Tag Archives: novel in verse

MMGM Review: The Song of Orphan’s Garden by Nicole M. Hewitt

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, Poetry, , , , , , , , , ,
The Song of Orphan's Garden by Nicole M. Hewitt

The Song of Orphan’s Garden
Nicole M. Hewitt
Feiwel & Friends
Published January 21, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Song of Orphan’s Garden

Combining the gentleness of Miyazaki, the wintry wonderland of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and the whimsicality of Newbery winner The Girl Who Drank the Moon, Nicole M. Hewitt’s debut middle-grade novel, The Song of Orphan’s Garden, is an enchanting fantasy tale with all the makings of a new classic.

In an arctic world that’s getting colder every day, Lyriana’s only hope of survival is to get her little brother Zave and herself to the fabled Orphan’s Garden. It’s rumored to be the one place in the world not controlled by deadly Winter Spirits or ruled by the tyrant Giant king. In Orphan’s Garden, healing trees will melt away Winter’s pains, and Lyriana and Zave can live safely in the warmth of Spring. If the garden exists, they must find it. They won’t live much longer without it.

Brob, a Giant boy, also needs sanctuary. When the Giant king banishes his family to the Winter Blight, it’s a death sentence. Orphan’s Garden is his family’s only hope, and as far as Brob’s concerned, it belongs to him. After all, he was the one who accidentally used an ancient magic to grow the garden years ago. He has no intention of sharing his haven with pesky humans, who will just use up its magic and ruin it.

When it becomes clear that Orphan’s Garden is in danger of being destroyed, Lyriana and Brob are the only ones who can save it—but only if they can put the ages-old battle between Humans and Giants aside and find a way to work together.

My Review

I’ve heard so much about this book this year that I couldn’t wait to finally get my hands on a copy. I read this whole book in less than 24 hours. It’s written in verse, and alternates back and forth mainly between Lyriana and Brob’s perspectives. The lines in Lyriana’s scenes are very short compared to Brob’s scenes, which was cool. It kind of reflected their different sizes.

I kind of figured out what was missing from the magic very early in the book, but I loved watching the characters coming to those realizations. The way that the author uses music in connection with magic is also really cool.

I do wish there had been another young female character besides Lyriana. I think the group of kids has other girls in it, but they don’t contribute much individually. Several female characters sacrifice themselves to save the people they love, too. I think it would have been cool to have that not restricted to a role that women in the story played.

On the whole, though, this story captivated me from the first chapter to the last. I love that the author wrote this fantasy novel in verse and still created what feels like a rich story world and unforgettable characters.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Contains characters who are giants. Each season has spirits who help or harm depending on their natures. References to a deity called The Composer. Songs draw forth magic called Fermata. Some giants can use Fermata to make plants grow. A special tree has the power to heal those who climb into its branches.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to battles between humans and giants. Death of a parent. Appearance of death of a sibling.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday

I’m sharing this post as a part of a weekly round-up of middle-grade posts called Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday. Check out other blogs with posts about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle.

Review: Under the Neon Lights by Arriel Vinson

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Poetry, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Under the Neon Lights
Arriel Vinson
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Published June 3, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Under the Neon Lights

In this sparkling and heartfelt debut YA novel in verse, a young Black girl discovers first love, self-worth, and the power of a good skate. Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo and Joya Goffney.

Sixteen-year-old Jaelyn Coleman lives for Saturdays at WestSide Roll, the iconic neighborhood roller rink. On these magical nights, Jae can lose herself in the music of DJ Sunny, the smell of nachos from the concession, and the crowd of some of her favorite people—old heads, dance crews, and other regulars like herself. Here, Jae and other Black teens can fully be themselves.

One Saturday, as Jae skates away her worries, she crashes into the cutest boy she’s ever seen. Trey’s dimples, rich brown skin, and warm smile make it impossible for her to be mad at him though. Best of all, he can’t stop finding excuses to be around her. A nice change for once, in contrast with her best friend’s cold distance of late or her estranged father creeping back into her life.

Just as Jae thinks her summer might change for the better, devastating news hits: Westside Roll is shutting down. The gentrification rapidly taking over her predominantly Black Indianapolis neighborhood, filling it with luxury apartments and fancy boutiques, has come for her safe-haven. And this is just one trouble Jae can’t skate away from.

