Young Adult Poetry

A stranger walks into a restaurant and has an even stranger request - a meal in exchange for a song. Would you be willing to help someone even though you know they could never repay you? One couple did, and what they received was so much more than what they gave.

Seconda raccolta di pensieri e poesie dell'autrice adolescente, scritte durante la scuola superiore per descrivere a modo proprio: notizie, eventi, emozioni provate e l'ambiente circostante.

Akilah is a 13-year old author who uses the power of pen and paper to vividly describe the roller coaster of emotions she’s encountered throughout her young life. At 13, Akilah has already experienced the challenges of navigating and overcoming obstacles associated with questioning her worth and the world’s expectations. This book provides a glimpse inside of Akilah’s challenges and how she used the power of her words to find the power within herself to prevail and continue her stride towards the best version of her.

Concrete Kids is an exploration of love and loss, melody and bloodshed. Musician, playwright, and educator Amyra León takes us on a poetic journey through her childhood in Harlem, as she navigates the intricacies of foster care, mourning, self-love, and resilience. In her signature free-verse style, she invites us all to dream with abandon - and to recognize the privilege it is to dream at all.

Henry Brown came to be known as Box; he "entered the world a slave". He was put to work as a child and passed down from one generation to the next - as property. When he was an adult, his wife and children were sold away from him out of spite. Henry Brown watched as his family left bound in chains, headed to the deeper South. What more could be taken from him? But then hope - and help - came in the form of the Underground Railroad. Escape!

"The Raven" and other poems suitable for the 10th and 11th grades.

Jesse-Ray Lewis, 19, enters a West Virginia "safe house" with few possessions beyond the kerchiefs that identify him as a gang member. An age-out foster child, he lands in Bluefield, where a charity gives him food. What follows is the personal, dramatic story of two people who intervene in the life of a homeless, drug-abusing teen with a background of violence and neglect. In their next-door suite called the safe house, they impose three rules: "No alcohol or drugs. You have to work. You have to go to school." Jesse-Ray expresses gratitude. But what does he want? The couple struggles to determine his true motives....

This rockin' collection of 24 dynamic, original poems vividly captures a variety of musical experiences from the teen perspective. From playing in the school band to playing air guitar, from performing a favorite song to dreaming of stardom, the power of music is explored in passionate poetry and performance. The rhythm and language of each poem reflect a different musical genre, including classical, hip-hop, jazz, folk, and reggae.

In compelling poetry, the spirits of Frederick Douglas, John Brown, and William Tecumseh Sherman come alive. So does the heart-rending tale of a Confederate son and Union father, the desperate struggle of boys fighting like men, the horrifying shrieks of the wounded, and the pitiful plight of a toil-weary slave. One poetic letter finds distraught parents aching for a son who hasn’t been heard from in months. Another spotlights a wounded lad languishing in a POW camp, determined to survive his living nightmare.

A hilarious spoof of the classic poem that shows how the holidays can take a toll on us all.

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.

"Paul Revere's Ride" and other poems suitable for sixth, seventh, and eighth grades.

"Casey at the Bat" and other poems suitable for fourth and fifth grade students.

Collection of poems and a short background on where they came from.

You’ve crossed over, you’ve stayed in your lane, you’ve persevered through heartaches, heartbreaks, and devastating pain. You’ve come through storms that were sent to break you apart, to cause wind-sheer while you battled in the dark. All of that pain and suffering was not in vain, they established your foundation and caused you to remain. There is a reward straight ahead, waiting for you because you didn’t allow your pain to become your bed. I saw you rejoice when hope was nowhere to be found, when it looked like you were going down even about to drown.

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.

This is an educational book about the weather.

Dylan cannot sleep without his Cosydoze, but it goes missing on a visit to Granny’s house. Where has it gone? And can Mum and Dad get Dylan to sleep without it? A funny, heart-warming story for very young listeners told in rhyme.

Through this series of poems, Eunice Olsen, a former Nominated Member of Parliament in Singapore, Miss Universe Singapore 2000, actress, host, and executive producer of WomenTalk, hopes to encourage girls from all over the world to know they can be who they want to be and to never give up, just like these women role models whose stories give us hope and strength. This book is for the boys as well, who will play a really important role and be there to empower these girls, to respect women, and to help bring our world to gender parity.

"I lie in the dust and lookup at the world...." So begins the narration of an allegory revealing irony behind a perspective twist of education. "...I gaze up at the grasses towering above me. I watch the feet of people as they pass, some shuffling, some lightly and barely touching the ground. Some with steps like a dance. I have lain in rain and sun and seen the lightening streak across the sky. I wonder if today is the day my life will move on again...."