Caroline Starr Rose

picture book and middle-grade author

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Novels-in-Verse

22 Comments

Since April is National Poetry Month (click here to find thirty ways to celebrate!), it’s a perfect time to discuss my genre, verse novels.

It’s strange trying to explain novels-in-verse to people who’ve never heard of them:

So what is a novel-in-verse?

A book that tells a story through poetry.

Does it rhyme?

No.

So it’s like the Iliad?

Kind of (though this comparison always stresses me out; nothing like having your work compared to a text several thousand years old!).

I’ve never liked poetry.

Uh…

It’s too hard to read, the way it’s set up on a page, and all those hidden meanings don’t make sense to me.

Poetry doesn’t have to be confusing. The nice thing about a verse novel is each poem can stand alone but also tells part of a whole story.

I’d just die if I had to write a whole story that way!

or

I’d just die if I had to read a whole book written that way!

And on and on.

These sorts of conversations usually come from non-readers or readers who aren’t familiar with the genre. So, reader friends, what’s your take on the novel-in-verse? I’d love to hear your uncensored response. If the lovely Moonrat says verse novels can be “scary and boring” (just for the record, if she could only recommend one book, it would be the verse novel, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF RED), I’m sure other readers might feel the same way.

What do you think? What verse novels are your favorites?

 

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Filed Under: books and reading, poetry, the writing life

Comments

  1. Anna says

    April 11, 2010 at 9:24 pm

    I love introducing people to verse novels because they’re always surprised by how much they like them. 🙂 One of the first novels in verse I read (and loved) was One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones.

    Reply
  2. Jemi Fraser says

    April 11, 2010 at 10:04 pm

    I actually haven’t read one yet – I think I have 2 or 3 in my classroom – I’ll have to try one.

    Reply
  3. M. Gray says

    April 11, 2010 at 10:46 pm

    David J. West, author of Heroes of the Fallen, rocks at these.

    How’d your house hunting trip go??

    Reply
  4. Irene Latham says

    April 12, 2010 at 12:41 am

    I am a HUGE fan of verse novels. My favorite of late: Three Rivers Rising by Jame Richards (releasing this week). It’s brilliant. Don’t miss!!

    Reply
  5. Tracy says

    April 12, 2010 at 1:15 am

    I’ve never read any novels in verse, but I definitely will. It sounds like it’s right up my alley.

    Reply
  6. Liesl says

    April 12, 2010 at 2:27 am

    I’ll admit I used to be skeptical about novels in verse because I am passionate about story and character, and I used to worry that the all the rhythm and words would get in the way. But then I read OUT OF THE DUST by Karen Hesse and I was swept away. The poetry served the story so well and it was truly beautiful.

    Reply
  7. Michelle says

    April 12, 2010 at 3:17 am

    Ellen Hopkins, particularly Burned and Identical, although all of her books are intense reads.

    Reply
  8. Sheri Larsenッ says

    April 12, 2010 at 10:31 am

    This is a great and concise explanation. I think it’s refreshing to read a novel in verse. Make us think.

    Reply
  9. Dayle James Arceneaux says

    April 12, 2010 at 1:17 pm

    I never liked them because I’d never read them, but then someone gave me a copy of May B by Caroline Starr and it’s excellent. I highly recommend it.

    Too shameless?

    Reply
  10. Stephanie Cheryl says

    April 12, 2010 at 2:40 pm

    To tell you the truth, I didn’t even know about verse novels until I picked up one of Lisa Schroeder’s books in Barnes & Noble one day.

    I made a note in my phone to buy it later, which I did, and loved it from start to finish. I don’t know of many other novelist who write in verse (other than you and Schroeder), but I think they are a great escape from the (form)normality of a regular novel.

    And, plus, they’re beautiful.

    Reply
  11. laurapauling says

    April 12, 2010 at 3:32 pm

    I enjoy verse novels. I don’t know if I’ll ever write one. But I imagine they’re hard, just like any kind of writing!

    Reply
  12. T. Anne says

    April 12, 2010 at 4:05 pm

    I guess Dr. Suess. He counts doesn’t he? 😉 Oh the places you’ll go…

    Reply
  13. E. Elle says

    April 12, 2010 at 5:48 pm

    I don’t know if I’ve ever read any verse novels. I think that all novels, in their own ways, are poetry. (Especially the good ones.) I’ll try to be more conscious about this genre in the future.

    Reply
  14. Kristin says

    April 13, 2010 at 12:02 am

    Caroline, I haven’t read any yet, but I hope to soon! I didn’t realize your MG was written in verse. I’ve heard about YAs in verse but not MG, so I’m intrigued!

    Reply
  15. jdcoughlin says

    April 13, 2010 at 12:17 pm

    Does Goodnight Moon count? I am not big on verse novels. I don’t get the depth of the word. But that’s just me. AND my lack of concentration.

