10 Great Poetry Books and Resources for Writers and Readers

By Sara

#1- Poetry Foundation (Website)

Poetry Foundation allows you to read any poem for free, and you can always read book reviews as well! Have fun poets!

#2- Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

The poetry book for kids was a great read, and I loved laughing at Mr. Silverstein’s humourous take on poetry. I would recommend this book to anyone, and reading Mr. Silverstein’s type of poetry inspired me to write poems, and hopefully, you as well!

#3- Bennington College Young Writers Awards (Competetition)

This competition is open to teen writers from 9th grade to 12th who want to write anything from fiction, to non-fiction, to poetry! The Deadline this year is November 1st, 2022, and the top prize is $1,000. If this competition sounds fun to you, sign up, and have fun!

#4- Quotidian Writer (Youtube Channel)

A great channel for writers, they give tips and tricks on a variety of writing topics, from adding emotion to your writing, to how to get over writers block! Great for writers who need a little help in certain topics of their writing, or beginner writers who want to know where to start.

#5- The Spiritual Poems of Rumi Translated by Nader Kalili

Great for readers and writers interested in making – or reading- more philosophical works! I enjoyed reading, and trying to imitate, Rumi’s work, and hopefully you will too!

#6- Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

A novel told in verse, it’s a beautiful story of a girl’s life that was turned upside down by the Vietnam War. Forced to leave her home, now she must travel to America, a completely new land for her family, and she must learn to harness her own inner strength to survive here.

#7- SNHU 2022 Fall Fiction Contest

A fiction writing contest for writers who want to test their skill, there is no fee for this contest and the top prize is $3,000. The deadline is October 31st, 2022. So you better get writing, writers!

#8- Kanopy (Video Service)

Kanopy is a great resource for writers. Just search up videos on writing tips, and there will be lectures and videos that really help you understand your writing. I was recently listening to a lecture on Kanopy myself, and I think you will enjoy these lectures too!

#9- 365 Creative Writing Propmts by TMedia Publishing

A great collection of writing prompts, it’s perfect for travel and writing on the go! Writing with prompts helps you work on writing ideas you might not have explored before and you might find you like writing with a new style more! Have fun with these 365 Creative Writing Prompts!

#10- So, You Want to be a Writer? By Vicki Hambleton and Cathleen Greenwood

Great for kids who want to improve and maybe even publish their writing, it’s a fun and easy to understand how-to book with tips and tricks on how to,

How to fight writers block
Exercise’s to improve storytelling
How to find and agent and get published
How to promote your unique work

And more! I would recommend this to parents everywhere who want to help their kids writing.

Conclusion

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Resources for Young Writers

By Sara

#1-The Writers Portable Mentor by Priscilla Long (Non-Fiction)

This is a great read for young writers who aren’t sure what kind of writing they want to do. Collage, Drama, or something else? It gives an overview of things you might want to do as you progress into the world of writing, along with tips and tricks of the trade you might find useful.

#2- NaNoWriMo (Website)

This is a great website for teen writers who want to see how they’re doing. You can set goals, and see how many words you’ve written, and how close to your goal you are. I found it a fun, cool website for kids that I would recommend to parents everywhere.

#3- The Elements of Style by William Strunk (Non-Fiction)

A great read for understanding the art of writing and the many styles and ways to write the same idea, and a great read for aspiring authors.

#4- How to Not Write Bad by Ben Yagoda (Non-Fiction)

While most writers don’t notice them, the readers definitely do! This book educates you on the common writing mistakes of authors, and how to avoid them! A great read for young writers who are dedicated to writing and can’t wait to get started.

#5-Keys to Great Writing by Stephen Wilbers (Non-Fiction)

Easy to understand, and fairly straightforward, they give you crucial information on writing including

Four Myths of Great Writing
The Elements of Style Checklist
The Elements of Composition Checklist
The Four-Step Writing Process
Five ways to Bring Music to your Writing

And more! Have fun writing in your own way, with guidance to make it great!

Conclusion

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy these resources and have fun writing! Please like and subscribe!

The Dragonfly Effect

By Gordon Korman

Hey, bookworms! I know it’s been a while! But here’s my latest book review about a hypnotist who is discovering what a dangerous. yet vulnerable place our world can be.

When you can control people’s minds, you can control the world.

What would happen, if you could control someone’s mind? What would happen if you could make someone do anything? If you want that A, just hypnotize your teacher. Don’t want to pay for your newest books? Well, too bad for the bookkeeper, because he just lost some books! But imagine that on a mass scale. Imagine if you could hypnotize a whole town to just stop moving. They wouldn’t be able to eat, sleep, or drink. This story not only explores Jax’s journey to save his world with the one gift he never wanted, but also the lengths some will go to reach something they have wanted their whole life. In this thrilling finale to Gordon Korman’s brilliant book series, Jackson Opus is forced to learn a truth he never wanted to.

