10 Best Poetry for Teens & Young Adults Books

For those on a journey to find self-love and acceptance, the words on these pages are dedicated to helping you see the beauty staring back in the mirror, finding the strength to conquer your heartbreak, gaining the confidence to bury your insecurities, and to remind why you are such a powerful creature. In the pages of HER, best-selling poet Pierre Alex Jeanty shares through poetry, prose, and quotes, his unique perspective on women encompassing their strength and realizing their beauty. Every woman should experience the reality of being loved, and the joy of radiating those feelings toward the one they love. This beautiful expression of heartfelt emotion using short, gratifying sentiments is a perfect read for anyone with a beating heart in them. Inside you will find… Words of affirmation for all women – Insights for men looking to understand “HER” – Pieces on healing, overcoming, and self-love. Join the countless readers who have enjoyed the beautiful and empowering words written in HER.

The inspiration for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic musical CATS, and its upcoming movie adaptation, directed by Tom Hooper and starring Taylor Swift (Bombalurina), Idris Elba (Macavity the Mystery Cat), Dame Judi Dench (Old Deuteronomy), Ian McKellen (Gus the Theatre Cat), James Corden (Bustopher Jones), Jennifer Hudson (Grizabella), Jason Derulo (Rum Tum Tugger), and Rebel Wilson (Jennyanydots). Cats! Some are sane, and some are mad. Some are good, and some are bad . . . These lovable cat poems were written by T. S. Eliot for his godchildren and continue to delight children and grown-ups. Eliot’s beloved cat poems are a curious and artful homage to felines young and old, merry and fierce, small and unmistakably round, and Edward Gorey’s graphic interpretations are sure to charm.

From Sourcebooks Jabberwocky and Elise Paschen, creators of the now-classic New York Times bestseller Poetry Speaks to Children , comes this ultimate teen inspiration anthology book of poems for middle grade readers in a dynamic book-plus-CD format. An amazing poem books for teen girls and boys, Poetry Speaks Who I Am is filled with more than 100 remarkable poems about you, who you are, and who you are becoming. Dive in-find the poem you love, the one that makes you angry, the one that makes you laugh, the one that knocks the wind out of you, and become a part of Poetry Speaks Who I Am by adding your own inside the book. Poetry can be life altering. It can be gritty and difficult. It can be hilarious or heart-breaking. And it’s meant to be experienced, so we’ve included a CD on which you’ll hear 44 poems, 39 of which are original recordings―you’ll only find them here. You’ll hear poets both classic and contemporary, well-known and refreshingly new, including: * Dana Gioia expresses the hunger of a “Vampire’s Serenade” * Elizabeth Alexander waits for that second kiss in “Zodiac” * Langston Hughes flings his arms wide in “Dream Variations” * Marilyn Nelson reads to her class in “How I Discovered Poetry” * Paul Muldoon’s poem “Sideman,” brought loudly to life by the band Rackett * And 39 more poems that are immediate and vibrant From Lucille Clifton’s “Here Yet Be Dragons” to Edgar Allan Poe’s “Annabel Lee” to “Tia Chucha,” by Luis J. Rodriguez, Poetry Speaks Who I Am is a poetry for young people collection that is dynamic, accessible, challenging, classic, edgy, and ultimately not quite perfect. Just like you. If you’re lucky, it’ll serve as a gateway to a lifetime lived with poetry. At the very least, it’ll be a good time. Dive in, and happy hunting.

In the vein of poetry collections like Milk and Honey and Adultolescence , this compilation of short, powerful poems from teen Instagram sensation @poeticpoison perfectly captures the human experience. In Light Filters In, Caroline Kaufman–known as @poeticpoison–does what she does best: reflects our own experiences back at us and makes us feel less alone, one exquisite and insightful piece at a time. She writes about giving up too much of yourself to someone else, not fitting in, endlessly Googling “how to be happy,” and ultimately figuring out who you are. This hardcover collection features completely new material plus some fan favorites from Caroline’s account. Filled with haunting, spare pieces of original art, Light Fi lters In will thrill existing fans and newcomers alike. it ‘s okay if some things are always out of reach. if you could carry all the stars in the palm of your hand, they wouldn ‘t be half as breathtaking

In the vein of poetry collections like Milk and Honey and Light Filters In , this compilation of short, powerful poems from Instagram sensation Trista Mateer shines beauty and insight into relationships, love, growing up, and learning to cope. This hardcover collection features completely new material, plus some fan favorites from Trista’s account. Filled with colored original artwork from Jess Cruickshank, this powerful collection unpacks how to heal from trauma, explores love in many forms, and empowers you to love yourself and take up the space you deserve. BIG BANG THEORY what happens if we collide? will it feel like atoms bursting? will it burn like light? will your hands feel the same as other people’s hands? will the whole world change if we touch? do you want to find out?

How about a book that makes you barge into your boss’s office to read a page of poetry from? That you dream of? That every movie, song, book, moment that follows continues to evoke in some way? The term “Apple” is a slur in Native communities across the country. It’s for someone supposedly “red on the outside, white on the inside.” Eric Gansworth is telling his story in Apple (Skin to the Core). The story of his family, of Onondaga among Tuscaroras, of Native folks everywhere. From the horrible legacy of the government boarding schools, to a boy watching his siblings leave and return and leave again, to a young man fighting to be an artist who balances multiple worlds. Eric shatters that slur and reclaims it in verse and prose and imagery that truly lives up to the word heartbreaking.

Award-winning Speak author Laurie Halse Anderson’s New York Times bestselling poetic memoir and call to action, which garnered eight starred reviews! Bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson is known for the unflinching way she writes about, and advocates for, survivors of sexual assault. Now, inspired by her fans and enraged by how little in our culture has changed since her groundbreaking novel Speak was first published twenty years ago, she has written a critically acclaimed poetry memoir that is as vulnerable as it is rallying, as timely as it is timeless. In free verse, Anderson shares reflections, rants, and calls to action woven among deeply personal stories from her life that she’s never written about before. Praised as “captivating,” “powerful,” and “essential” by critics, this searing and soul-searching memoir is a denouncement of our society’s failures and a love letter to all the people with the courage to say #MeToo and #TimesUp, whether aloud, online, or only in their own hearts. SHOUT speaks truth to power in a loud, clear voice –and once you hear it, it is impossible to ignore.