Middle Grade Novels in Verse | Ocean County Library

The Whiting Reading Center will be closing at 2:30pm today, June 5th, due to a power outage.

The current Stafford Branch will be closed as of May 1st, in anticipation of the new Stafford branch opening in the summer.

Neshama

By Marcella Pixley (J Pixl)

A bullied girl who communicates with ghosts finds her inner strength in this haunting novel in verse that will resonate with anyone who has felt themselves to be different.
Safe Harbor

By Palma Venkatraman (J Venk)

Moving from India to the US is difficult for Geetha, but things start to get better when she and a new friend help rescue a stranded seal.
Aarzu All Around

By Marzieh Abbas (J Abba)

A cricket-loving Pakistani girl stifled by patriarchal expectations disguises herself as a boy to get a job to pay her sister’s medical bills in this empowering middle grade novel-in-verse.
The Extraordinary Orbit of Alex Ramirez

By Jasminne Paulino (J Paul)

Alex, a neurodiverse seventh grader, works to convince his teachers and parents that he is ready to leave his self-contained classroom and join his grade's mainstream science class.
The Trouble with Heroes

By Kate Messner (J Mess)

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.
Please Pay Attention

By Jamie Sumner (J Sumn)

After surviving a school shooting that left her feeling helpless in her wheelchair, Bea finds healing and empowerment through horseback riding therapy and begins to advocate for change.
It's All or Nothing, Vale

By Andrea Beatriz Arango (J Aran)

One girl finds her way back to her life’s passion and discovers that the sum of a person's achievements doesn’t amount to the whole of them.
All the Blues in the Sky

By Renee Watson (J Wats)

When thirteen-year-old Sage's best friend dies, Sage struggles with grief and feels that she is at fault, but when she joins a grief group, she slowly learns to heal.
Radiant

By Vaunda Micheaux Nelson (J Nels)

In 1963, Cooper Dale navigates the challenges of fifth grade as a Black girl in a predominantly white community near Pittsburgh.
The Burning Season

By Caroline Starr Rose (J Rose)

In this coming-of-age survival story in verse, a fire lookout-in-training must find her courage when a wildfire breaks out on her watch.