April is National Poetry Month: Booklist
All the Fighting Parts by Hannah V. Sawyerr: In the wake of being sexually assaulted by her pastor, sixteen-year-old Amina struggles to regain her footing until she finds the strength within herself to confront her abuser in court.Alma Presses Play by Tina Cane: In 1980s New York, half-Chinese, half-Jewish Alma, whose life is a series of halfways, uses her Walkman to get through the challenges thrown her way until she is ready to press play on the soundtrack of her life.An Impossible Thing to Say by Arya Shahi: In the aftermath of 9/11, high school sophomore Omid grapples with finding the…
The Poetry of Hip-Hop
What counts as poetry? Is it always tidy print marching down the path to find two roads diverging in the woods then stopping to wait for a death metaphor? Is it a barbaric yawp from the best minds of your generation from a poet who doesn’t even know it? What if we went beyond the confines of Western Lit 101 to uncover poetry that resonates with us now? At the most fundamental level, hip-hop and poetry both play with sound, turning them into meaning and then back to sound again, declaimed alone or to the sound of a drum machine or coiled inside a catchy song, verse/rhythm/rhyme from Tupac…
April is National Poetry Month
Did you know April is National Poetry Month? If you like to read poetry or verse novels check out the booklist below: A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman: Veda, a classical dance prodigy in India, lives and breathes dance--so when an accident leaves her a below-knee amputee, her dreams are shattered. For a girl who's grown used to receiving applause for her dance prowess and flexibility, adjusting to a prosthetic leg is painful and humbling. But Veda refuses to let her disability rob her of her dreams, and she starts all over again, taking beginner classes with the youngest…
Poem in Your Pocket: 7 Poems & Their Reverberations
The Academy of American Poets launched National Poetry Month in April 1996. The goal of National Poetry Month is to remind all that in a world awash in text, poetry matters. Every April since, poetry readers and nonreaders alike can’t help but notice poetry cropping up amongst the blooms of spring—poems suddenly adorning sandwich boards and subway cars, Instagram feeds, drivetime radio and especially in local library displays. This year, Off the Shelf invited four lovers of poetry to contribute a post for a Poem in Your Pocket series to gift our readers a new poem for every day of the week.…
Book Recommendations for Poetry Month!
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo A novel about finding your voice, and for the main character, Xiomara Batista, the way to do that is through poetry. She keeps a notebook under her bed, full of words that she can’t say – especially to her mother. But then Xiomara is invited to join the slam poetry club at school and has to decide if she’s going to stay silent or not. The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta It is the story of Michael, a black, gay teen, who discovers the Drag Society at university and finds himself on the stage, finally free to be precisely whom he was always meant to be. Atta…
Seasons
Enjoy this seasonal poem by seventh grader Christopher Thayer. Seasons by Christopher Thayer When the flakes as white as paper drizzle lightly on my palm, I wonder to myself when Summer will come. When I watch my breath float in the air, I wonder to myself when Summer will come. Just a few more months, I say to myself. When the new flowers in the yard start to bloom, I wonder to myself when Fall will come. When the bees fly from flower to flower, I wonder to myself when Fall will come. Just a few more months I say to myself. When I look at the windows splattered with rain, I wonder…
Poem in Your Pocket: 7 Stages of Grief
Adeeba Afshan Rana, NLS, NLS
The Academy of American Poets launched National Poetry Month in April 1996. The goal of National Poetry Month is to remind all that in a world awash in text, poetry matters. Every April since, poetry readers and nonreaders alike can’t help but notice poetry cropping up amongst the blooms of spring—poems suddenly adorning sandwich boards and subway cars, Instagram feeds, drivetime radio and especially in local library displays. This year, Off the Shelf invited four lovers of poetry to contribute a post for a Poem in Your Pocket series to gift our readers a new poem for every day of the week.…
Tears at Sunset: A Poetry Portfolio
After The Tragedy Orange flowers, yellow leaves, green grass, blue water, and a deep, crimson red sky. Damp soil clung to the bottom of my combat boots, dragging me down to earth with every step I took. Heavier and heavier. An old oak tree stood sturdy, not yielding to strong winds, desperate to cling to the Earth. I extended a long, scarred arm to the bare oak tree’s bark. My callused, rough hands gingerly traced an odd circle again. And again. The color faded, not as dark or as rough as the rest of the russet oak tree, but dark like my morning bitter, black coffee I love to drink. I…
YA Verse Novels for National Poetry Month
Happy National Poetry Month! If you also like poetry, or novels-in-verse, check out any, or all of these five books! APPLE: SKIN TO THE CORE BY ERIC GANSWORTH: "The term "Apple" is a slur in Native communities across the country. It's for someone supposedly "red on the outside, white on the inside." Eric Gansworth is telling his story in Apple (Skin to the Core). The story of his family, of Onondaga among Tuscaroras, of Native folks everywhere. From the horrible legacy of the government boarding schools, to a boy watching his siblings leave and return and leave again, to a young…
Poem in Your Pocket Day!
Did you know that Poem in Your Pocket Day is every April 30? On this day, folks carry a favorite poem in their pocket to share with anyone they meet. But how do we celebrate when we are keeping our distance and we can’t go to the library and check out the poetry section? There are lots of fun ways to celebrate together with friends and family near and far. Here are a few ideas from the American Academy of Poets and Brooklyn Public Library staff… As a family, select a poem and share it on social media using the hashtag #pocketpoem or just share it with your family. Don’t yet have a…
Announcing the 2020 Teen Writing Contest & Ned Vizzini Prize Winners
Karen, Coordinator of Young Adult Services , Coordinator of Young Adult Services
We received hundreds of submissions, and the Teen Writing Contest Committee is pleased to announce the following prizes, honors, and selections for the 2020 Teen Writing Contest & Ned Vizzini Teen Writing Prize. Poetry Middle School First Place: Here’s To La Ciencia Emigrante by Iago Macknik-Conde Second Place: Blue Hands by Vaikuntha Tamayo Honorable Mention: Ode by Ihshan Jaman Honorable Mention: Basketball Game by Aidan Lebron Honorable Mention: All Might by Naomi Schulz High School First Place: The Roach In My Bed by Thisbe Wu Second Place (Tie):…
Earth Day Poetry Recommendations from a Former Hater
My reading appetite is insatiable, an annual sixty-course feast of literary fiction, mysteries and romantic comedies, the occasional nonfiction book tacked on like the green juice you choke down after a gluttonous vacation. I am willing to read anything, but until two years ago, I would have described myself as poetry averse. Why look to corny, rhyming couplets for the meaning of life when I could instead reflect on the emo lyrics of my teen angst? But then something happened: I got hooked on a weekly column about poetry and lipstick and caregiving written by a British cookbook author named…