The best novels in verse for teens reflect a diversity of voices, identities, perspectives, and poetic forms. The YA novels in verse featured in this list of poetry books for teens are from established poets and newer authors as well. Whether you’re looking for historical fiction in verse, queer novels in verse, or YA books for poetry month, there’s a book here for you. Let’s get started!
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And now for an epic list of the best novels in verse for teens!
Apple: Skin to the Core by Eric Gansworth
We kick off our list of the best novels in verse for teens with Eric Gansworth’s Apple: Skin to the Core. This decorated book was a Printz Honor, placed on the National Book Award Longlist, and won the American Indian Youth Literature Award. So you know it’s solid. In this book, Gansworth takes on the slur “Apple,” which means “red” on the outside, “white” on the inside, among Native communities, and explores the complex and devastating legacy of the mistreatment and genocide of Native people in America. This is a gritty and unflinching book that doesn’t shy away from the dark history of generational trauma that pervades Native history past, present, and future but also remains hopeful for a better tomorrow.
How to read it: Purchase Apple: Skin to the Core on Amazon
Audacity by Melanie Crowder
A 2015 National Jewish Book Award finalist, Melanie Crowder’s Audacity is a powerful novel in verse for teens. This book focuses on Clara Lemlich, the real-life Russian immigrant who helped organize a protest among the mostly Jewish female shirtwaist factory workers in New York City in 1909, a fight that came to be known as the “Uprising of the 20,000.” Crowder breathes fresh life into Lemlich’s story in an exciting book that’s must-read historical fiction in verse.
How to read it: Purchase Audacity on Amazon
Beauty Mark by Carole Boston Weatherford
This unique novel in verse puts the spotlight on Marilyn Monroe, with a concentration on her early days as a young woman and up-and-coming actress. Author Carole Boston Weatherford immerses readers in the formative adolescence that shaped the troubled icon Monroe would eventually become. This is one of the newer novels in verse for teens, but it’s no less amazing.
How to read it: Purchase Beauty Mark on Amazon
I Am Here Now by Barbara Bother
If you’re looking for historical fiction in verse as well as the best novels in verse for teens, it doesn’t get much better than Barbara Bother’s I Am Here Now. This book is set in the turbulent 1960s and features heroine Maisie, a budding artist coming of age in an era of radical change and resistance. Somewhat of an outcast, Maisie makes a new friend in Rachel, whose mother is a painter. But even friendships can be complicated. Readers will root for Maisie to become the artist she has the potential to be.
How to read it: Purchase I Am Here Now on Amazon
I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder
Lisa Schroeder is a prolific writer of novels in verse for teens. Get started with this author by reading I Heart You, You Haunt Me first. In this slightly supernatural story, Ava’s lover Jackson haunts her life after his tragic death. I Heart You, You Haunt Me proves that love transcends heaven and earth and definitely ranks among the best poetry books for teens.
How to read it: Purchase I Heart You, You Haunt Me on Amazon
If I Tell You the Truth by Jasmin Kauer
If I Tell You the Truth by Jasmin Kauer
This novel is told through several mediums, including poetry, prose, and illustration. The story itself concerns a mother and daughter’s at times strained at times strong bond. When Sahaara finds out the truth of the sexual assault that made her mom Kiran leave Punjab for Canada, she goes headfirst into a battle for justice. If I Tell You the Truth is one of the very best YA novels in verse.
How to read it: Purchase If I Tell You the Truth on Amazon
Impulse by Ellen Hopkins
YA novels in verse don’t get much better than this one. Impulse is set in an inpatient psychiatry hospital for young adults. We meet three patients who lend their voice to Hopkins’ powerful poetry: Vanessa, Tony, and Conner. Each of these unforgettable protagonists are real and raw. (If you like this book, check out our list of the best mental health books for teens.) Even though Impulse is 600 pages, it flies by, and you’ll want to pick up the sequel, Perfect. See why Hopkins is a leading author of novels in verse for teens.
How to read it: Purchase Impulse on Amazon
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
This book is set in just a single minute of hero Will’s life. Will is determined to avenge his brother Shawn’s life and has the gun to do it. Bug in the course of an elevator ride downstairs, he’s confronted with the ghosts of people he’s known who have passed away. Their ghosts seek to help Will calm down and process the devastating loss of Shawn while making him second guess whether violence and murder is the way to do it. Long Way Down has too many awards and honors to count, like being a Printz Honor Book, a Newbery Honor selection, and a Coretta Scott King Honor Book. It’s no surprise why this book continues to win new fans year after year and is widely considered one of the top YA poetry books.
How to read it: Purchase Long Way Down on Amazon
Loving vs. Virginia by Patricia Hruby Powell
Interracial marriage hasn’t always been welcome—or even legal—in America. In Loving vs. Virginia, we meet the two teen lovers—one white, one Black—who fall head over heels in love in 1955-era Virginia. But because of racist policies, they couldn’t get married, until they fought the good fight all the way to the landmark Supreme Court in the 1967 ruling Loving vs. Virginia. This novel in verse brings their swoonworthy romance and deep love for each other to life. With illustrations by Shadra Strickland, Loving vs. Virginia is a marvel of a book.
