A SELECTION OF 2020 POETRY AND VERSE NOVELS

 

Picture book poetry collections explore a variety of topics and concepts.

Maria Gianferrari's Whoo-ku Haiku tells the story of the great horned owl in haiku. It begins with the owls' modifying an abandoned squirrel's nest into their own and ends with the fledglings about ready to fly away. Eggs hatching, feeding the owlets, and multiple threats from other animals are part of their story. The vivid word choices contain considerable information and provide a lively you-are-there experience. The full-bleed watercolor and ink illustrations are spectacular, filled with detail and drama. Additional facts and sources close out the book. Readers will be fascinated by this beautiful book.

Irene Latham experiments with unique forms in two collections: Nine: A Book of Nonet Poems and This Poem Is a Nest. In Nine, she writes in nonets, which she defines in the first poem. The rest of the 19 poems incorporate the number nine; e.g., a baseball game, the nine-banded armadillo, Pluto's desire to be reinstated, the Little Rock Nine, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Apollo 9, a nonagon, and idioms such as "the whole nine yards" and "dressed to the nines." Lively watercolor illustrations depict a diverse cast of characters. Additional facts for each poem are appended. Informative and fun to read. This collection will likely inspire readers to write their own nonets. In the introduction of This Poem Is a Nest, Latham describes "nestlings" as a variation of found poems. In this book, 161 nestlings are derived from her "Nest" poem, which opens the book. This poem crosses the four seasons, and the nestlings are divided into theme categories (e.g., time, color, animals, love of words). She challenged herself to use each word in the source poem at least once in the nestlings. The poems are short, and the word choices provide unique ways of looking at the topic. Digital ink wash illustrations complement the poems. Fresh and original, this collection may serve as a mentor text for poetry writing.

In A Hatful of Dragons: And More Than 13.8 Billion Other Funny Poems by Vikram Madan, 30 humorous rhyming poems contain liberal amounts of word play, alliteration, and onomatopoeia. The author doesn't shy away from challenging vocabulary and thought-provoking concepts. Some of the poems are designed to be interactive (e.g., "Australian Animal Chant" is written in pictures and requires a key to translate). "13,841,287,201 Nonsense Poems in One!" uses a fill-in-the-blank format from an accompanying wordlist so readers can create their own poems and then uses math to show them how to calculate the number of possible poems. Cartoon illustrations add to the humor of the poems. This collection is meant to be read aloud.

Ideal for language arts class, Write! Write! Write!, by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, addresses many aspects of writing. The 22 upbeat mostly rhyming poems invite readers to write. Topics include getting ideas, finding a place to write, writing materials, and different types of writing (stories, reports, thank you notes, opinion essays). Poems about revision and editing and the personal need to write round out the collection. Oil paint Photoshopped illustrations depict a diverse cast of writers. Pair this one with VanDerwater's Read! Read! Read! (WordSong, 2017).

A companion to David Elliott's earlier collections, On the Farm (2008), In the Wild (2010), In the Sea (2012), On the Wing (2014), and In the Past (2018) the 15 short, rhymed and unrhymed poems in In the Woods take readers to the woods, not exotic forests, but the woods that might be nearby to visit the animals that inhabit them (mammals, birds, insects). Double-paged, full-bleed illustrations in watercolor and mixed media and rendered digitally embellish the words with behavioral characteristics and appropriate habitats. Additional facts about the animals are appended. A good choice for a science animal unit.

Another addition to a library of animal science poetry books is David L. Harrison's After Dark: Poems about Nocturnal Animals, 21 rhymed and unrhymed poems in a variety of forms. Most of the animals are familiar, but some are unusual surprises (e.g., Mexican red-knee tarantula, Arizona hairy scorpion, leopard slug). Large, colorful digital illustrations offer just the right amount of menace as it befits the animal. An appended "Did you also know…?" provides additional facts about diet and behaviors. The vivid word choices cleverly executed make for a great read-aloud.

In rhymed poems, Kirsten Hall brings to life 17 birds that stay in winter climates by inviting readers to "listen" to their various sounds and discover their attributes and behaviors. The multimedia illustrations rendered in a winter palette and vivid word choice in Snow Birds highlight birds that are familiar and some that are less so (e.g., common redpoll, golden-crowned kinglet, black rosy-finch). Appended matter provides additional information and a note from the author encouraging readers' curiosity about birds. Students will enjoy experimenting with the birdcalls especially after listening to some online versions of actual calls. Another good choice for a science class read-aloud.

