexander.com/
Yes, this is a verse novel about a soccer player, but it is also a love song to books and reading, vocabulary and librarians. Luke navigates friendships, family changes, first crushes, and the persistence of one of the coolest librarians of children’s literature, The Mac.
LOVE OTHERS, NO MATTER THEIR AGE
Moo
by Sharon Creech
HarperCollins
Author’s website: http://www.sharoncreech.com/
When Reena and her family move from the city to rural Vermont, nothing has prepared her for the eccentric elderly neighbor for whom she and her brother find themselves working. Mrs. Falala is a one-of-a-kind character who teaches Reena and Luke to stay open to friendships with all kinds of people (and animals). This story is told in a blend of poetry and prose.
Applesauce Weather
by Helen Frost
illustrated by Amy June Bates
Candlewick Press
Author’s website: http://helenfrost.net/
It’s the first year without Aunt Lucy, but the apples are falling and it’s applesauce weather. Through patience and love, Faith and her brother Peter help Uncle Arthur return to his usual storytelling self in this sweet illustrated verse novel.
LOVE CREATIVITY
Echo Echo: Reverso Poems About Greek Myths
by Marilyn Singer
illustrated by Josée Masse
Dial Books
Author’s website: http://marilynsinger.net/
Marilyn Singer is the inventor and master of the reverso form — poems that read top to bottom from one character’s perspective, and bottom to top from another character’s perspective. For readers who love all things mythology, these fourteen poems will give a new look at two sides of familiar myths.
Wet Cement: A Mix of Concrete Poems
by Bob Raczka
Roaring Book Press
Author’s website: http://www.bobraczka.com/
Concrete poems challenge readers to find meaning not just in the words of the poem, but in the placement and shape of the words, along with the way the poem’s metaphor plays tag with the visual of the poem.
LOVE THE NATURAL WORLD
Finding Wonders: Three Girls Who Changed Science
by Jeannine Atkins
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Author’s website: http://www.jeannineatkins.com/
The three girls featured in this verse novel grew up to become influential in diverse fields of science — Maria Merian in entomology, Mary Anning in paleontology, and Maria Mitchell in astronomy — but all three shared a love of the close observation of the natural world.
Before Morning
by Joyce Sidman
illustrated by Beth Krommes
HMH Books for Young Readers
Author’s website: http://www.joycesidman.com/
This poem of invocation is one many children have wished fervently — for a snow day to slow down the world. The story in the stunning scratchboard illustrations is of a girl whose pilot mother is grounded by the storm and finds her way home to spend the snow day together with her family.
**When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons
by Julie Fogliano
illustrated by Julie Morstad
Roaring Brook Press
Author’s Facebook Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/Julie-Fogliano-1581665045413312/
Beginning and ending on March 20th, the vernal equinox, Julie Fogliano follows children through one year–effectively capturing the unique beauty and mutability of the seasons. Lush with imagery and emotional connections, each poem offers opportunities to examine and reflect on the significance of nature, time, change, and our own lives.
LOVE PEOPLE, PLACES, YOURSELF, YOUR LIFE
Saving Red
by Sonya Sones
HarperTeen
Author’s website: http://www.sonyasones.com/index.html
Molly’s involvement in the Santa Monica homeless count brings her in contact with the homeless girl, Red, and sets her on a course to try to reunite Red with her family.
Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary
by Laura Shovan
Wendy Lamb Books/Random House
Author’s website: http://laurashovan.com/
The diverse students in Ms. Hill’s fifth grade class are determined to save their beloved Emerson Elementary, writing poems throughout the year that chronicle their civic activism as well as their personal challenges.
Garvey’s Choice
by Nikki Grimes
WordSong
Author’s website: http://www.nikkigrimes.com/
Garvey has to learn to love himself, and it is through music that he finds the way to self-acceptance and a way to connect with his father. This novel in verse is written in the sparse tanka form.
To Stay Alive
by Skila Brown
Candlewick Press
Author’s website: http://skilabrown.com/
This chilling first-person verse narrative of the the Donner Party expedition through the Sierra Nevada Mountains gives readers a deep understanding of how the ties of family and inner strength allowed Mary Ann Graves to survive starvation and cold.
