7 Recent YA Books You MUST Read

from Dreaming in Indian: Contemporary Native American Voices. 

de Fombelle, Timothée. (2014). Vango: Between Sky and Earth. Translated by Sarah Ardizzone. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. Set against the backdrop of the rise of the Nazi Party (1934-1935), 19-year-old Vango Romano is accused of killing a priest which sets him on the run. Who is Vango remains a central and compelling question in this novel. 432 pp.  (12 and older)

Charleyboy, Lisa and Mary Beth Leatherdale (Eds.). (2014). Dreaming in Indian: Contemporary Native American Voices. Buffalo, NY: Annick Press. 
An amazing collection of written and visual texts. Oh my. This is my favorite book of the lot. Artful. 128 pp. (HS and older)

Cokal, Susann. (2013). Kingdom of Little Wounds. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. (Printz Honor book 2014) Fantasy novel/dark fairy tale that explores power. For the older end of YA and adults. 554 pp.

Hemphill, Stephanie. (2013). Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials. New York: Balzer + Bray.
Novel in verse told from the perspective of the "afflicted" girls who fake their symptoms in Salem in 1692 leading to the killing of would-be witches. (Grade 9+)

Isaacson, Philip M. (2015). A Short Walk Around the Pyramids & Through the World of Art. Ember. 
Nonfiction title that focuses on various definitions of art. A useful guide. (Grade 7+)

Niven, Jennifer. (2015). All the Bright Places. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers. 
The novel opens with this question by the novel's subject, Violet: Is it a good day to die? Angsty. Poignant teen romance.

Walton, Leslye. (2014). The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.
Beautifully written story about an unusual girl, Ava  who has been born with a pair of wings. First time author, Leslye Walton was a A 2015 William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist.

Global, Multicultural Poetry Texts (Print and NonPrint) for Grades 7 - 12

1. Anthology
Carlson, Lori Marie & Oscar Hijuelos. 2006. Burnt Sugar Cana Quemada: Contemporary Cuban Poetry in English and Spanish. NY: Free Press.
Carlson, Lori Marie (Ed). 2008. Voices in First Person: Reflections on Latino Identity. Illustrated by Flavio Morais. Photographs by Manuel Rivera-Ortiz. New York: Atheneum.
------------------------. 2005. Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States. New York: Henry Holt. 2006.
Godrej, Dinyar. 2009. Fire in the Soul: 100 Poems for Human Rights. Cornwall, UK: New Internationalist.
Michael, Pamela and Robert Hass (Eds.). 2008. River of Words: Young Poets and Artists on the Nature of Things. Milkweed Editions.

Nye, Naomi Shihab. 1998. The Tree is Older than You Are:A Bilingual Gathering of Poems & Stories from Mexico with Paintings by Mexican Artists. New York: Aladdin.


2. Single Author Titles
Herrera, Juan Felipe. 2011. SkateFate. New York: Rayo.
Mora, Pat. 2000. My Own True Name: New and Selected Poems for Young Adults. Illustrated by Anthony Accardo. Minneapolis, MN: Perfection Learning.
Myers, Water Dean. 2008. Here in Harlem: Poems in Many Voices. New York: Holiday House.
Nelson, Marilyn.  2008. The Freedom Business: Including a Narrative of the Life & Adventures of Ventures, a Native of Africa. Art by Deborah Dancy. Asheville, NC: Front Street. 
-------------------. 2005. A Wreath for Emmett Till. Illustrated by Philippe Lardy. NY: Harcourt.
-------------------. 2004. Fortune's Bones: The Manumission Requiem. Asheville, NC: Front Street.
-------------------. 2001 Carver: A Life in Poems. Asheville, NC: Front Street.
Smith, Hope Anita. 2009. Mother Poems. New York: Henry Holt & Co.


