Notable Poetry and Verse Novels, 2011-2022
Resources for a selection of the titles recognized by this award since its inception in 2011 -- recognizing notable forms of poetry, including individual poetry, anthologies, narratives, biographical poems, and verse novels
Sponsored by National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)

- 4,343 Resources including
- 510 Videos
- 218 Book Readings
- 290 Lesson Plans
- List Analysis Report
Showing 1-48 of 274 book results


Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship
by Irene Latham, Charles Waters, Selina Alko, and Sean Qualls
(Selection, 2019)
58 Resources3 Awards


Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z
by Irene Latham, Charles Waters, and Mehrdokht Amini
(Selection, 2021)
49 Resources1 Awards

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story
by Kevin Noble Maillard and Juana Martinez-Neal
(Selection, 2020)
47 Resources15 Awards

Becoming Muhammad Ali
by James Patterson, Kwame Alexander, and Dawud Anyabwile
(Selection, 2021)
43 Resources4 Awards


Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets
by Kwame Alexander, Chris Colderley, Marjory Wentworth, and Ekua Holmes
(Selection, 2018)
40 Resources10 Awards

Before She Was Harriet
by Lesa Cline-Ransome and James Ransome
(Selection, 2018)
40 Resources13 Awards


Freedom in Congo Square
by Carole Boston Weatherford and R. Gregory Christie
(Selection, 2017)
38 Resources13 Awards

Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan
by Ashley Bryan
(Selection, 2017)
38 Resources15 Awards


Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph
by Roxane Orgill and Francis Vallejo
(Selection, 2017)
37 Resources13 Awards




No Voice Too Small: Fourteen Young Americans Making History
by Lindsay H. Metcalf, Keila V. Dawson, and Jeanette Bradley
(Selection, 2021)
36 Resources3 Awards

Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance
by Nikki Grimes
(Selection, 2022)
36 Resources10 Awards

A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of the Snowy Day
by Andrea Davis Pinkney, Steve Johnson, and Lou Fancher
(Selection, 2017)
34 Resources7 Awards



Woke: A Young Poet's Call to Justice
by Mahogany L. Browne, Elizabeth Acevedo, Olivia Gatwood, and Theodore Taylor, III
(Selection, 2021)
33 Resources7 Awards



Martin Rising: Requiem for a King
by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney
(Selection, 2019)
31 Resources7 Awards


Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom
by Carole Boston Weatherford and Michele Wood
(Selection, 2021)
31 Resources8 Awards





A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart
by Zetta Elliott and Noa Denmon
(Selection, 2021)
28 Resources6 Awards

Jazz Owls: A Novel of the Zoot Suit Riots
by Margarita Engle and Rudy Gutierrez
(Selection, 2019)
27 Resources6 Awards

By and By: Charles Albert Tindley, the Father of Gospel Music
by Carole Boston Weatherford and Bryan Collier
(Selection, 2021)
27 Resources2 Awards


One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance
by Nikki Grimes
(Selection, 2018)
26 Resources11 Awards


The 1619 Project: Born on the Water
by Nikole Hannah-Jones, Renée Watson, and Nikkolas Smith
(Selection, 2022)
26 Resources8 Awards

Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku
by Lee Wardlaw and Eugene Yelchin
(Selection, 2011)
25 Resources8 Awards

Last Laughs: Animal Epitaphs
by J. Patrick Lewis, Jane Yolen, and Jeffrey Stewart Timmins
(Selection, 2012)
25 Resources1 Awards

When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders
by J. Patrick Lewis, Jim Burke, and R. Gregory Christie
(Selection, 2013)
25 Resources5 Awards

Voices from the March on Washington
by J. Patrick Lewis and George Ella Lyon
(Selection, 2015)
25 Resources3 Awards

You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen
by Carole Boston Weatherford and Jeffery Boston Weatherford
(Selection, 2017)
25 Resources4 Awards




Rutherford B., Who Was He?: Poems about Our Presidents
by Marilyn Singer and John Hendrix
(Selection, 2014)
23 Resources2 Awards