YA Books in Verse

YA Books in Verse

Concrete Kids
"This is for the concrete kids.
The kids with a melonin kiss. The kids drenched in poverty.
The kids who are told to cut their hair, to tame their tone.
The kids who are told to shorten their names
And disappear their tongues."
Amyra Leon's memoir in verse, Concrete Kids, is the best proof
ever that good things come in small packages. Actually amazing things
come in small packages. In a book the size of my hand and as thick as
a pencil Leon shares the tumultuous story of her childhood.
There's a lot of sadness. Early on Leon is taken from her
mother and put into foster care.
"I have long forgotten what home feels like and have stopped dreaming
of the day my birth mother will take me home..."
There's the gentrification that tears close knit neighborhoods
apart.
"Depending on the day, you can find
Harlem somewhere
Between Eden and a war zone."
There is the day she sees a boy shot and is afraid the killer
will come back to snuff out any witnesses.
"I can hear his mother screaming.
It sounds like she is bleeding from her throat.
Her cries are long, her breath is short.
I am in my room crying with her."
But there is a great deal of resilience shown throughout the
narrative and Leon has the amazing ability to find hope in often bleak
circumstances.
"Today I woke again
In my holy, in my black skin
Knowing liberation."

When The Stars Wrote Back
"I don't care if they're too loud.
I don't care if they're too truthful.
My poems are shouts disguised as kisses.
My poems are angry and they have a right to be."
In When The Stars Wrote Back Trista Mateer, Instagram star poet,
intersperses fan favorites with new material. The book is a bit too
angry and controversial for some people. But if you like your poetry
truthful this is a must read book.
Her Things My Mother Taught Me will resonate with a lot of girls
and women. It includes gems such as:
"4. people can treat you like shit
and you will still love them.
5. You are not pretty enough
young enough or thin enough;
you will never be enough.
6. boys will be boys
and there's nothing you can do
about it."
There are also candid descriptions of friendship loss
"There are weeks I don't think about her but then I remember the sound
of her laugh and it ruins me."
and poems about dreams, desires, lonliness, eating disorders, rape,
abuse, and tragedy. Her eloquent verses are coupled with striking
illustrations in black, white, and shades of purple.
I think this is a great book for anyone going through life
changes, transitions, or a period of introspection. Who knows? Maybe
it can wake up the poet in you.

Chlorine Sky
"And I think I want my friend back.
But not like that
Just want to be able to talk to the only one
Who cares how I look when I leave the house."
Whether it comes in the form of an explosion or a gradual
unraveling, the loss of a trusted and treasured friend is
heartbreaking, especially if you continuously see this person hanging
out with new friends and acting like you don't exist or matter.
Sometimes it cuts deeper than a romantic break up. If this has ever
happened to you you owe it to yourself to read Mahogany L. Browne's
Chlorine Sky.
Sky has always been Lay Li's best friend, the silent moon
reflecting her chum's outgoing, center stage persona. Now suddenly
she can't do anything right. Lay Li has said, "You ruin everything."
Home isn't that much of a haven. Sky's father is in prison.
Her mother has to work too much as sole provider. At home she's
basically the enforcer of rules.
"No fighting in the house.
No running from fights.
That school better not call my home."
Sky's only sister, Essa, seems to hate her.
On the basketball court, though, Sky is a stand out--more than a
match for the boys in play and talk. In this poignant and powerful
coming of age narrative she learns to shine in her own right.
But you don't have to take my work on the greatness of this
book. Elizabeth Acevedo considers it to be "an absolute masterpiece."
Nic Stone describes it as "a profound reminder that sometimes the most
revolutionary thing a girl can do is to be herself."

On a purrrsonal note, the rest of the three day weekend was good. The
highlight for me was my church's zoom/in person pajama Sunday
service. I wore my red Snoopy pajamas. The ministers ditched their
clergy garb for pjs. But most people wore their regular church
clothes. One woman said she couldn't imagine wearing pajamas to a
church service, even zooming from her home. How sad! I cooked the
ham Eugene got from work on Sunday. Thankfully I don't like it that
much. It is loaded with sodium. (Jules)
I was wearing my pajamas. (Tobago).
A great big shout out goes out to pastors Malcolm and Mariah for
coming up with pajamas Sunday. I hope they offer it often.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway


Sent from my iPod