Novels in verse, such as these five recommended for intermediate and/or middle-school readers, can pack a lot of meaning into relatively short lines. See also the March/April 2024 Horn Book Magazine, with its centennial mini-theme of Poetry & Folklore, and Dorie Raybuck’s 2015 Field Notes column, “This Is Too Much!”: Why Verse Novels Work for Reluctant Readers.

Force of Nature: A Novel of Rachel Carson
by Ann E. Burg; illus. by Sophie Blackall
Intermediate, Middle School    Scholastic    304 pp.
3/24    9781338883381    $19.99
e-book ed.  9781338883404    $19.99

In this first-person novel in verse, Burg (Serafina’s Promise, rev. 9/13) imagines the life of the groundbreaking environmentalist from age eleven through adulthood. Rachel possesses a heightened awareness of nature and makes close observation of the plants, birds, and animals in the surrounding fields and woods. When a teacher praises her writing, she vows to become a writer of fiction. Many obstacles thwart her success, including multiple family crises, so she shifts her career ambitions to studying science. While the limitations on women in the field keep her from capitalizing on all the skills and scientific knowledge she acquires, she is persistent and publishes articles, pamphlets, letters, reports, and books — laying the foundation for a global movement of environmental awareness and action. Burg’s lyrical language keeps the focus on Carson’s love of nature and raises many questions that prompt the reader to think critically; e.g., “Why is science considered / the realm of men? / Are we not all people?” and “When will man realize that he / is a part of nature, not its master?” Along with interspersed “Field Notes,” Blackall’s occasional black-and-white illustrations of plants and animals aptly suggest a kind of nature journal. SYLVIA VARDELL

Hummingbird Season
by Stephanie V. W. Lucianovic
Intermediate    Bloomsbury    272 pp.
2/24    9781547612741    $17.99
e-book ed.  9781547612758    $12.59

Lucianovic documents the life of her protagonist during COVID-19 when “every day / everything / is the same boring same.” Archie’s father works from his bedroom, his mother from the kitchen, and his older brother is still allowed to play outside with friends (some unmasked). Archie wonders, “I don’t know / how you can be lonely / when you’re stuck / in your house / with a family / who has no / choice but to be / with you / but I know / that’s the way it is.” COVID has created a near-dystopian world, and the boring ordinariness of Archie’s life belies the dangers of a time-warped existence where “a week feels much longer / than it did before. / A day takes / forever to end. / And time feels like it’s made of worksheets.” Archie simply wants connection — with parents, brother, classmates. The hummingbirds outside his window represent that, with their happy, friendly, “cozy” whirring-wing sounds reminding him of family moments he misses. Lucianovic portrays Archie’s interior world in straightforward first-person verse that effectively captures the voice of an elementary school boy living through extraordinary times. DEAN SCHNEIDER

Isabel in Bloom
by Mae Respicio
Intermediate, Middle School    Lamb/Random    368 pp.
4/24    9780593302712    $17.99
Library ed.  9780593302729    $20.99
e-book ed.  9780593302736    $10.99

In this verse novel set in 1999, twelve-year-old Isabel Ligaya leaves her home in the Philippines to reunite with her mother in California. Mama immigrated to the U.S. five years ago to work as a nanny, and Isabel is eager to see her but nervous about leaving her grandparents, her friends, and her beloved sampaguita (jasmine) plant. Having grown up with grandparents who sell vegetables at the market, Isabel is familiar with tending a garden, but the transition to growing a life in the U.S. has challenges. She’s self-conscious about her accent, finds making new friends daunting, and is disappointed that Mama spends most of her time looking for a job. Over the course of a year, Isabel discovers what can grow when one nourishes a seed with tenacity, love, and friendship. Respicio conveys Isabel’s experience mostly through accessible free verse and narrative poetry, and includes acrostic, haiku, palindrome, tanaga (an indigenous form of Filipino poetry), and concrete poems. The novel brings light to unconventional family structures and hate crimes against Asian Americans elders. An author’s note discusses the poetic forms and imagery, as well as the experiences of Asian Americans today. GABI KIM HUESCA

Deep Water
by Jamie Sumner
Intermediate, Middle School    Atheneum    224 pp.
4/24    9781665935067    $17.99
e-book ed.  9781665935081    $10.99

Open-water marathon swimming (any continuous swim over ten kilometers) is not for the faint of heart and is typically done with meticulous planning, careful consideration for the weather and water conditions, and a skilled kayaker and other safety supports in place. But when her mother abruptly leaves and doesn’t come back, Tully impulsively decides to swim the 12.1-mile Lake Tahoe Marathon, a.k.a. “the Godfather swim.” At twelve, she will be the youngest person to complete the swim, and she is doing so in risky weather conditions, with an inexperienced kayaker, and without her father’s knowledge. Tully’s mom, an endurance athlete, was her daughter’s swim coach whose obsessive exercise kept her depression at bay, and Tully believes that “this swim [is] going to bring my mother back.” Written in verse, including occasional concrete poems, the book is organized in chapters by the hours into the swim (Hour One, Hour Two); as Tully gets further along, there is a peeling-of-the-onion effect, where with each passing hour more is revealed about her mother’s mental health and the lies Tully told herself to mask more painful truths. This touching and deeply affecting novel takes on difficult topics such as maternal abandonment and codependency and gives readers a peek into the feelings and thoughts that underpin childhood trauma. JULIE HAKIM AZZAM

Mid-Air
by Alicia D. Williams; illus. by Danica Novgorodoff
Middle School    Dlouhy/Atheneum    320 pp.
4/24    9781481465830    $17.99
e-book ed.  9781481465854    $10.99

“Be like water,” Isaiah says. “Always,” Darius replies. These are the final words the boys say to each other before Darius takes off on his bicycle to break the Guinness world record for a wheelie. Isaiah is in charge of watching for cars, but a chaotic, unexpected confrontation ends with a tragic fatal accident. Isaiah and his other best friend, Drew, each deal with grief and guilt in their own way: Isaiah wants to open up about his pain, while Drew withdraws. Written in verse, this resonant coming-of-age novel flows with accessible language that quickly draws readers into the story; emotionally moving grayscale illustrations are interspersed. After Isaiah is violently attacked, he begins to shut down, and his mother sends him to visit relatives in North Carolina. There, Isaiah begins a journey of self-acceptance and unpacking of the emotional weight he has been carrying. Williams (Genesis Begins Again, rev. 1/19) handles the sensitive topics of death, grief, racism, violence, and racial and gender expression with care, making sure the narrative doesn’t become overly dark and heavy. The novel’s focus on Isaiah’s inner world allows readers to witness the evolution of a thirteen-year-old Black boy dealing with life-altering events, navigating challenging relationships with friends and family, and, finally, feeling comfortable enough to reveal his full self in the process. MONIQUE HARRIS

From the September 2024 issue of Notes from the Horn Book.