Poetry For Teens

While society often assigns the label “knucklehead” to kids with attitude problems, this brilliant and electric poetry collection by spoken word poet and hip-hop educator Tony Keith Jr. subverts that narrow way of thinking and empathizes with young people who are misunderstood and unheard.

There are times in life when we are faced with decisions having everlasting effects. Hunter is a high school student, forced to choose which path to take. Hitting his head during an LDS church basketball game, his memory is shaken. The results leave him scrambling to make sense of his relationships with his family, his friends, and the teachings harbored deep inside him. Hunter is left to choose between his best friend and his old life or to embrace his family and the feelings pushing against his past. And then there's Jessie. She won't give the old Hunter the time of day.

Anikwa and James, 12 years old in 1812, spend their days fishing, trapping, and exploring together in the forests of the Indiana Territory. To Anikwa and his family, members of the Miami tribe, this land has been home for centuries. As traders, James' family has ties to the Miami community as well as to the American soldiers in the fort. Now tensions are rising - the British and American armies prepare to meet at Fort Wayne for a crucial battle, and Native Americans from surrounding tribes gather in Kekionga to protect their homeland.

Written in free verse, Hidden is a compelling tale about an unlikely friendship between two girls. Darra Monson and Wren Abbott first cross paths when Darra’s deadbeat dad is arrested for theft and kidnapping after he steals a car - unaware that Wren was sitting in the back. Years later, the girls - now teens - attend the same summer camp, and are forced to confront the fateful event that changed their lives.

Nancy's mother is having a baby and it is making her ill; Nancy's father is angry with her mother because they can't afford the baby; Nancy is angry with everyone. Then she starts to see things... things that should only happen in fairytales. Is Buk a sign she is going mad or is he there to save her?

A comprehensive look at the making of the wildly successful Disney Channel film High School Musical, this unofficial guidebook explores the cultural phenomenon and loyal fan base the movie spawned. Providing detailed profiles on the film's cast members - including Zac Efron, Ashley Tisdale, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, and Corbin Bleu - this companion follows the cast around the world as they promote the film.

Daniel has escaped Nazi Germany with nothing but a desperate dream that he might one day find his parents again. But that golden land called New York has turned away the ship full of refugees, and Daniel finds himself in Cuba. As the tropical island begins to work its magic on him, the young refugee befriends a local girl with some painful secrets of her own. Yet even in Cuba, the Nazi darkness is never far away.

The Girl with a Thousand Eyes takes the YA listener, bordering on the verge of adulthood, through a poignant journey of life’s unexpected, spirit-lifting triumphs and trials of personal transformation. From New York City club life and LGBTQ love poems to existential reflections on transmigration, Ji Strangeway’s poetic verses reveal a heartfelt narrative of self-discovery. Alliterative lines, bold stanzas, and lulling metaphors awaken the dreaming psyche with promise and lead us poem by poem, toward the heart of the divine.

Starting with Lucy Terry of the early 18th century and finishing with poet laureate Rita Dove, this inspiring anthology edited by Catherine Clinton captures the enormous talent and passion of black poets. Powerful and diverse, I, Too, Sing America is a forum for voices baring their souls, speaking their minds, tracing their roots, and proclaiming their dreams.

Inspired by the #SayHerName campaign launched by the African American Policy Forum, these poems pay tribute to victims of police brutality as well as the activists insisting that Black Lives Matter. Elliott engages poets from the past two centuries to create a chorus of voices celebrating the creativity, resilience, and courage of Black women and girls.

Dramatic, lyrical, and beautiful, O Captain, My Captain tells the story of one of America’s greatest poets and how he was inspired by one of America’s greatest presidents.

From Children's Literature Legacy Award-winning author Nikki Grimes comes a feminist-forward new collection of poetry celebrating the little-known women poets of the Harlem Renaissance. For centuries, accomplished women - of all races - have fallen out of the historical records. The same is true for gifted, prolific women poets of the Harlem Renaissance who are little known, especially as compared to their male counterparts.

Em 2017, Bruna Vieira fez as malas, deixou a vida no Brasil de lado e foi escrever uma nova história em outro país, vestida de coragem e guiada por um sentimento que sempre foi sua maior prioridade: o amor. Com o tempo, porém, os dias foram ficando cada vez mais longos e solitários. Era como se naquele lugar o amor tivesse perdido o equilíbrio e se tornado uma obrigação. Foi bem perto do fim e de jeito mais frio que ela finalmente se deu conta: é impossível ser "nós" sozinha.

In this semi-autobiographical collection of poems, Renée Watson writes about her experience growing up as a young Black girl at the intersections of race, class, and gender. Using a variety of poetic forms, from haiku to free verse, Watson shares recollections of her childhood in Portland, tender odes to the Black women in her life, and urgent calls for Black girls to step into their power.

May 12th is National Limerick Day! Celebrate with family and friends and 101 Fun Limericks for Kids! This audiobook of enjoyable nonsense was designed to tickle the minds--and a few funny bones--of older children, teens, and young adults as well! (Because we're all young at heart, right?) Nothing here is lewd, gross, or grotesque...but I can't guarantee some of these rhymes won't make a mess! Some like limericks to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but these funny word nuggets are equally delectable year-round!

This heart-wrenching novel in verse describes the life of a poor girl surviving the Irish Land War and the everyday challenges she experiences.

Martin Rising is a stunning, poetic presentation of the final months of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life - told in a rich embroidery of visions, color, musical cadence, deep emotion, and multiple layers of meaning. Against a backdrop of the sanitation workers’ strike in Memphis, Tennessee, the book builds to its rousing crescendo as King delivers his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech - where his life’s commitment to peaceful activism and his dream of equality ascend to their highest peak.

Somewhere between the twisted worlds of Tim Burton, the parables of C.S. Lewis, and the bouncing meters of Dr. Seuss, you'll find the upside down town of Nottingswood. Having cast out the majestic guardian who was once their protector, Nottingswood built the Great Wall to block out the sun. Now holed up in their houses, Nottingsfolk are content to let their town decay into a colorless wasteland. Until one day...a curious cry from the center of town catches the attention of a pair of twins who guard the Great Nottings Gate.

Carrying just a suitcase and an old laundry bag filled with clothes, Kasienka and her mother are immigrating to England from Poland. Kasienka isn't the happiest girl in the world. At home, her mother is suffering from a broken heart as she searches for Kasienka's father. And at school, Kasienka is having trouble being the new girl and making friends. The only time she feels comforted is when she's swimming at the pool. But she can't quite shake the feeling that she's sinking. Until a new boy swims into her life....

From Juana Briones and Juan Ponce de León to 18th-century slaves and modern-day sixth graders, the many and varied people depicted here speak to the experiences and contributions of Latinos throughout the history of the United States, from the earliest known stories up to the present day. A portrait of a great, enormously varied, and enduring heritage, this is a compelling treatment of an important topic. Some voices are composite characters, not historical figures.