Poetry for Teens

Here's a big shout out to my former students, Cynthia Bartek and Heather Schubert, who are now UberLibrarians in Austin (Texas) and have launched the first Austin Teen Book Festival TODAY! What a terrific event they have planned. I had hoped to go, but it didn't work out. But I promised them a poetry booklist for teens, which I am sharing with you here. It focuses on a few titles (mostly published post-2000) in a few fun categories with a focus on maximum teen appeal. Enjoy!

Crazy Awesome Poetry for Teens
1. Engle, Margarita. 2008. The Surrender Tree. Henry Holt.
2. Frost, Helen. 2003. Keesha's House. Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
3. Hemphill, Stephanie. 2007. Your Own, Sylvia. Knopf.
4. Holbrook, Sara & Wolf, Allan. 2008. More Than Friends; Poems from Him and Her. Boyds Mills Press.
5. Mecum, Ryan. 2008. Zombie Haiku. How Books.
6. Mecum, Ryan. 2009. Vampire Haiku. How Books.
7. Nelson, Marilyn. 2005. A Wreath for Emmett Till. Houghton Mifflin.
8. Shakur, Tupac. 1999. A Rose That Grew from Concrete. Pocket Books.
9. Smith, Hope Anita. 2008. Keeping the Night Watch. Henry Holt.
10. Sones, Sonya. 2001. What My Mother Doesn't Know. Simon & Schuster.

Love Poetry for Teens
1. Adoff, Arnold. 1997. Love Letters. Scholastic.
2. Block, Francesca Lia. 2008. How to (Un)Cage a Girl. Joanna Cotler Books.
3. Fletcher, Ralph. 1998. Room Enough for Love: The Complete Poems of I Am Wings and Buried Alive. Aladdin.
4. Franco, Betsy, ed. 2008. Falling Hard: Teenagers on Love. Candlewick.
5. Janeczko, Paul, ed. 2004. Blushing: Expressions of Love. Scholastic.
6. Mora, Pat. 2010. Dizzy in Your Eyes. Knopf.
7. Myers, Walter Dean. 2009. Amiri and Odette: A Dance for Two. Scholastic.
8. Sayer, Viv, ed. 2008. Poems of Love and Longing. Pont Books.
9. Soto, Gary. 2009. Partly Cloudy: Poems of Love and Longing. Harcourt.
10. Young Ed. 2003. Voices of the Heart. Scholastic.

Poetry Written BY Teens
1. Aguado, Bill, ed. 2003. Paint Me Like I Am. Harper.
2. Franco, Betsy, ed. 2001. Things I Have to Tell You: Poems by Teenage Girls. Candlewick.
3. Franco, Betsy, ed. 2001. You Hear Me?: Poems by Teenage Boys. Candlewick.
4. Johnson, Dave, ed. 2000. Movin’: Teen Poets Take Voice. Orchard.
5. Lyne, Sandford, comp. 2004. Soft Hay Will Catch You. Simon & Schuster.
6. Michael, Pamela, ed. 2008. River of Words. Milkweed.
7. Ochoa, Annette Piña, Betsy Franco, and Traci L. Gourdine, eds. 2003. Night is Gone, Day is Still Coming; Poems by American Indian Teens. Candlewick.
8. Sidman, Joyce. 2003. The World According to Dog. Houghton Mifflin.
9. Tom, Karen, and Kiki. 2001. Angst! Teen Verses from the Edge. Workman.
10. WritersCorps. 2008. Tell the World. HarperCollins.

Poem Anthologies: On Art & War; Being Young, Latino or Female
1. Carlson, Lori, ed. 2005. Red Hot Salsa. Henry Holt.
2. Clinton, Catherine. ed. 2003. A Poem of Her Own; Voices of American Women Yesterday and Today. Abrams.
3. Greenberg, Jan, ed. 2001. Heart to Heart: New Poems Inspired by Twentieth-Century American Art. Abrams.
4. Greenberg, Jan, ed. 2008. Side by Side: New Poems Inspired by Art from Around the World. Abrams.
5. Heard, Georgia, ed. 2002. This Place I Know: Poems of Comfort. Candlewick.
6. Hopkins, Lee Bennett, ed. 2008. America at War. McElderry.
7. Lewis, J. Patrick. 2005. Vherses: A Celebration of Outstanding Women. Creative.
8. Lewis, J. Patrick. 2007. The Brothers' War: Civil War Voices in Verse. National Geographic.
9. Nye, Naomi. ed. 2010. Time You Let Me In; 25 Poets Under 25. Greenwillow.
10. Siebert, Diane. 2006. Tour America. Chronicle.

Verse Novels: A Sampling
1. Burg, Ann. 2009. All the Broken Pieces. Scholastic.
2. Chaltas, Thalia. 2009. Because I Am Furniture. Viking.
3. Glenn, Mel. 2000. Split Image. HarperCollins.
4. Grimes, Nikki. 2002. Bronx Masquerade. Dial.
5. Herrick, Steven. 2004. The Simple Gift. Simon & Schuster.
6. High, Linda Oatman. 2008. Planet Pregnancy. Front Street.
7. Hopkins, Ellen. 2008. Identical. McElderry.
8. Wayland, April Halprin. 2002. Girl Coming in for a Landing. Knopf.
9. Wolff, Virginia Euwer. 2009. This Full House. HarperTeen.
10. Wong, Joyce Lee. 2006. Seeing Emily. Abrams.

For Midde School Poetry Lovers
1. Bagert, Brod. 2006. Hormone Jungle. Maupin House.
2. George, Kristine O’Connell. 2002. Swimming Upstream. Clarion.
3. Grandits, John. 2004. Technically, It’s Not My Fault: Concrete Poems. Clarion.
4. Grandits, John. 2007. Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems. Clarion.
5. Janeczko, Paul B, comp. 2002. Seeing the Blue Between: Advice and Inspiration for Young Poets. Candlewick.
6. Park, Linda Sue. 2007. Tap Dancing on the Roof; Sijo Poems. Clarion.
7. Sidman, Joyce. 2007. This is Just to Say. Houghton Mifflin.
8. Smith, Charles R. Jr. 2003. Hoop Queens. Candlewick.
9. Smith, Charles R. Jr. 2004. Hoop Kings. Candlewick.
10. Zimmer, Tracie Vaughn. 2008. 42 Miles. Clarion.

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2009. All rights reserved.