Debut author Arriel Vinson’s lyrical and contemplative story of young Black love and coming of age in Indianapolis ushers in an exciting new voice in YA literature.

My Review

The descriptions of the skating rink were so perfect. My memories of going skating and the sounds, smells, the stickiness in the air, all of that, came springing back to life in my head as I read this book. The descriptions of the music let you know what’s going on without ever slowing down the story. I felt like I was right there with Jae.

What’s really awesome, too, is that the story paints the picture of the skating rink as this hub for community. It’s a space where people gather and celebrate music, relationships, and the joy of roller skating. I loved every one of those scenes.

The story also makes space to explore the ways that relationships change. Sometimes things break, and we don’t know how to fix them. Sometimes people let us down. And sometimes people change. Figuring out when to fight or confront versus when to let things go is not easy, and Jae faces several complex choices in her relationships.

Jae also lives in a town that’s facing increasing gentrification. It’s no the theme of the story. This isn’t a book about mobilizing the community to stop what’s happening. It’s about figuring out how to be who you are in an ever-changing world, and how to hold onto the things that matter to you even when the world keeps changing. There are some great moments in which Jae calls out gentrification and acknowledges the harm it’s causing. So while it’s not a story that centers on saving the skating rink, it does address the impact of the closure on the community.

Conclusion

I was engaged from the first page to the last. The verse lines move quickly, drawing our attention to the perfect amount of detail and creating a rich emotional story. I cannot wait to see what the author writes next.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A few instances of strong profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Scenes show people falling while skating. References to racism and prejudice. Jae’s neighborhood faces increasing gentrification.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, Poetry, , , , , , , , ,

The Trouble with Heroes
Kate Messner
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published April 29, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Trouble with Heroes

Bestselling and award-winning author Kate Messner takes readers on a heart-filling journey as a boy finds his path to healing.

One summer.
46 mountain peaks.
A second chance to make things right.

Finn Connelly is nothing like his dad, a star athlete and firefighter hero who always ran toward danger until he died two years ago. Finn’s about to fail seventh grade and has never made headlines . . . until now.

Caught on camera vandalizing a cemetery, he’s in big trouble for kicking down some dead old lady’s headstone. But it turns out that grave belongs to a legendary local mountain climber, and her daughter makes Finn an unusual offer…climb all forty-six Adirondack High Peaks with her dead mother’s dog, and they can call it even.

In a wild three months of misadventures, mountain mud, and unexpected mentors, Finn begins to find his way on the trails. At the top of each peak, he can see for miles and slowly begins to understand more about himself and his dad. But the mountains don’t care about any of that, and as the clock ticks down to September, they have more surprises in store. Finn’s final summit challenge may be more than even a hero can face.

My Review

This story is mostly told in verse with a few letters and articles mixed in. At first, Finn writes poems as part of an English assignment for school. The early poems are written unwillingly, so some of the things he writes are funny from the perspective of watching a kid try to weasel out of doing work. But as he keeps writing, he begins to appreciate poetry as a vehicle to process his thoughts and experiences.

The same is true of his hiking experience. At first, he’s only participating unwillingly. He knows his mom can’t afford to replace the headstone he broke, and this is an alternative way that he can apologize for his behavior and make it right. As he spends more time outdoors, he starts noticing more of the natural world around him and even forms connections with his hiking mentors.

That leads him to process his grief over losing his dad during COVID-19. As the story unfolds, he also learns about connections between his hiking life and his dad’s experiences. I loved some of those connections. One in particular really hits deep, so grab some tissues as you get to the end of the book.

I have enjoyed every book by Kate Messner that I’ve ever read, so it isn’t a huge surprise that I loved this one. I think this is the first novel in verse that I’ve read by her, and I think she did a fabulous job with it.

If you’re looking for a nature-centered book about hiking or a story about a kid who’s made some bad choices and has a chance to turn things around, you’ll want to check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Finn kicked over a headstone in a graveyard and broke it. References to September 11th. References to an injured person carried by a firefighter. The story includes brief memories of the COVID-19 pandemic. References to an animal attack. References to the death of a parent.

