Still more on new novels in verse: Trailers

Here's a second installment featuring the work of my wonderful graduate students (in my fall course on YA literature). In honor of Teen Read Week (Oct. 16-23), they created digital trailers to promote some of the hot new verse novels being published for teens and I have their permission to share their projects here. Here are six trailers I think you'll enjoy. Please share them with the teens in your life-- get the books-- and encourage the kids to read and respond with their own audio-visual-digital creations!

First, Elizabeth Hoff has created an intriguing trailer for I'll Be Watching by Canadian writer Pamela Porter.



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Next up, Joseph Krupp made this gem for Orchards by Holly Thompson. [Note: Joe is currently a librarian in a school in Cambodia!]



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Kirsten Dees created this trailer for Margarita Engle's gripping historical novel in verse, Hurricane Dancers.



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Dana Terrell created this evocative trailer for Family by Micol Ostow.



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Janice Kirkland channeled the 1960's in this trailer for Sherry Shahan's Purple Daze.



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And finally, Kathey Smith offers a slightly different interpretation for Shahan's Vietnam-era novel in verse, Purple Daze.

More on new novels in verse: Trailers

In honor of Teen Read Week (Oct. 16-23), the students in my YA Literature course this fall are creating digital trailers to promote some of the hot new books being published for teens. In fact, they chose 9 of the recent novels in verse published this year to showcase in their work and I have their permission to share their projects here. First, I'll feature those that are available at external sites. (Tomorrow, I'll showcase those that are downloadable.)

First, Kathryn Anderson has created an evocative trailer for Displacement by Thalia Chaltas. It's available on YouTube via this link. Check it out.

Kristin Seholm featured Allan Wolf's new novel in verse about the Titanic, The Watch That Ends the Night. Look at her dramatic trailer on YouTube here.

Grace Erkman used Animoto to create her dramatic trailer for Unlocked by Ryan Van Cleave. Look for it here.

Shannon Hanrahan created a completely different trailer for the same book (Unlocked). Interesting to see how differently we can approach the same book. Look here for her edgy trailer.

And 
Traci Kirkland featured exposed by Kimberly Marcus for her digital trailer also using Animoto. Look for her sensitive and suspenseful mini movie here.

P.S. And don't forget to check out my new project, an e-book of new poetry for teens compiled with Janet Wong and featuring 31 photos plus poems by Big Names in poetry for teens like Naomi Nye, Paul B. Janeczko, Helen Frost, Allan Wolf, Kimberly Marcus, Stephanie Hemphill, and more. It's called P*TAG and it's available here.

What's new in novels in verse?

It’s been a boom year for publishing excellent novels in verse. I count nearly 20 of them, many of which I've written about earlier in the year. Here's my list (and please let me know if I've missed any in 2011):

1. Chaltas, Thalia. 2011. Displacement. Viking.
2. Engle, Margarita. 2011. Hurricane Dancers; The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck. Henry Holt.
3. Frost, Helen. 2011. Hidden. Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
4. Grimes, Nikki. 2011. Planet Middle School. Bloomsbury.
5. Herrera, Juan Felipe. 2011. Skate Fate. HarperCollins.
6. Hopkins, Ellen. 2011. Perfect. Margaret K. McElderry.
   
7. Howe, James. 2011. Addie on the Inside. Atheneum.
   
8. Janeczko, Paul B. 2011. Requiem; Poems of the Terezín Ghetto. Candlewick.
9. Kehoe, Stasia Ward. 2011. Audition. Viking.
10. Lai, Thanhha. 2011. Inside Out and Back Again. HarperCollins.
11. Marcus, Kimberly. 2011. exposed. Random House.
12. McCall, Guadalupe Garcia. 2011. Under the Mesquite. Lee & Low.
13. Ostlere, Cathy. 2011. Karma. Razorbill.
14. Ostow, Micol. 2011. family. Egmont.
15. Porter, Pamela. 2011. I'll Be Watching. Groundwood.
16. Saller, Carol Fisher. 2011. Eddie's War. Namelos.
    
17. Schroeder, Lisa. 2011. The Day Before. Simon & Schuster.
18. Shahan, Sherry. 2011. Purple Daze. Running Press Kids.
19. Thompson, Holly. 2011. Orchards. Random House.
20. Van Cleave, Ryan G. 2011. Unlocked. Walker.
21. Weber, Lori. 2011. Yellow Mini. Fitzhenry & Whiteside.
22. Wolf, Allan. 2011. The Watch That Ends the Night; Voices from the Titanic. Candlewick.

