The Verse Novel Shelf

Marilyn Nelson

Writes for both4 novels in verse on the shelfMiddle Grade · 1Young Adult · 3

Middle Grade

1 book, newest first
Carver: A Life in Poems2001 · Nonfiction
Newbery Honor 2002National Book Award Finalist 2001Boston Globe–Horn Book Award 2001Coretta Scott King Author Honor 2002YALSA Best Books for Young Adults 2002

A biography in verse tracing the life of scientist and inventor George Washington Carver, from his enslaved childhood to his renowned agricultural research.

Young Adult

3 books, newest first
Augusta Savage: The Shape of a Sculptor's Life2022 · Nonfiction

A biography in poems of Harlem Renaissance sculptor Augusta Savage.

American Ace2016 · Historical
NCTE Notable Verse Novel 2017

A letter from his grandmother sends Connor searching for his father's real birth father, using a class ring and pilot's wings as clues.

How I Discovered Poetry2014 · Memoir
Coretta Scott King Author Honor 2015

A memoir in verse about growing up a Black military kid in the 1950s and finding poetry.