Have you ever read a novel written in verse? The flow, the rhythm, the meaning of the message can all be very powerful. I have only read one or two myself, but I've really enjoyed slowing down, savoring each line and phrase, hearing the words roll around in my head.
Crank by Ellen Hopkins. Ellen's novels are all powerful stories of teens in crisis. When good girl Kristina discovers her alter-ego Bree, after becoming hooked on "crank", things go steadily further and further awry. Free verse illuminates her fall into the hands of the "monster" and how it affects her and those around her.
Shark Girl by Kelley Bingham. Poetry interspersed with newspaper clippings, letters and other ephemera tell the tale of a lovely, popular young woman who loses her right arm in a brutal shark attack. Her anger, despair, fear and dreams are all revealed in her poetry.
Rubber Houses by Ellen Yeomans. When Kit's younger brother Buddy is first diagnosed with, and then dies of, cancer, Kit is overwhelmed with grief. Spare, economical verse that parallels the baseball game Buddy loved, reveals her grieving and her eventual healing.
Amiri and Odette by Walter Dean Myers. Swan Lake is an opera, a tale of a beautiful princess turned into a swan. This is a modern retelling, in verse, violent and romantic, fantastical and realistic all in the same moment. It is wonderful!
No comments:
Post a Comment