With a mix of rhymed and free verse poems, Construction People compiled by Lee Bennett Hopkins takes readers behind the scenes of building construction in the city. The collection is bookended with poems about a construction site envisioning what it may become and the completed structure as part of the skyline. Many of the poems are told in first person, e.g., backhoe operator, dump truck drivers, welders, carpenters, plumbers, glaziers, electricians, elevator installer. The text introduces specialized vocabulary and contains some particularly visual word choice (cement is compared to "elephant-gray pancake batter"). Colorful illustrations reflect a diverse cast of workers. Students fascinated by construction and machines will gravitate toward this title.

Anything with "cake" in the title has to be good! In Follow the Recipe: Poems About Imagination, Celebration & Cake, Marilyn Singer does not disappoint. Using the underlying theme of cooking, the mostly rhyming recipe poems in different forms explore patience, love, courage, understanding, and originality. Poems about books, reading, science, and social studies have their own recipes. Poems about memories and celebration are sure to strike a chord with children. Priceman's spectacular illustrations rendered in gouache, linoleum block prints, and collage are a feast of brilliant colors that splash and pour and drip and twist across the pages. For poetry study, or for reflection, this thoughtful collection can be enjoyed repeatedly and possibly prompt readers to write their own recipes.

In the 28 dynamic poems of Just Like Me by Vanessa Brantley-Newton, girls of different races, ages, and talents express their joys, fears, and frustrations…quite simply, they shine. Themes of kindness, bravery, and community ring. Girls explore, negotiate, make friends, challenge bullies, and appreciate the qualities that make them unique. Large, vivid illustrations rendered in a variety of art media are as exuberant as the words. Although the poems feature girls, the messages contained in them are for all children…and adults. This collection is meant to be read aloud and celebrated.

Woke: A Young Poet's Call to Justice by Mahogany L. Browne with Elizabeth Acevedo and Olivia Gatwood is a collection of 24 free verse poems that inspire and challenge young people to look at their world and consider how they might be forces of change. The Forward (plus poem) by Jason Reynolds reinforces the need to speak up. Browne's introduction defines what it means to be "woke" - "to understand that equality and justice for some is not equality and justice for all." Themes of the poems (each listed at the bottom of the page) include activism, body positivity, community, empathy, forgiveness, gender, immigration, individuality, prejudice, protest, stereotyping, volunteerism, and more. The messages are not heavy-handed - they are empowering. Bold, colorful illustrations extend the words. These poems merit repeated readings…aloud…by the students themselves. A must for all collections.

In Magnificent Homespun Brown: A Celebration by Samara Cole Doyon, a single book-length poem, several narrators celebrate the beauty of their skin. Luscious alliteration and exquisite descriptions of the people and places surrounding each character dominate the pages. Similes illuminate the many nuances of brown. For example, brown is radiant ("like my skin"), smooth and creamy ("like my laughter"), thundering ("like my power"), cozy ("like my peace"), and rich complex vocabulary presents additional comparisons. Jubilation radiates from the pages through the exuberant illustrations, which feature a diverse cast though all have variations of brown skin. This joyful celebration of life is meant to be read and savored again and again.

Although she is not at all sure she wants to go, a little girl in James Preller's All Welcome Here, a collection of 28 linked haiku, mounts the school bus steps and her adventure begins. The introduction to school is very deliberate - name tags on desks, saying the Pledge of Allegiance, meeting the class hamster, bells that ring, and hallways crowded with tall kids. Children engage in a litany of "firsts" - lunch in the cafeteria, recess, visiting the school library, and quiet reading time, and they encounter many types of classmates and potential friends. The illustrations are vibrant, mixed media, double-paged spreads featuring a diverse cast of classmates and adults. A book for sharing with those who haven't yet experienced school and for eliciting memories from those who have.

