YA Verse Novels

A recent trend in young adult literature is writing novels in verse--as series of poems. As any reader of poetry would tell you, most books of poetry tell stories. They at least pick up repetitive imagery and setting, often character as well, so this distinction of "novel in verse" seems a little bemusing, strange. For me though, it seems like a definite marketing tool, and obviously guarantees a wider readership for books of poems, if they can be targeted as teen novels.

However, the experience of reading a book of poetry and a traditional novel are very different, and this is not really reflected by the YA marketing. Poetry is not prose, it does not intend to give a wide-angle, epic lens (except, obviously, in the case of epic poetry, but even in that case, the poetry is broken up by seemingly random ekphrases and tangential anecdotes, so the argument still somewhat applies). In any case, modern poetry, as a rule, facilitates image, emotion, and specificity, much more than plot and exposition.

While reading Make Lemonade, a novel in verse by Virginia Euwer Wolff, I was not given the color of the characters' hair, or the details of their city--but I knew exactly what the floor in Jolly's apartment looked like, or the way the television had no vertical hold--I could absolutely picture the silhouette of Jeremy staring into the pot where his lemon tree would grow.

Poetry has more gaps than prose, it demands more of the reader. So, what does this mean for the YA reader, and the marketing of novels in verse? Poetry definitely carries a stigma in middle and high school--either it is associated with "boring" literature classes or mocked as something only "emo kids" write. There is very little appreciation for poetry as a craft, for the things poetry can achieve that prose cannot, taught in school. Besides Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, and some British Romantics, teens pretty much have to come across poetry of their own accord.

This is both the opportunity and the downfall of these "verse novels"--as far as I can tell. Yes, they have a lot of stigmas to overcome, just by being poetry, but they are also a fairly accessible introduction to poetry itself. Generally featuring straightforward language and relatable characters and scenarios, perhaps they will induct younger readers into the demands of reading poetry. Even facilitate a love of the writing?

One can hope, at least.