A Poetic YA Reading List for Poetry Month 2023

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April is National Poetry Month! It’s the time to wax poetic about your favorite things, indulge in some sonnets, or maybe tickle your funny bone with a limerick or two. To celebrate poetry in all its forms, we’ve put together some of our favorite YA poetry books and novels in verse to inspire you. Check out our YA reading list for Poetry Month and start living your poetic life!

Did you enjoy this reading list for Poetry Month? Check out other reading lists here, and get social with us at @getunderlined!

Chlorine Sky

By Mahogany L. Browne

"An absolute masterpiece." -Elizabeth Acevedo, New York Times bestselling author of The Poet X

From the first ever poet-in-residence at Lincoln Center comes a bold coming-of-age story told in verse about a young woman who loses a best friend, but finds herself in the process. The joys of basketball, the tumult of high school, and the bonds of family are lyrically woven together in this must-read novel.

Home Is Not a Country

By Safia Elhillo

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

“Nothing short of magic.” —Elizabeth Acevedo, New York Times bestselling author of The Poet X

From the acclaimed poet featured on Forbes Africa’s “30 Under 30” list, this powerful novel-in-verse captures one girl, caught between cultures, on an unexpected journey to face the ephemeral girl she might have...

Finding Jupiter

By Kelis Rowe

Sparks fly when Orion and Ray meet for the first time at a roller rink in Memphis. But these star-crossed souls have a past filled with secrets that threaten to tear them apart before their love story even begins. Found poetry, grief, and fate collide in this powerful debut.

Ray: Just once I’d like my birthday to be about me, and not the day my father died. I want to be Ray Jr., the tall girl from Memphis with the poetr...

Vinyl Moon

By Mahogany L. Browne

A teen girl hiding the scars of a past relationship finds home and healing in the words of strong Black writers. A beautiful sophomore novel from a critically acclaimed author and poet that explores how words have the power to shape and uplift our world even in the midst of pain.

When Darius told Angel he loved her, she believed him.

Angel feels out of sync with the rhythms of her new neighborhood. At school, she...

Alma Presses Play

By Tina Cane

A lyrical novel-in-verse that takes us through the journey of coming of age in New York during the 80s.

Alma's life is a series of halfways: She's half-Chinese, half-Jewish; her parents spend half the time fighting, and the other half silent; and she's halfway through becoming a woman. But as long as she can listen to her Walkman, hang out with her friends on the stoops of the Village, and ride her bike around the streets of New Yor...

A Poetic YA Reading List for Poetry Month 2023

Did you enjoy this reading list for Poetry Month? Check out other reading lists here, and get social with us at @getunderlined!

Chlorine Sky

By Mahogany L. Browne

Home Is Not a Country

By Safia Elhillo

Finding Jupiter

By Kelis Rowe

Vinyl Moon

By Mahogany L. Browne

Alma Presses Play

By Tina Cane

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