Zetta Elliott's A Place Inside of Me explores the emotions of a black boy as he traverses experiences in his world. Summer is joy filled with skateboarding and basketball. But sorrow and fear follow at the killing of a black girl and anger fills him during "Black Lives Matter" protests. His emotions turn to pride in the accomplishments of his people as peace, compassion, hope, and love for all people fill him up inside. His final realization is the importance of loving himself. Vibrant, detailed, full-bleed illustrations allow readers to view the diversity of his community from multiple perspectives. An ideal choice for encouraging self-reflection. 2021 Caldecott Honor Book

Tag Your Dreams: Poems of Play and Persistence by Jacqueline Jules reminds readers not to give up. No matter the type of activity, these 31 poems encourage children to strive for their goals individually and as a member of a team. Although many sports are included, so are other types of movement…building a snowman, flying a kite, breaking a piñata, playing a hand- clapping game (a child in a wheelchair is playing with another child). The mostly free verse poems explore the variety of emotions associated with taking a chance. Colorful child-like illustrations reflect a diverse cast of participants. Readers will identify with the experiences in these poems.

There are numerous illustrated versions of Clement C. Moore's classic 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Loren Long provides a more contemporary perspective in his acrylic and colored pencil rendering of four families - a farm family, a biracial urban family, a single dad with two children living in a trailer park, and a LatinX-American (possibly) family living in an adobe brick home surrounded by palm trees. The text of the poem cycles across all four scenarios. From the beginning endpapers showing children engaged in various pre-Christmas activities to the closing endpapers where the children are enjoying their gifts, we see the magic of Christmas no matter the composition of our families or where we live. Lovely.

 

Authors of picture book biographies sometimes utilize a verse format to present their subject to younger readers.

A Portrait in Poems: The Storied Life of Gertrude Stein & Alice B. Toklas by Evie Robillard takes readers to the streets of Paris, or a couple of streets in particular, in the early 1900s. Early in the book, the free verse poems focus on the adult life of Gertrude and her brother Leo, with whom she accumulated a massive collection of art. When she meets Alice, their life together with their dog Basket and the legendary Saturday evenings when artists and writers (many of them quite famous) drop by their apartment take over the story. One scene deals with Picasso painting a portrait of Gertrude. Several poems are devoted to her writing, including her autobiography (disguised as Alice's story). Quotes by Stein are scattered throughout. Gouache, colored pencil, and graphite illustrations in muted tones fill the pages. A timeline, additional facts, sources, and an author's note round out the book. A charming reader-friendly look at an influential literary figure.

Suzanne Slade's Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks begins with Brooks' poetic legacy - a bookcase filled with poetry, a father who read poems aloud, a mother who predicted Gwendolyn's "scribbly lines" would lead to fame as a poet. She filled notebooks with her poems and sent them to magazines. Her future looked bright until the Great Depression changed her family's fortune. The lyrical text follows Gwendolyn's life through her youth and the lean times as a wife and mother, during which she continued to write and submit her poems for publication. The story concludes with her triumph at winning the Pulitzer Prize. Vibrant, full-bleed, acrylic illustrations - also exquisite - provide a detailed backdrop. The poem "Clouds," an Author's Note, timeline, and sources are appended. Superb introduction to this accomplished poet. Partner this with A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks by Alice Faye Duncan

R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul by Carole Boston Weatherford introduces readers to the Queen of Soul. Rhymed text provides an overview of her life. Each page heading is a spelled-out word (e.g., M-U-S-I-C, G-I-F-T-E-D, T-A-L-E-N-T). Backmatter includes an Author's Note with additional facts about Franklin's life including her honors and awards and a list of her biggest hits. Morrison's oil paintings are full-bleed, colorful, realistic, magnificent. Listen to some of her music after reading this one aloud to students.

Weatherford uses first person voice in BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom to tell the story of enslaved Henry Brown and his escape from Richmond to Philadelphia in a wooden crate. The lyrical free verse poems are based on Brown's own narrative of his life, each with a heading appropriate to the poem (e.g., OVERSEERS, FAMILY, SNATCHED, COURAGE, BAGGAGE). All except one (the opening) of the 50-plus poems is six lines - the number of sides on a box. Michele Wood's mixed media stylized figures depicted in thick textures and rich colors convey themes of suffering and hope. A timeline, Author and Illustrator Notes, and bibliography are appended. Haunting and powerful and for an older audience than Ellen Levine's Henry's Freedom Box, illustrated by Kadir Nelson (Scholastic, 2007). 2021 Newbery Honor Book

 

2020 verse novels explore different time periods and family situations.

