Teen Poetry Books for High School Students

 April is National Poetry Month. For teens, poetry can provide a powerful creative outlet for their growing emotions and experiences. The writing style helps them experience new vocabulary, experiment with creative language, and invoke critical thinking. Here are some of the best poetry books available in our collection for High School students. 

You Don't Have to Be Everything: Poems for Girls Becoming Themselves; Edited by Diana Whitney

This anthology helps teen girls explore a very formative time of their lives through poetry. Curated specifically with young women in mind, the writing will help them explore themselves and embrace everything they are becoming. It shows how poetry can be a powerful tool of expressing empathy, growth, and understanding. 

Teen Poetry Books for Middle School Students

April is National Poetry Month. For teens, poetry can provide a powerful creative outlet for their growing emotions and experiences. The writing style helps them experience new vocabulary, experiment with creative language, and invoke critical thinking. Here are some of the best poetry books available in our collection for Middle School students. 

The Little Mermaid, or How to Find Love Underwater by J.M. Farkas

Perfect for those in middle school learning about poetry, this book uses the blackout method to retell the classic tale of The Little Mermaid. Rather than a love story, this book is rewritten as a tale of empowerment, body positivity, and finding where you truly belong. 

April is National Poetry Month! Experience Blackout Poetry!

What is Blackout Poetry? 

Blackout poetry is the creation of a new, original poem by taking a page of text and blacking out or erasing most of the words and phrases of the original text. The words left will make a new poem. Blackout poetry is also called “found poetry.”

How to Write Blackout Poetry

Find a page of text, such as a newspaper article, an old book, or a magazine.

Skim the page of text or passage you have chosen and look for interesting words. See if you notice a theme or topic.

Underline or circle the word(s) or phrase(s) you wish to keep before blacking out anything.

Black out the rest of the words on the page. 

More Ideas 

Use a different color or a different material. Use a purple crayon to black out the words you don’t want. Or use a gold pen. 

Draw a picture. Before blacking out the words, draw an image over the words. When you color in the illustration, keep the words you want and blackout (or block color) the rest of the text around the illustration. 

Congratulations! You’ve made a blackout poem!

You can also create your own blackout poetry online on the New York Times website!

Local Author Spotlight: Dr. Kudo Eresia-Eke, Author of 25 Golden Words Vol 1: Inspirational Poems for Wisdom and Freedom

 

The Right Decision

When you have made the right decision

In spite of ego

In spite of self

A peace descends

And a joy dances

In your heart. 

From 25 Golden Words Vol 1 by Kudo Eresia-Eke

Dr. Kudo Eresia-Eke is an inspirational writer, teacher, and lyrical performance artist from Nigeria. Over the last few years, Sharon Forks library staff and patrons have gotten to know him better as Kudo, the friendly, soft-spoken, and contemplative poet who visits the library regularly to compose poetry.

Dr. Eresia-Eke’s poetry collection, 25 Golden Words Vol 1 was released in 2022 and his latest collection of poetry 25 Golden Words Vol 2 was released as an eBook this month. Both collections are filled with inspiring poems of precisely twenty-five words. While most of the poems have spiritual themes, others focus on everyday matters. 

Staff Picks for National Poetry Month

Happy National Poetry Month! To celebrate, we’re recommending one of our staff member’s favorite poetry books for adults, both modern and classic. 

Some Things I Still Can't Tell You: Poems by Misha Collins 

In his debut poetry book, actor, activist, and writer Misha Collins ruminates on daily observations and musings, filled with moments of reflection and a love letter to simple joys. This New York Times bestseller is full of wit and heart, conveying the subtle vulnerability of being human through a lens of simplicity.

The Collected Poems by Sylvia Plath

By the time Sylvia Plath passed in 1963, she had written nearly 300 poems to put into this collection. This book received a Pulitzer Prize, making her the first author to receive the honor after death. Readers follow her journey from an early poet to her eventual shift to a more experimental tone. Moving, raw, and honest, her words connect with your emotional core.

I Would Leave Me If I Could by Halsey

In her debut poetry book, singer Halsey writes about her various doomed relationships, experiences with fame, and the nuances of mental illness. Similar to the lyricism found in her songs, her poetry resonates with emotional depth and power, challenging established social structures and exploring the highs and lows of her bipolar disorder.

The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson

Despite her reclusive nature, Emily Dickinson’s poems reveal an independent and spirited woman who saw the world from a unique perspective. While she never published any poetry during her lifetime, her writing became legendary years after her passing. Her insightful views on life, nature, death, and a sense of self are relatable even over a century after her death.

Britt Poteet

Youth Specialist

 

Novels in Verse for Teens

Telling stories through poetry is an ancient art. From the Sumerian poems written in cuneiform to the Greek epics of the Iliad and the Odyssey, storytelling and poetry have gone hand in hand for thousands of years. Today poets write entire novels in verse. 

Why choose poetry instead of prose? Gwendolyn Brooks described poetry as “life distilled,” and John Wain compared poetry to dancing. There is a magic in poetry–in its sounds, in its rhythms, in its meaning. It can capture the vitality of the human experience. Like dancing, poetry moves and grooves. It reflects life and is perfect for storytelling.

In honor of National Poetry Month, we have curated this list of young adult novels in verse. These stories capture the beauty of being a teen and the myriad of experiences one can have. 

April 2021 Reading Challenge - The White Book by Han Kang

 

The White Book by Han Kang

Sand

And she frequently forgot, 

That her body (all our bodies) is a house of sand.

That it had shattered and is shattering still.

Slipping stubbornly through fingers. 

In South Korea, as in many Asian cultures, white is traditionally regarded as a color of mourning. The White Book by Man Booker Prize-winning South Korean author Han Kang describes an assortment of things that are white like sleet, salt, and sugar cubes. This slim, lyrical book features melancholy poetic vignettes that center on a family’s grief over the death of a newborn. Other entries describe city living, the natural world, and life in Korea following World War II. 

I don’t usually read books of poetry but I really enjoyed this thoughtful and beautifully written book. If you’re looking for a somber literary book or want to complete FCPL's April 2021 Reading Challenge – Read a Book of Poetry or a Play, check out The White Book by Han Kang.  

Alicia Cavitt
Information Specialist
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