Drug Content
Finn’s dad struggled with alcohol addiction.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Away by Megan E. Freeman

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , ,

Away
Megan E. Freeman
Simon & Schuster
Published February 11, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Away

A group of children investigate the threat that prompted large-scale evacuations in this powerful and dramatic companion novel to the New York Times bestselling Alone told in multiple POVs.

After an imminent yet unnamed danger forces people across Colorado to leave their homes, a group of kids, including an aspiring filmmaker and a budding journalist, find themselves in the same evacuation camp. As they cope with the aftermath of having their world upended, they grow curious about the mysterious threat.

And as they begin to investigate, they start to discover that there’s less truth and more cover-up to what they’re being told. Can they get to the root of the conspiracy, expose the bad actors, and bring an end to the upheaval before it’s too late?

My Review

It’s a really weird time to read dystopian fiction set in the US, especially something centered around a possible environmental disaster and government conspiracies. Yet, here we are, and I’m grateful for books like this one and authors like Megan E. Freeman, who break down some of these ideas and questions into stories that make them accessible to middle grade readers. Stories allow us to ask questions and look at life from a perspective other than our own.

Anyway. After reading Alone, a companion novel to this one, I had a hard time imagining a new story set at the same time from multiple points of view. Alone was such a powerful story, though, that I knew I wanted to try this one, and I’m so glad I did.

I think the ensemble cast really worked in this book. Each character’s point of view presents in a slightly different way. Harmony tells her story in newspaper articles and letters to her journalist aunt. Teddy’s perspective comes in transcripts for video footage and storyboard images. Ashanti and Grandin relate their experiences in verse.

Those seem like disparate things, but I love the way that they come together. Each character also has a particular interest or area of expertise that comes in handy. Ashanti often compares things that happen to mythological stories. Teddy pulls comparisons from movies or documentaries. Harmony references famous history or journalists, especially Nelly Bly.

I loved that because that also reinforces the truth that understanding history, both the facts of our history and our culture through art and media helps give us context for the world we experience. Those things also teach us to think critically. And the story perfectly captures that process as this group of young teenagers walks it out.

The book also contains a lot of hope and encouragement, too. It’s about building community and working together and the value and impact of spreading truth. I think Away will find a home with a lot of readers looking for encouragement and hope right now.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Harmony’s mom is a Christian pastor. Reference to an interfaith council that plans an inclusive winter holiday celebration.

Violent Content
References to toxins and dangerous conditions prompting a massive evacuation.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday

I’m sharing this post as a part of a weekly round-up of middle-grade posts called Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday. Check out other blogs with posts about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle with Greg Pattridge.

Review: All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , ,

All the Blues in the Sky
Renée Watson
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published February 4, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About All the Blues in the Sky

# 1 New York Times bestselling and Newbery Honor author Renée Watson explores friendship, loss, and life with grief in this poignant new novel in verse and vignettes.

Sage’s thirteenth birthday was supposed to be about movies and treats, staying up late with her best friend and watching the sunrise together. Instead, it was the day her best friend died. Without the person she had to hold her secrets and dream with, Sage is lost. In a counseling group with other girls who have lost someone close to them, she learns that not all losses are the same, and healing isn’t predictable. There is sadness, loneliness, anxiety, guilt, pain, love. And even as Sage grieves, new, good things enter her life — and she just may find a way to know that she can feel it all.

In accessible, engaging verse and prose, this is an important story of a girl’s journey to heal, grow, and forgive herself. To read it is to see how many shades there are in grief, and to know that someone understands.

My Review

I could not put this book down, and that did not surprise me since I have LOVED everything by Renée Watson that I’ve ever read. She’s an incredibly talented writer with some serious range– writing young adult and middle grade fiction, a poetry collection, and this novel in verse. She’s amazing. I can’t say it enough.

Sage’s story drew me in from its first pages. Her grief is raw. You can feel it pulsing beneath the words on the page like a heartbeat. She feels guilty for unresolved parts of her friendship with her best friend. She envies others who got to say goodbye to their loved ones. Her feelings are moving and easy to understand.

I love the sense of community around Sage. She’s part of a grief support group for kids, and even though she feels closer to some kids than others, she learns different things from each of the kids in her group. She has meaningful relationships with adults in her life, too, beyond her parents.