3. Historical Novel as Verse
Bryant, Jan. 2009. Ringside, 1925. New York: Yearling. (1925, Dayton, TN, Scopes Trial)
Engle, Margarita. 2011. Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck. New York: Henry Holt. (1510, Cuba)
--------------------. 2009. Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba. New York: Henry Holt. (Holocaust)
Frost, Helen. 2006. The Braid. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. (1850s, Highland Clearances)
Hesse, Karen. 2003. Witness. New York: Scholastic. (1924, Ku Klux Klan)
----------------. 1999. Out of the Dust. New York: Scholastic (1930s, Dust Bowl)
Janeczko, Paul B. 2007. Worlds Afire. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick. (1944, circus fire in Hartford, CT)


4. Biography/Fictional Memoir Told in Verse

Engle, Margarita. 2011. The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano. Illustrated by Sean Qualls. New York: SquareFish.
--------------------. 2010. The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba. New York: Henry Holt.

--------------------. 2010. The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom. New York: Square Fish. 
Weatherford, Carole. 2008. Becoming Billie Holiday. Illustrated by Floyd Cooper. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong.

5. Novel Told in Verse (Middle School 5 - 8)

Burg, Ann E. 2009. All the Broken Pieces. New York: Scholastic.

Frost, Helen. 2004. Spinning through the Universe. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Glenn, Mel. 1999. Who Killed Mr. Chippendale: A Mystery in Poems. New York: Puffin.

-------------. 1997. Jump Ball: A Basketball Season in Poems. New York: Dutton Juvenile.

Grimes, Nikki. 2003. Bronx Masquerade. New York: Speak.

Hemphill. Stephanie. 2001. Stop Pretending What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy. New York: HarperTeen.

Johnson, Angela. 1998. The Other Side: Shorter Poems. New York: Orchard.

Testa, Maria. 2005. Something About America. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.

--------------. 2003. Almost Forever. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.

Woodson, Jacqueline. 2010. Locomotion. New York: Speak.

Yu,  Chun. 2005. Growing Up During the Chinese Cultural Revolution. New York: Simon & Schuster.

6. Novels Told in Verse (High School)

Bryant, Jen. 2007. Pieces of Georgia. New York: Yearling.

Frost, Helen. 2009. Crossing Stones. New YorkY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

---------------. 2007. Keesha's House. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Glenn, Mel.1997. The Taking of Room 114: A Hostage Drama in Poems. New York: Dutton Juvenile. 

Grimes, Nikki. 2010. A Girl Named Mister. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

-----------------. 2007. Dark Sons. New York: Hyperion.

Hemphill, Stephanie. 2005. Things Left Unsaid: A Novel in Poems. New York: Hyperion.

Herrick, Steven. 2009. Cold Skin. Asheville, NC: Front Street Press.

-------------------. 2006. By the River. Asheville, NC: Front Street Press.

-------------------. 2004. Love, Ghosts, & Facial Hair. New York: Simon Pulse.

Levithan, David. 2006. The Realm of Possibility. New York: Knopf Books.

Myers, Water Dean. 2007. Street Love. New York: Amistad.

Smith, Kirsten. 2007. The Geography of Girlhood. New York: Little, Brown.

Sones, Sonia. 2003. What My Mother Doesn't Know. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Turner, Ann. 2006. Hard Hit. New York: Scholastic.

Wild, Margaret. 2006. One Night. New York: Laurel Leaf.

------------------. 2004. Jinx. New York: Simon Pulse.

Williams, Julie. 2004. Escaping Tornado Season: A Story in Poems. New York: HarperTeen.

Wolff, Virginia Euwer. 2009. Full House. New York: HarperTeen.

---------------------------. 2006. Make Lemonade. New York: SquareFish.

---------------------------. 2003. True Believer. New York: Simon Pulse.

Yeomans, Ellen. 2007. Rubber Houses. New York: Little, Brown.


7. Online Poetry Magazines For and/or  By Teens

azTeen Magazine
Cicada
The Claremont Review 
Crashtest 
Cyberteens
Frodo's Notebook
Hanging Loose
Merlyn's Pen
New Moon 
Polyphony H.S. 
Skipping Stones: An International Multicultural Magazine

Sparrow Tree Square

Speak Up Press
Stone Soup

Teen Ink 
Teen Smudge Magazine
Teen Voices 
Teens Now Talk
Upwords 
What If?
Writer's Slate

8. Poetry Slam Links
12th Annual NYC Teen Poetry Slam (2010)
13th Annual NYC Teen Poetry Slam (2011) 
Brave New Voices 
Kankakee Public Library Teen Poetry Slam