In Darlene Beck-Jacobson's Wishes, Dares and How to Stand UP to a Bully, Jack, his little sister Katy, and their mother (Dad is in Vietnam) spend the summer with his father's parents hoping that their life won't seem so empty. He makes a best friend, Jill, and has to figure out how to cope with her bully brother. A bit of magic realism creeps into the story in the form of an ancient fish, who seems to grant wishes to the children when they manage to catch him. Jill's brother undergoes a disturbing behavior change as a result of her wish, causing Jack to worry about making a wish concerning the fate of his father (who is MIA, then a POW). The friendship of the children carries them through to the end of summer when they figure out the most important wish that has an impact on all of them.

It's been a year since Nora's mother was killed and her father seriously injured in a restaurant shooting in Dusti Bowling's The Canyon's Edge. To celebrate Nora's birthday, she and her father are hiking a slot canyon in the desert. She's learned a lot about rock climbing from her parents, but nothing prepares her for the sudden massive rush of water that sweeps away her father and all of her supplies. Nora is left with her own instincts, bits of information she's gleaned through her experiences, and her intense desire to find her father. Throughout her struggle for survival, she reflects on the past year as memories, words of her therapist, and her relationship with her best friend drift through her consciousness. Fast-paced verse that occasionally uses different poetic forms will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu was living in Tokyo at the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in March, 2011, the setting for Beyond Me. Although 11-year-old Maya and her family live far away from the epicenter of the earthquake and the ensuing tsunami, they feel aftershocks for months afterward. School is interrupted, and as news of the devastation spreads, fearful and anxious Maya sees her parents providing aid and her grandparents tending their gardens as usual. She wishes she could do something herself and ultimately realizes that the smallest acts of kindness do make a difference. A wavy font exemplifies the scenes during which the family experiences tremors.

The Places We Sleep by Caroline Brooks DuBois is a coming-of-age poetic text, told in first person by 12-year-old Abbey, an accomplished artist. She has much to deal with: another new school (her Army dad moves the family frequently), her changing body, and a new best friend (who is bullied because of her athleticism), set against the backdrop of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the loss of her beloved aunt in the World Trade Center. Her father is about to be deployed to Afghanistan, the source of considerable anxiety as Abbey contemplates getting to know a Muslim classmate (and fellow artist) whose family is the victim of xenophobia after the attacks. Her emotions will strike a chord with middle grade readers.

In free verse and sonnets, All He Knew by Helen Frost tells the story of Henry, who becomes deaf at a young age. When the time comes to think about school, a school for deaf children deems him "unteachable" and he is placed in Riverview, an institution for "feeble-minded" youth. Conditions are deplorable, and children are abused by the workers. Perceptive and thoughtful, Henry befriends other boys and learns to exist. Because of the Great Depression and World War II, Henry's family can rarely put together enough money to visit. Victor, a conscientious objector, is assigned to work at Riverview in order to stay out of jail. He sees Henry's intelligence and resilience and forms a relationship with Henry's family, particularly through letters from his sister Molly. The book ends on a hopeful note for Henry and one of his friends. Appended material discusses Frost's personal connection to the circumstances of Henry's story.

Well-known for her edgy young adult verse novels, Ellen Hopkins debuts in middle grade with Closer to Nowhere. Hannah and Cal are same-age cousins living with Hannah's parents after Cal's mother dies and his abusive father is incarcerated. Hannah's family is close and supportive of her gymnastics and dance activities, but having Cal, diagnosed with PTSD, places considerable strain on them. Cal doesn't know what it's like to have a real home, and he makes a lot of mistakes trying to figure it out. Hannah tries to be patient, but often doesn't appreciate Cal's sense of humor and inventive storytelling. Only readers will see that underneath Cal's troubled exterior lies a good heart and the potential for quick action in a crisis. Told in two voices, the story features richly drawn characters with real emotions and a theme that even the most stable families can have issues. In a poignant author's note, Hopkins indicates that it is somewhat based on members of her own family.