Plus, I’m seeing some new names in poetry for young people too which is always exciting. I find the novel in verse form so interesting— the engaging, fast-moving plots, quickly sketched characters, dialogue and inner monologues, and all in spare pages of poems. As a former sixth grade teacher I know the readability and white space of this form is also a plus for students— it seems so non-threatening to young readers.

I was also interested to learn about a new resource on verse novels developed by Stephen James in Australia. It’s the YARR-A website website with an extensive list of verse novels from around the world featuring information, synopses, and reviews when available of verse novels for teenagers and children. Cool, huh? One of my favorite verse novelists is Steven Herrick—who hails from Australia.

For another treat, check out this interview with award-winning author and poet Margarita Engle. The video was created by Colorín Colorado, the bilingual branch of public television's Reading Rainbow.

Finally, another of my (U.S.) favorites, Sonya Sones, has launched a new blog. She started off writing about how it feels when your child goes off to college hoping to help mothers whose kids are leaving for school this fall feel a little less alone… Her latest novel in verse (for adults) is about this very topic and is so honest, hilarious, and engaging: The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus. Her most recent posts have included terrific quotes and personal anecdotes about writing banned books. Check it out: Sonya's blog.


Image credit: 

Sonya Sones

Posting by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2011. All rights reserved.

UNLOCKED by Ryan Van Cleave

Poetry Tag continues with a book review of a new book of poetry connected to yesterday's book review.

Today’s tagline: A parallel novel in verse about teen life

Guest Reviewer: Marianne Follis

Featured Book: Van Cleave, Ryan G. 2011. Unlocked. Walker.

Marianne writes: In this terse novel in verse by first time young adult author Van Cleave, we are introduced to Andy, and he in turn introduces us to his life. Chapter headings are presented as character names, dates and sometimes as concepts like:

“Honesty”

I try to be
someone
who believes
in honesty

But the truth
is that I can’t
tell when
the world’s really
out to flatten me
or if it’s just me
somehow
self-sabotaging
my own damn life.

Two years
of anger therapy
(thanks for nothing,
Dr. Zigler)
and that’s all
I can say about
why my life’s
a twisted knot
the size of a fist.

My name is Andy.

I’m fourteen.

And I hate my life.

Some days I feel
so alone
that I might be
living inside
a shoebox
on the moon.

Some days
I don’t feel
anything
at all.

For most 14 year olds, being an outcast in middle school is bad enough, but Andy’s father is the school janitor, “Mr. Clean,” so by default Andy is dubbed “Clean Junior” by his tormentors. When rumors surface that once popular, now reclusive, Blake, has brought a gun to school, Andy sees his chance to earn status with the popular kids. After “borrowing” his father’s all access keys and breaking into Blake’s locker late at night, Andy finds… nothing.

While his after hour antics win him no points with the cool crowd, it does create a turning point in Andy’s life. He now has a friend; someone to play World of Warcraft with, and hang out with after school. Little by little Blake opens up to Andy about the tragedy in his life and the anger in his heart: Blake’s father never came back from Iraq. Blake does have his dad’s gun though. Slowly the boys bond while shooting the breeze, and shooting targets.

As the anniversary of Blake’s father’s death approaches, the poems are titled with dates, building tension and quickening the pace. The story’s end leaves the reader wondering how things could have been different for both boys and where the line of guilt and innocence is drawn.

Van Cleave’s use of verse brings momentum to the story and allows the reader to quickly move, with Andy through the days and loneliness and anxiety.

While feelings of isolation, grief and depression are not easily understood, the reader may be confused on the course of action taken by these boys. Andy seems more depressed than angry and Blake is obviously grief stricken and lost in the wake of his father’s violent death. However, while the author states that the boys are angry, we really aren’t given an in-depth look into the roots or even outward displays of these emotions. How these events evolve into the idea of a school shooting seem to be a bit of a stretch.

That said, themes of bullying and gun violence are important ones and this title could serve as a vehicle for a classroom discussion.

Note:
Ryan G. Van Cleave is a public speaker, creative writing teacher and author of many books for adults, including his autobiographical Unplugged: My Journey Into the Dark World of Video Addiction (HCI, 2010). This is the author’s first book for teens.

Tomorrow’s tagline: A novel in poems about teens caught in a crime

[We’re heading down the homestretch of National Poetry Month—still time to get your copy of the e-book, PoetryTagTime, an e-book with 30 poems, all connected, by 30 poets, downloadable at Amazon for your Kindle or Kindle app for your computer, iPad or phone for only 99 cents. Grab it now.]

Image credit: PoetryTagTime;

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell and students © 2011. All rights reserved.