Novels in Verse: Middle Grade

Welcome to ancient Greece as only genius storyteller Laura Amy Schlitz can conjure it. In a warlike land of wind and sunlight, "ringed by a restless sea," live Rhaskos and Melisto, spiritual twins with little in common beyond the violent and mysterious forces that dictate their lives. A Thracian slave in a Greek household, Rhaskos is as common as clay, a stable boy worth less than a donkey, much less a horse. Wrenched from his mother at a tender age,...

In the aftermath of a major earthquake, eleven-year-old Maya overcomes her own fear to help others at home and in northeast Japan, where a tsunami caused great damage. Includes author's note about the facts behind the story.

Twelve-year-old Maddie, who suffers from anxiety, loves music, math, and everything in its place, but when her older brother Strum disappears from his college campus, her family starts slipping away from her.

Best friends and sixth-graders Bumble and Lizard go on a quest to save the severely endangered language, Guernésiais, partly to impress Bumble's linguist mother.

"Etan has stopped speaking since his mother left. His father and grandfather don't know how to help him. His friends have given up on him. When Etan is asked to deliver a grocery order to the outskirts of town, he realizes he's at the home of Malia Agbayani, also known as the creature. Malia stopped going to school when her acute eczema spread to her face, and the bullying became too much. Soon, other kids tease Etan for being friends with the creature....

Sent with her mother to the safety of a relative's home in Cincinnati when her Syrian hometown is overshadowed by violence, Jude worries for the family members who were left behind as she adjusts to a new life with unexpected surprises.

Twelve-year-old Beatrice Miller copes with the ups and downs of friendships, puberty, and identity, guided by the wisdom and love of her beloved Mamaw and mom, the summer before seventh grade.--

Malian loves spending time with her grandparents at their home on a Wabanaki reservation. She's there for a visit when, suddenly, all travel shuts down. There's a new virus making people sick, and Malian will have to stay with her grandparents for the duration. Everyone is worried about the pandemic, but Malian knows how to keep her family and community safe: She protects her grandparents, and they protect her. She doesn't go outside to play with...

Bullied and shamed her whole life for being fat, twelve-year-old Ellie finally gains the confidence to stand up for herself, with the help of some wonderful new allies.--

When her best friend's cancer returns in the summer of 1987, none of her usual pursuits--surfing, singing, or reading poetry--can keep thirteen-year-old Ava afloat.