Poetry Slam @Web English Teacher 
Poetry Slam from Poets.org 
Urban World Poetry World
Young Chicago Authors 

9. Single Performances 

Ay, Ay, Ay de la Grifa Negra by Julia De Burgos read by Glaisma
A Letter of the Law - Conmon 
Brown Dreams - Paul Flores
Digging - Seamus Heaney
Facing It by Yusef Komunyakaa read by Michael Lythgoe
The Floral Apron -  Marilyn Chin 
The History of Red and "Other Sister Twin" - Linda Hogan
I Am Offering this Poem - Jimmy Santiago Baca
I Go Back to May 1937 by Sharon Olds read by Suzanne Landingham, of Buncombe County Early College
If I Should Have  a Daughter - Sarah Kay (Ted Talk)
Let America Be America Again - Langston Hughes read by Nikki Giovanni
The Mad Poet - Open Your Eyes 
Mao -  Kelly Tsai 
Marriage - Gregory Corso
New American Theater by Sekou Sundiata 
One Boy Told Me - Naomi Shihab Nye
The Party - Paul Laurence Dunbar read by Karen Wilson (Favorite Poem Project) 
Poem for Magic - Quincy Troupe
Politics by William Butler Yeats read by Stephen Conteagüero
Pretty  - Katie Makkai
Somewhere there is  Poem - Gina Loring 
Song to Mothers  - Pat Mora 
St. Kevin and the Blackbird - Seamus Heaney
This Room and Everything in It - Li-Young Lee 
Tomorrow Short film  by Niloufar  Talebi based on a poem by Abbas Saffari
Way of the Water Hyacinth by Zawgee read by Lyn Aye
We Real Cool - Gwendolyn Brooks read by John Ulrich (Favorite Poem Project)
William Carlos Williams Reads Three (The Red Wheelbarrow, Elsie, Queen-Anne's-Lace)

10a. Visual Poems

A Chance of Sunshine (Jimmy Liao)
And Day Brought Back My Night (Geoffrey Brock)
The Country (Billy Collins)
Flashcards (Rita Dove)
Forgetfulness (Billy Collins)
Her Morning Elegance (Oren Lavie)
Mankind is No Island
Mulberry Field (Lucille Clifton)
Some Words Inside Words (Richard Wilbur)
Those Winter Sundays (Robert Hayden)


10b.
Information about Visual Poetry (Rutgers)

Books for Grade 6

Mirror and Window Books
Begay, Shonto (Dine) 1995. Navajo: Visions and Voices Across the Mesa. NY: Scholastic.
Bruchac, Joseph. 2001. The Heart of a Chief. New York: Puffin.
Curtis, Christopher Paul. 2000. The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963. New York:  Laurel Leaf.
Erskine, Kathryn. 2011. Mockingbird. NY: Puffin.
Grimes, Nikki. 2000. Jazmin’s Notebook. New York: Puffin.
Harvath, Polly. 2011. Northward to the Moon. Toronto: Groundwood Books.
Howe, James. 2005. Totally Joe. NY: Ginee Seo Books.
Park, Linda Sue. 2006. Archer's Quest. NY: Clarion/Houghton Mifflin.
-------------------. 2004. Project Mulberry. New York: Yearling.
Testa, Maria. 2007. Something About America. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.
Woodson, Jacqueline. 2006. Miracle’s Boys. New York: Puffin.
Wynne-Jones, Tim. 2007. Rex Zero, King of Nothing. Toronto: Groundwood.

