Horn Book's Ode To Novels In Verse: When Less Is More

The Horn Book ran an article a couple of weeks ago about the value of novels in verse for reluctant readers. Why reluctant readers? The article's author, library media specialist Dorie Raybuck, explains:

"Compared to a conventional novel, a novel in verse has perhaps half the number of words per page--and isn't that half the battle with reluctant readers? These readers often look at a page filled with words and think, This is too much! And quit before they begin."

I like everything about this article, and not just because it starts with Kwame Alexander's Newbery-winning The Crossover and makes its way to my own The Year of Goodbyes, spending time along the way with works by Sharon Creech, Magarita Engle, and others. I've been singing the praises of books in verse--novels and nonfiction--for ages. I was so pleased that The Crossover won the Newbery Award this year, not only because it is such a finely wrought, moving, exciting book, but also because it has drawn attention to the beauty and utility of the novel-in-verse form. It stands as a gold standard for readers, writers, teachers, librarians, and parents.And you know what? You don't have to be a reluctant reader to love and devour novels and nonfiction in verse. For any reader, they can offer inviting, rich, even dazzling portals into stories and histories.I'm happy that the The Year of Goodbyes is part of the discussion in the Horn Book article. I hope that librarians and teachers will continue to use my book to give young people a different, accessible, and, yes, poetic perspective on what it was like to be a young person in Nazi Germany, and what it means to leave one life and start another one.Oh, and if you haven't read The Crossover: do.Here is the Horn Book article:http://www.hbook.com/2015/03/choosing-books/horn-book-magazine/field-notes-this-is-too-much-why-verse-novels-work-for-reluctant-readers/#_