Three novels in verse stood out this year. All are great read alouds and all exhibit greatness in that intangible but essential quality. “voice.”  All three made me long to read them aloud to classes of students.

The Red Pencil, Andrea Davis Pinkney, (Hachette/Little Brown; Hachette Audio); OverDrive Sample

The Red Pencil sets us down in the Sudan. We enter the life of young girl yearning for an education but caught in a horrific war as she finally arrives at a refugee camp. Pinkney’s spare language gives voice and a window into the cultures and lives we don’t hear or see every day.

How I Discovered Poetry, Marilyn Nelson, (Penguin/Dial Books); OverDrive Sample

Acclaimed poet, Nelson (A Wreathe for Emmett Till) reflects on her life as a child raised on army bases during the 1950’s where the only black people were her own family.

Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson, (Penguin/Nancy Paulson; Listening Library); OverDrive Sample

Winner of the National Book Award, Ms. Woodson’s memoir is more than her own story, it is the story of a generation raised in the sixties and the grounding power of family.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 23rd, 2014 at 9:46 am and is filed under Best Books 2014, Childrens and YA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.