Text Sets
1. Holocaust/Genocide
Cha, Dia. 1996. Dia's Story Cloth. Stitched by Chiie Thao Cha  and Nhia Thao Cha (Illustrator). NY: Lee & Low.
Cheng, Andrea. 2004. Marika. Asheville, NC: Front Street.
Frank, Anne. 1995. The Diary of a Young Girl: the Definitive Edition. NY: Doubleday & Company.
Littlesugar, Amy. 2006. Willy and Max: A Holocaust Story. Illustrated by William Low. NY: Philomel.
McEwan, Ian. 1985. Rose Blanche. Illustrated by Roberto Innocenti. NY: Creative Company.
Mochizuki, Ken. 2003. Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story. Illustrated by Dom Lee. NY: Lee & Low.
Mochizuki, Ken. 2003. Pasaje a La Libertad / Passage to Freedom: La Historia De Chiune Sugihara / The True Story of Chiune Sugihara, the "Japanese Schindler". Translated by Esther Sarfatti. Illustrated by Dom Lee. NY: Lee & Low.
Ruelle, Karen Gray & Devborah Durland Desaix. 2010. The Grand Mosque of Paris: A Story of How Muslims Rescued Jews During the Holocaust. NY: Holiday House
Schroeder, Peter. and Schroeder-Hildebrand, Dagmar. 2004. Six Million Paper Clips: The Making of a Children’s Holocaust Memorial. Minneapolis, MN: Kar-Ben Publishing.
Shea, Pegi Deitz. 1996. The Whispering Cloth: A Refugee's Story. Illustrated by Anita Riggio. Stitched by You Yang. Honesdale, PA: Boyd Mills Press.
Smith, Icy. 2010. Half Spoon of Rice: A Survival Story of the Cambodian Genocide. Illustrated by Sopaul Nhem. Manhattan Beach, CA: East West Discovery Press.
Watts, Irene W. 2008. Good-bye Marianne: A Story of Growing Up in Nazi Germany. Illustrated by Kathryn E. Shoemaker. Toronto, Ontario: Tundra Books.
Williams, Mary. 2006. Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Illustrated Gregory Christie. NY: Lee & Low.
Wiviott, Meg. 2010. Benno and the  Night of the Broken Glass. Illustrated by Josee Bisaillon. Minneappolis, MN: Kar-Ben Publishing.

2. Science
Bang, Molly. 1997. Common Ground: The Water, Earth, and Air We Share. NY: Bue Sky Press.
Bolden, Tonya. 2008. George Washington Carver. NY: Abrams Books.
Bruchac, Joseph. 2004. Rachel Carson: Preserving a Sense of Wonder. Illustrated by Thomas Locker. NY: Fulcrum.
Chin, Jason. 2009. Redwoods. NY: Flashpoint.
Guiberson, Bredna Z. 2009. Life in the Boreal Forest. Illustrated by Gennady Spirin. Toronto: Groundwood Books.
Kurlansky, Mark. 2001. The Cod's Tale. Illustrated by S.D. Schindler. NY: Putnam.
Lourie, Peter. 2009. Whaling Season: A Year in the Life of an Arctic Whale Scientist. NY: Houghton Mifflin.
Marrin, Albert. 2006. Saving the Buffalo. NY: Scholastic.
Montgomery, Sy. 2010. Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot. Photographs by Nic Bishop. NY: Houghton Mifflin.
Pratt-Serafini, Kristin Joy. 1992. A Walk in the Rainforest. Nevada City,CA: Dawn Publication.

Roach, Mary. 2004. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. NY: W.W. Norton & Company.
Sandler, Martin W. 2009. Secret Subway: The Fascinating Tale of an Amazing Feat of Engineering.  Washington DC: National Geographic Children's Books.
Sitarkski, Anita. 2007. Cold Light: Creatures, Discoveries, and Inventions that Glow. Honesdale, PA: boyds Mills Press.
Siy, Alexander. 2009. Cars on Mars: Roving the Red Planet. Watertown MA: Charlesbridge.
Turner, Pamela S. 2008. Life on Earth: An Astrobiologist's Quest. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.


Text to World
Bang, Molly. 2005. Nobody Particular: One Woman’s Fight to Save the Bays. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Company.
Ellis, Deborah. The Breadwinner Trilogy:
    2000. The Breadwinner. Toronto: Groundwood.
    2003.  Mud City.  Toronto: Groundwood
    2002.  Parvana’s Journey. Toronto: Groundwood.
Gonzalez, Christina. 2010. The Red Umbrella. NY: Knopf.
Krakow, Kari. 2002. The Harvey Milk Story. Illustrated by David Gardner. Annapolis, MD: Two Lives Publishing.
Sis, Peter. 2007. The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain. NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