LOVE HISTORY
You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen
by Carole Boston Weatherford
Illustrated by Jeffery Boston Weatherford
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Author’s website: https://cbweatherford.com/
These second person poems tell the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the groundbreaking African-American pilots of World War II.
American Ace
by Marilyn Nelson
Dial Books
Author’s website: http://marilyn-nelson.com/
This novel in verse tells the story of a teen whose Italian family discovers a connection to the Tuskegee Airmen that results in an exploration of identity, inheritance, and race.
LOVE FREEDOM
Freedom in Congo Square
by Carole Boston Weatherford
illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
little bee books
Author’s website: https://cbweatherford.com/
Slaves in New Orleans were free to congregate on Sunday afternoons in what became known as Congo Square. The rhyming couplets and vivid illustrations in this nonfiction picture book communicate the release of that half-day of freedom to sing, dance, and share news.
Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life
by Ashley Bryan
Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Author’s website: https://ashleybryancenter.org/
Pairs of free verse poems tell about the slaves’ lives and work in one, and about their true names, their dreams, hopes and talents in the other. This important book will help readers understand that there is not one story of Slave or of Slavery. Each and every enslaved person was a unique human being, priceless in ways that no one else could ever own.
Lion Island
by Margarita Engle
Atheneum Books For Young Readers
Author’s website: http://www.margaritaengle.com/
This novel in verse tells the story of Antonio Chuffat, a young man of African, Chinese, and Cuban descent who became a champion of civil rights in Cuba. Themes of injustice toward minorities and women will cause readers to ponder current events with an interesting historical perspective.
Mary Lee Hahn is a 5th grade teacher in Dublin, Ohio. Her poetry has been published in the Poetry Friday anthologies, Dear Tomato: An International Crop of Food and Agriculture Poems, and The National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry. Her poetry website is maryleehahn.com, she blogs with Franki Sibberson at A Year of Reading, and she can be found on Twitter @MaryLeeHahn.
**When Green Becomes Tomatoes was accidentally left off the list of finalists Mary Lee Hahn received. Annotation added by Donalyn Miller before posting.
Nerdy Book Club 
I love seeing some of my favorites here but also learning about others I’ve yet to read. Thanks for a wonderful list.
I am so excited to explore these titles! Your summary of love is especially fitting — more love in 2017!!
What a wonderful list! 2016 was a beautiful year for poetry. Congratulations to all! xo
Congratulations to Sonya Sones’ Looking For Red- it is a must read for teens, parents covering so many important themes in such a GOOD story. For those who have not read her other novels in verse, just dive in; Stop Pretending, What My Mother Doesn’t Know, One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies, What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know.
LOVE this list. So glad to see more of these poetic pieces!
So much wonderful poetry for me to catch up on! Thank you for this lovely roundup!
Congrats to all of the nerdy winners! Loved so many of these titles! Have read all but three of these, so must get to them 🙂
Excellent list, and I am SO HAPPY to see Skila Brown’s beautiful TO STAY ALIVE on it. In my opinion, it’s the best verse novel of the year. Great picture books, too – 2016 was a hard year, in some ways, but the year’s poetry books inspired us all!
What an inspiring list! I am loving these rich and varied verse novels…. more more more, said the baby! xo
Very exciting list! I’m looking forward to tracking more of these down to read and share.
So many good books, impossible to cover them all. I do wish, though, it had included Frances Kakugawa’s delightful and thoughtful ‘Wordsworth The Poet’ series of children’s stories (Watermark Publishers, HI). In each, Wordsworth and his friends tackle some of the most important issues of our times–discrimination, the environment, Alzheimer’s, electronic addiction, armed only with their own curiosity and a love of poetry. Illustrated stories intermixed with poems. Described on this page: https://franceskakugawa.wordpress.com/books/
Love this list, Mary Lee…not just because some of these are incredible, beautifully-written books, but because I feel humbled and honored to know so many of the folks who have written them. Thanks for sharing this!
Great list! To Stay Alive was an amazing read.