How to read it: Purchase Loving vs. Virginia on Amazon
Ordinary Hazards by Nikki Grimes
In this memoir in verse, Nikki Grimes reflects on her challenging childhood bouncing from foster home to foster home after her mother, who suffered from mental illness, couldn’t care for her. As a kid, Grimes found comfort in writing. Now, in Ordinary Hazards, she shows just how deeply writing helped save her life. This is a wonderful book, surely up there with the best YA poetry books, that will resonate for anyone who’s ever found hope, solace, and power in the world of words.
How to write it: Purchase Ordinary Hazards on Amazon
Paper Hearts by Meg Wiviott
If you want more historical fiction in verse, check out Paper Hearts. This true story spotlights the friendship that prevailed in the dark depths of Auschwitz between two teenage girl prisoners. Despite the punishing situation, Zlatka created a secret birthday card in the shape of a heart for her friend Fania in 1944, an act of hope that contributed to each girl’s extraordinary resilience. Today, the heart card can be seen in the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre. If you’re looking for YA books for poetry month, add this one to your list.
How to read it: Purchase Paper Hearts on Amazon
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
This marvelous novel in verse won not only the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature but the prestigious Michael L. Printz Award as well. It doesn’t get more decorated than that. This is personally one of my all-time favorite YA novels, so I’m not shocked that it’s found a critical and commercial audience. Elizabeth Acevedo’s book is told through the verse of Xiomara Batista as she navigates an oppressive relationship with her ultra-religious mother, the thrills of first love, and the dawning passion she feels for expressing herself through poetry. Read this book, one of the best novels in verse for teens, and you won’t regret it.
How to read it: Purchase The Poet X on Amazon
Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam
This unmissable book is one of the best YA novels in verse is a collaboration between Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam. Our hero is sixteen-year-old Amal, who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Amal’s innocent, but, being a young Black man, the odds are stacked against him, and he is sent to prison. Still, he refuses to concede his innocence and fights for his future.
How to read it: Purchase Punching the Air on Amazon
The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan
This novel in verse is told in linked poems that reflect the unique voices of twenty young adults dealing with questions of love, identity, body image, and more. Levithan uses a variety of poetry forms, including haiku, songs, and diary entries. This book, one of the must-read queer novels in verse, might be a quick read at only be 210 pages long, but you won’t forget it anytime soon.
How to read it: Purchase The Realm of Possibility on Amazon
Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson
Laurie Halse Anderson is perhaps best known for her novel Speak, but she shows off her versatility with Shout, a memoir in verse. Anderson’s Shout focuses on her young adulthood and the challenges she faced, among them sexual assault and trauma. This is definitely a book with all the trigger warnings, but for those who want to push through, you’ll be treated to a wonderful read told in fierce and forceful verse.
How to read it: Purchase Shout on Amazon
Solo by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess
We’ve recommended Kwame Alexander’s book Crossover on here before, in our roundup of the best middle grade novels in verse, but he also writes for teen readers. Get started with Solo, which Alexander wrote with Mary Rand Hess. This lively book stars Blade, a musician who lives in the shadow of his father, Rutherford Morrison, a washed-up rocker who struggles with addiction. Blade finds solace in music and in the arms of his girlfriend, Chapel, even though her parents forbid their romance. You can’t help but root for Blade to find peace in this searing and poignant novel in verse.
How to read it: Purchase Solo on Amazon
Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy by Sonia Sones
Sonia Sones’ novel in verse Stop Pretending is told through the perspective of Cookie, whose older sister is grappling with bipolar disorder. All too often, the characters in mental health stories are the people who have an illness. But it’s also important to tell the stories of family, friends, and caregivers who are also challenged by the collateral that comes with loving somebody who has a mental illness. That’s the voice that Sones lends to the story in Stop Pretending, one of the best novels in verse for teens. (For more books about bipolar, check out our roundup of the best books about bipolar disorder.)
How to read it: Purchase Stop Pretending on Amazon
A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatrama
One of the most treasured YA novels in verse, this excellent book with disability representation stars Veda, a gifted dancer in India whose life is only looking up… until an accident leaves one of her legs amputated below the knee. But Veda isn’t giving up, and she starts all over, relearning the movies that used to be effortless. Along the way, Veda meets Govinda, a boy who shares Veda’s passion for dance. Veda’s journey of finding a new life despite her setbacks will pull you in and not let you go.
How to read it: Purchase A Time to Dance on Amazon
Up from the Sea by Leza Lowitz
This absorbing novel in verse follows protagonist Kai, who survives the 2011 tsunami that pummeled his small coastal Japanese community. Having lost friends, family, and his hometown, Kai comes to New York City to bond with kids whose lives were devastated by the 9/11 attacks. Kai is inspired by being with other young people who understand trauma and even decides to find his estranged American father. A heartwarming story of courage, hope, and connection, Up from the Sea is truly one of the best novels in verse for teens.
How to read it: Purchase Up from the Sea on Amazon
White Rose by Kip Wilson
We close out our list of the best novels in verse for teens with White Rose, which also made our roundup of the best historical fiction books for teens. In White Rose, Kip Wilson bring to life the remarkable true story of Sophie Scholl, a college student who opposed Hitler. Together with her brother and his soldier friends, Sophie distributed anonymous letters that were critical of the rising Nazi regime and advocated for more Germans to stand up to Hitler. It doesn’t end well for Sophie, but Wilson’s book will make sure Sophie is never forgotten.