Creating Visual Images.
Ellabbad, Mohieddine. 2006. The Illustrator’s Notebook. Toronto: Groundwood Books
Golio, Gary. 2010. Jimi Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of Young Jimi Hendrix. Illustrated by Javaka Steptoe. NY: Clarion.
Falconer, Shelley and Shawna White. 2007. Stone, Bones and Stitches: Storytelling through Inuit Art. Toronto, Ontario: Tundra Books.
Patton, Christopher. 2007. Jack Pine. Toronto: Groundwood Books.
Rylant, Cynthia. 1994. Something Permanent. Photographs by Walker Evans. Boston: Harcourt
Soto, Gary. 1995/2007. Canto familiar. Illustrated by Annika Nelson. Boston: Harcourt.
Winter, Jonah. 2009. Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude. NY: Antheneum.

Books That Cause Me To Ask Questions
Alvarez, Julia. 2010. Return to Sender. NY: Yearling.
----------------. 2010. Devolver al Remitente. NY: Yearling.
Ellis, Deborah. 2007. Jakeman. Markham, Ontario: Fitzhenry & Whiteside.
Glover, Savion, and Bruce Weber.  2000.  Savion:  My Life in Tap.  NY: Morrow.
Johnston, Tony. 2007. Bone By Bone By Bone. New Milford, CT: Roaring Brook Press.
Marrin, Alber. 2009. Years of Dust. NY: Dutton.
Murray, Martine. 2003. The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley. NY: Levine/Scholastic.

Making Inferences
Awiakta, Marilou. 1983/2007. Rising Farm and the Fire Mystery. Illustrated by Beverly Bringle. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing.
Cheng, Andrea.  2006.  Eclipse.  Asheville, NC: Front Street.
Curtis, Christopher Paul. 2007. Elijah of Buxton. NY: Scholastic Press.
Erdrich, Louise (Ojibbwe). 2006. The Game of Silence. NY: Harper Trophy.
----------------------------. 2002. The Birchbark House. NY: Hyperion.
Kerley, Barbara. 2010. The Extraordinary Mary Twain (according to Susy). Illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham. NY: Scholastic.
Meja Mwangi. 2006. Mzungu Boy. Toronto: Groundwood Books
Nelson, Marilyn. 2001. Carver: A Life in Poems. Asheville, NC: Front Street.
Phelan Matt. 2009. The Storm in the Barn. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.

Determining Importance
Bash, Barbara. 2002. Ancient Ones: The World of the Old-Growth Douglas Fir. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club.
Berry, Joy and Amnesty International.  2005. Mine & Yours: Human Rights for Kids. Illustrated by Nicole Richardson. PowerHouse Books.
Gore, Al. 2007. An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming, Rev. Ed. Adapted by Jane O’Connor. NY: Viking/Penguin.
Meltzer, Milton. 2003. Ten Queens: Portraits of Women of Power. Illustrated by Bethanne Anderson. NY: Dutton.
-----------------. 2002. Ten Kings and the Worlds They Rule. Illustrated by Bethanne Anderson. NY: Dutton.
Morley, David. 2006. Healing Our World: Inside Doctors without Borders. Markham, Ontario: Fitzhenry & Whiteside.
Roberts-Davis, Tanya. 2003. We Need to Go to School: Voices of the Rugmark Children. Toronto: Groundwood Books.
Schmandt-besserat, Denise. 1999. The History of Counting. Illustrated by Michael Hays. NY: HarperCollins.
Tanaka, Shelley. 2006. Climate Control. Toronto, Ontario: Groundwood Books.
Zalben, Jane Breskin. 2006. Paths to Peace: People Who Changed the World: People Who Changed the World. NY: Dutton.

Synthesis
Alexander, Elizabeth & Nelson, Marilyn. 2007. Miss Crandall's School for Young Ladies and Little Misses of Color. Illustrated by Floyd Cooper. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong.
Berry, Wendell. 2006. Andy Cartlett: Early Travels. Emmeryville, CA: Shoemaker & Hoard.
Mourlevat, Jean-Claude. 2006. The Pull of the Ocean. NY: Delacorte Books for Young Readers.
Skarmeta, Antonio. 2003. The Composition. Illustrated by Alfonso Ruano. Toronto: Groundwood Book.
Zhang, Ange. 2004. Red Land, Yellow River. Tornoto, Ontario: Groundwood Books.