The book includes an author’s note in which Watson shares that she lost 15 loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic and how this made her think about the losses that children were experiencing during that time.

All the Blues in the Sky offers hope amid the heartache and reminds us how much we need our connections to one another. I love this book and recommend it wholeheartedly.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A kiss on the cheek and then the mouth.

Spiritual Content
References to attending funeral services. One character describes memories of attending church with their grandmother.

Violent Content
Brief descriptions of an accident in which a car struck a girl on a bike, killing her. References to someone who was murdered by police officers. Reference to fatal illnesses and loss of child and adult family members. (These are mentioned in the grief group Sage attends. They’re described appropriately for the audience.)

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday

I’m sharing this post as a part of a weekly round-up of middle-grade posts called Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday. Check out other blogs with posts about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle with Greg Pattridge.

Banned Books Review: Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Poetry, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

Tricks
Ellen Hopkins
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published August 25, 2009

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Tricks

Five teenagers from different parts of the country. Three girls. Two guys. Four straight. One gay. Some rich. Some poor. Some from great families. Some with no one at all. All living their lives as best they can, but all searching … for freedom, safety, community, family, love. What they don’t expect, though, is all that can happen when those powerful little words “I love you” are said for all the wrong reasons.

Five moving stories remain separate at first, then interweave to tell a larger, powerful story—a story about making choices, taking leaps of faith, falling down, and growing up. A story about kids figuring out what sex and love are all about, at all costs, while asking themselves, “Can I ever feel okay about myself?”

My Review

I think it’s interesting that the cover copy of the book only mentions one of the queer characters. There are two point-of-view characters who are queer: Seth, who’s gay, and Ginger, who’s a lesbian. I wish the cover copy included mention of her.

This is a pretty dark book, but that’s kind of Ellen Hopkins’s brand. Tricks is the fourth book of hers that I’ve read, but it’s the first one I’ve read in a long time. Her books offer unflinching tales of teens enduring the kinds of hardships we are tempted to reduce to statistics.

Including five perspectives in a single novel in verse makes this a pretty ambitious project. We meet five different teens with five different back stories from five different parts of the country, so that’s a lot to track as we shuffle from one point of view to another. Some of the characters come from homes that seem stable and even loving. Others have already experienced deeply scarring trauma. Some of the character descriptions felt so abbreviated as to almost make them stereotypes. At least part of that may be because of the number of point-of-view characters in the book and the spare format of verse storytelling.

I think the book is also a product of its day, too. Since 2009, we’ve had a lot more conversations about the harmful effect of slut-shaming or perpetuating the stigma of prostitution. As I read, I found myself wondering how those more recent conversations might impact the words characters use.

The story doesn’t romanticize human trafficking. If anything, it’s a cautionary tale showing how, under the wrong circumstances, anyone can become a victim of trafficking. The author’s note in the backmatter encourages readers who need help to call a hotline specifically for teens in danger.

Tricks is One of the Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2023

Tricks was one of the top ten most challenged books of 2023. Among the reasons I saw cited for the challenges and book bans were that it contains queer characters, references to rape, and sexually explicit content.

Tricks does contain some explicit content. The graphic scenes are short and point up the danger characters face, the powerful emotions at play, or the way their relationships are evolving. This isn’t a book that will appeal to or be appropriate for every reader, but it’s a story and message that will resonate with some.

Content Notes for Tricks

Content warning for drug use, sexual assault, child abuse, and brief gun violence.

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Two characters are queer.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some use of the F-bomb and other profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Slut-shaming language used. References to sex and sex work. References to sexual assault and scenes briefly showing the assault. Kissing between two boys, two girls, or a boy and girl. A couple of scenes reference sex between more than two people.

Spiritual Content
References to Christian services and faith practices. References to faith used to control others’ behavior and abuse them.

Violent Content
References to and brief descriptions of sexual assault. References to a child hit by a car. A parent physically abuses their child and then drugs them. More than one character is in the power of an abusive romantic partner. One character is locked in a room with no food for days and kept in abusive conditions for longer. In one scene, a person with a gun shoots several others.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol and use marijuana and hard drugs. One character also becomes addicted to gambling.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. All opinions are my own.