In The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep: Voices from the Donner Party, Allan Wolf utilizes the meticulous research that exemplified his two previous historical verse novels, The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic (2011) and New Found Land: Lewis and Clark's Voyage of Discovery (2004). Interspersed among the poems that voice some of the members of that ill-fated group who strayed from the established trail to California are the prose musings of "Hunger" who figures predominantly in the eventual outcome. Wolf does not sugar-coat the actions of travelers - the details are grim. This weighty volume with its considerable backmatter will appeal to students of American history, upper middle grade and above. Pair this book with Skila Brown's To Stay Alive (Candlewick, 2016).

In Before the Ever After, Jacqueline Woodson deals with a topic that has only fairly recently come to the forefront in the sports world - CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) caused by repeated head injuries. ZJ's father is a much admired professional football player and dedicated family man. He remembers his father laughing, playing with him and his friends, working on music together. That was the "before." The "after" enters the story as Woodson's lyrical language skillfully portrays his father's decline through ZJ's first person narrative. Secondary characters are well developed, particularly ZJ's three best friends who support him not just because he has a famous father. Poignant and heartbreaking, readers will be drawn to this novel and will, hopefully, be curious enough to investigate this disease further.

 

Not a verse novel…

In Grasping Mysteries: Girls Who Loved Math, Jeannine Atkins uses poetry to introduce readers to seven groundbreaking women from history for whom math played a significant role in their lives. Presented chronologically, the free verse poems illuminate the achievements and challenges of Caroline Herschel (astronomer), Florence Nightingale (nurse), Hertha Marks Ayrton (electrical engineer), Marie Tharp (oceanographer), Katherine Johnson (NASA scientist), Edna Lee Paisano (statistician), and Vera Rubin (physicist). Scientific facts are interwoven with vivid sensory detail ("Stars spill into pale blue, rose, and yellow pools of light. She swallows as if she might choke on a song.") Additional facts and a selected bibliography are appended. A must for STEAM collections.

Naomi Shihab Nye's Cast Away: Poems for Our Time is a call for action. In her introduction, she writes, "I'm not sure why, but it always seemed like my job to pick up trash whenever I saw it." The 84 thought-provoking poems in this collection are about much more than people's castaways - they are about community and the environment and responsibility and immigration. The poems are divided into five sections, or "Routes," each exploring an aspect of what we discard. Setting has a prominent place in the selections - her hometown San Antonio, her childhood home of Ferguson, Missouri, and other places she has visited in the world. Nye concludes with suggestions for recycling and reclaiming, many of them framed in a writing activity. Poignant, humorous, reflective, the poetry seems best suited for mature readers, middle school and above, and is meant to be read aloud and discussed. Inspiring.

In 27 selections, Inside Out Poems on Writing and Reading Poems by Marjorie Maddox utilizes poetry to teach elements of poetry. The first five poems deal with the senses - how to see, hear, taste, smell, and touch a poem. Other poems demonstrate personification, onomatopoeia, alliteration, simile, metaphor, and more. In poems about specific forms (e.g., acrostic, couplet, sonnet, triolet, clerihew, villanelle, and others), the verse is an example of the form. The word choice is vivid and clever. Nine "Insider Exercises" follow the poems and challenge readers to revisit the poems and experiment with words, sounds, lines, and forms. A Glossary is appended. Ideal for poetry writing lessons with middle grade students who have some familiarity with elements of poetry and poetic forms.

 

Two books not reviewed here as poetry would be useful mentor texts in lessons on poetry (or any kind of) writing:

Brown: The Many Shades of Love by Nancy Johnson James uses vivid descriptive words and similes in a rhymed text as the first-person narrator describes his family. The list of words for "brown" on the last page along with some luscious watercolors could prompt students to make their own color lists. These lists could be placed in a binder for students to use as a color vocabulary resource when they write.

In A New Green Day by Antoinette Portis, nature speaks in the form of animals, sunlight, rain, thunder, lightning, mud, shadow, and night as they discuss their unique attributes. Exquisite word choice and an abundant use of metaphors highlight the conversation. Gorgeous greens are the dominant palette in the illustrations. As an example of writing conventions, have students take note of the way conversation is presented in the text.