    Reply
  16. Rowenna says

    April 13, 2010 at 12:56 pm

    Am I allowed to say the Odyssey? 😛 I know…also thousands of years old. But I love how once you fall into the rhythm of the verse, it makes that huge tome much more accessible!

    Reply
  17. Tess says

    April 14, 2010 at 12:22 am

    To be honest, I’ve not read a lot of recent verse novels..Out of the Dust is one that comes to mind.

    I think people are intimidated by novels in verse. It is their lack of experience and understanding that makes them feel uncertain. As for me, I’m impressed by them. It is a special type of gift to tell stories in such a poetic and thoughtful manner.

    Reply
  18. KarleighJae says

    April 14, 2010 at 5:17 am

    I Saw Ramallah by Mourid Barghouti. He’s a poet and so the novel, even if he didn’t mean for it to be written in verse, just has to be. It comes so natural to him and it’s wonderful.

    Reply
  19. Jame says

    April 15, 2010 at 1:25 pm

    Just saw Irene’s comment—yay! She’s quite a poet herself, and her Leaving Gee’s Bend (though not in verse) only a poet could write!

    My faves are Out of the Dust and Aleutian Sparrow by Karen Hesse. Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson. Heartbeat by Sharon Creech. Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy. The Fattening Hut by Pat Lowery Collins. Guess I have a few faves, huh?

    We’re gonna blow the lid off this thing Caroline: nobody’s gonna say “verse is too scary” when we’re done with them!

    Reply
  20. SWK says

    April 15, 2010 at 7:46 pm

    I think Sharon Creech’s HEARTBEAT is a jewel of a verse novella, so it’s a favorite. I love pointing fans of poetry to verse novels and vise versa. From T. S. Eliot to Ellen Hopkins and back again–quite a wonderful journey.

    Reply
  21. Pat Austin says

    December 29, 2010 at 8:32 pm

    Over the last several years, I’ve probably read about 30 verse novels or so (at least that’s my best guess when I look at the library catalog of our children’s/ya library at my university. I’ve revisited my favorites, and
    I have to say that Helen Frost is my top pick as a writer in this genre because she uses specific forms of poetry.

    In Spinning Through the Universe, where a class of kids tell their stories through poems, she uses myriad forms and lists them at the back: from sonnet to pantoum to haiku and the like.

    In Keesha’s House, Frost uses two forms: Sestina and sonnet — both quite difficult forms. Again she links the stories of many narrators.

    In The Braid, she links the story of two sisters — one who stays behind on the British Isles and one who emigrates to Canada. Her telling of this tale is unbelievably ingenious as the number of syllables in each line equals the age of the narrator. The Last word of each line of one sister’s poem is the first line of the other sister’s poem hence literally braiding their narratives.

    In Diamond Willow, in which Frost creates varying diamond shapes for each poem, she tells a story of identity and of the narrator’s coming into her own — finding out who she is. But it’s just a wonderful survival story as well.

    Another of my all-time favorites is Karen Hesse. Out of the Dust has brilliant imagery. There’s one poem where the protagonist is talking about her piano playing and the length of the lines vary like the white and black keys of the piano. (I guess you can tell I’m partial to form).

    I enjoyed Hugging the Rock and think it worked well as a verse novel. The girl’s mom (bipolar) has left her and she’s bereft, not really connecting to her dad. — The most powerful poem is called Mother’s Day — and has no words at all. Kind of takes your breath away.

    I did love Love that Dog by Sharon Creech for its content and what it says about encouraging kids – especially boys– to write. I love the use of mentor texts in which Jack copies Frost and Valerie Worth and Walter Dean Myers. Jack indeed questions whether anything written in short lines could be considered poetry. And that’s the essential question for verse novels. I’m not convinced that Creech proves otherwise. Some of the poems are good as poems — others simply aren’t poems.

    I know that Caroline wrote about Three Rivers Rising — and as she did, I liked this book. I recall thinking that the poetry worked (it’s free verse) but a colleague recently said he saw no real reason for the verse — that it would have worked as well in prose. And that’s the key consideration.

    I have to admit that I’m one of the lucky few on this BLOG who read a draft of May B. I liked it a lot when I read it and thought that Caroline, like the best of the writers I’ve mentioned above, has a gift for creating images. I suspect that the book is now a lot different from when I first read it. I can’t wait to see the published book.

    Reply
  22. Pat Austin says

    December 29, 2010 at 8:35 pm

    I just wrote a lengthy note about all my favorite verse novels and received the message that it was too large to publish. What’s up with that?

    Among my favorites verse novels are Helen Frost’s Spinning through the Universe, Crossing Stones, Keesha’s House, and Diamond Willow. Loved Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse and Love that Dog by Sharon Creech although the poetry doesn’t always work.

    Reply

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