 

Not-to-be-missed…

In On the Wings of Words: The Extraordinary Life of Emily Dickinson, Jennifer Berne introduces readers to the poet in a lyrical text liberally sprinkled with lines of Dickinson's poetry. The biography is whole-life and deals with Emily's interests and emotions over time and how she began to express them in words as she became gradually more reclusive. The gouache and watercolor illustrations are exquisite - highly detailed and inventive. The butterfly motif throughout is simply lovely. Notes about Emily's poetry and discovering poetry in general are appended. For students who want to know more about Emily Dickinson, recommend these picture books: Emily and Carlo by Marty Rhodes Figley (Charlesbridge, 2012), Emily Writes: Emily Dickinson and Her Poetic Beginnings by Jane Yolen (Henry Holt, 2020), and The Emily Sonnets also by Jane Yolen (Creative Editions, 2010).

 

Bibliography

Atkins, Jeannine. Grasping Mysteries: Girls Who Loved Math. Atheneum

Beck-Jacobson, Darlene. Wishes, Dares and How to Stand UP to a Bully. Creston

Berne, Jennifer. On Wings of Words: The Extraordinary Life of Emily Dickinson. Illus. by Becca Stadtlander. Chronicle

Bowling, Dusti. The Canyon's Edge. Little, Brown

Brantley-Newton, Vanessa. Just Like Me. Knopf

Browne, Mahogany L. (with Elizabeth Acevedo & Olivia Gatwood). WOKE: A Young Poet's Call to Justice. Illus. by Theodore Taylor III. Roaring Brook

Donwerth-Chikamatsu, Annie. Beyond Me. Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum

DuBois, Caroline Brooks. The Places We Sleep. Holiday House

Elliott, David. In the Woods. Illus. by Rob Dunlavey. Candlewick

Elliott, Zetta. A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart. Illus. by Noa Denmon. Farrar Straus Giroux

Frost, Helen. All He Knew. Farrar, Straus, Giroux

Gianferrari, Maria. Whoo-ku Haiku: A Great Horned Owl Story. Illus. by Jonathan Voss. Putnam

Hall, Kirsten. Snow Birds. Illus. by Jenni Desmond. Abrams.

Harrison, David L. After Dark: Poems about Nocturnal Animals. Illus. by Stephanie Laberis. Wordsong/BoydsMills & Kane

Hopkins, Ellen. Closer to Nowhere. Putnam

Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Construction People. Illus. by Ellen Shi. Wordsong/BoydsMills & Kane

James, Nancy Johnson. Brown: The Many Shades of Love. Illus. by Constance Moore. Cameron Kids

Jules, Jacqueline. Tag Your Dreams: Poems of Play and Persistence. Illus. by Iris Deppe. Albert Whitman

Latham, Irene. Nine: A Book of Nonet Poems. Illus. by Amy Huntington. Charlesbridge

Latham, Irene. This Poem Is a Nest. Illus. by Johanna Wright. Wordsong/BoydsMills & Kane

Madan, Vikram. A Hatful of Dragons: And More Than 13.8 Billion Other Funny Poems. Wordsong/BoydsMills & Kane

Maddox, Marjorie. Inside Out: Poems on Reading and Writing Poems. Kelsay Books

Moore, Clement C. 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Illus. by Loren Long. HarperCollins

Nye, Naomi Shihab. Castaway: Poems for Our Time. Greenwillow

Portis, Antoinette. A New Green Day. Neal Porter/Holiday House

Preller, James. All Welcome Here. Illus. by Mary GrandPrè. Feiwel and Friends.

Robillard, Evie. A Portrait in Poems: The Storied Life of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. Illus. by Rachel Katstaller. Kids Can Press

Singer, Marilyn. Follow the Recipe: Poems About Imagination, Celebration & Cake. Illus. by Marjorie Priceman. Dial

Slade, Suzanne. Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks. Illus. by Cozbi A. Cabrera. Abrams

Weatherford, Carole Boston. R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul. Illus. by Frank Morrison. Atheneum

Weatherford, Carole Boston. Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom. Illus. by Michele Wood. Candlewick

Wolf, Allan. The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep: Voices from the Donner Party. Candlewick

Woodson, Jacqueline. Before the Ever After. Nancy Paulsen/Penguin

VanDerwater. Amy. Write! Write! Write! Illus. by Ryan O'Rourke. Wordsong/BoydsMills & Kane