You can’t save everyone.

I loved every minute of reading this book, and it made me feel sad, happy, and angry at the same time. And that’s what a good book does. make you feel a variety of emotions while still having a good plot! Another masterpiece by Gordon Korman, all you bookworms out there who have not yet read the Hypnotist series, start reading! Your world’s about to get a little more supernatural.

Sal and Gabi Break the Universe

By Carlos Hernandez

There are so many people out there who are treated wrong because they look or act differently. But Carlos Hernandez tackles that problem in a humorous way that keeps you laughing the entire book.

Sal is a boy who is not so average. He is a magician. A magician who can rip holes in the multiverse. When Sal moves to Miami, things are off to a bumpy start. Bullied by the school jerk, and called a brujo by almost everyone in the school, Sal’s new life in Miami is not looking so good. But along comes Gabi Re’al, a bossy smart girl with a temper and an uptight personality. The two immediately clash, but as the two fight, they come to realize they might not be so different after all.

I would recommend this book to anyone. This book shows that grief is a part of life and that you can learn to be happy, even if you have lost someone you love. Carlos Hernandez shows that we all aren’t just what we appear. you have to look past the surface to see who you are inside.

The Smartest Kid in the Universe

by Chris Grabenstein

How many of you bookworms wished you could just always be the smartest person in the room just so people won’t accuse you of only being smart at just one thing? This book is about a boy who accidentally consumed jelly beans which made him the smartest person in the world. Oops!

Jake McQuade is a normal middle school boy. Doesn’t care one bit about school, gets average grades, and all he wants to do is play video games. He goes to the gala that his mom is organizing at the hotel his mom works at and eats these jelly beans he found backstage because he is “hungry”. But weirdly enough, eating random jellybeans from backstage was not a good idea! Who knew? When he wakes up the next morning, he is an ultra genius! With the help of the scientist who created the beans, his sort-of girlfriend Grace, and his best friend Kojo, he is ready to take on the school principal working to shut down the school. But as he tries to help out, he discovers the downsides to being ultra smart and is faced with a question he finally doesn’t know the answer to.

This book is warm and full of laughter, jokes, and bathroom humor as this teen genius figures out that maybe you don’t need to know all the answers to be happy. Maybe it’s good to have a few mysteries. They make life interesting, don’t they?

Level Thirteen

By Gordon Korman

How many of us bookworms dream of doing reading as a job? Your passion earning you money! This is a story about a boy who realized what he loved to do and made it earn him money! But he also realized there really can be too much of a good thing.

Cameron Boxer is a dedicated slacker who discovered the crown jewel of gaming. Streaming. he is devoted to his new stream and can’t wait for it to lift off, but his annoying club keeps getting in the way with fundraisers for good causes. But when a widespread lie, a beaver, and way too many gummy worms cause Cams stream to take off, he believes it can only get better from here. But a series of unfortunate events proves Cam wrong as he learns that sometimes the real world really is better than a video game.

In this heart-warming novel about a couple of teens’ journeys into the world of profit, lies, and love, Gordon Korman shows that sometimes just being a kid is the best job in the world. So for my viewers out there who are still kids, don’t try to grow up so fast. You’re only a kid once.

Aru Shah and the End of Time

By Roshani Chokshi

Hey, bookworms! How many of you have read or heard about this iconic book about a sassy Indian girl with a magic lightning bolt? Well, you are about to, so get ready!

Aru Shah is a normal girl. Granted she does not have a lot of money, but she is happy. Mostly. She has never even met her dad and her mom is always gone and has always been pretty distant, so she pretty much spends a lot of time alone. She goes to a fancy school for stuck-up rich kids, and in a school like that, the only way to fit in without a lot of money is to lie. So she did. Until it backfired and she accidentally set free a demon called the sleeper. ACCIDENTLY!

Now she must meet a girl named Mini who is terrified of germs, and a pigeon who can talk and is an ancient king, and basically save the entire world. No pressure! She can do it. Right? Can a rule bender, a severe germophobe, and a nutty pigeon really save the world?

I thought this book was beautifully written and spoke about what a family really is. people who are there for you and will always stand by your back. Family is people who love you no matter what. If you love books about friendships, sisters, mythology, and family this book is for you! And always remember, the pen is by far mightier than the sword.

I Will Always Write Back

By Caitlin Alifirenka

Hey, bookworms! This is my first non-fiction book report, so wish me luck!

Caitlin is a normal 12-year-old girl, nothing truly extraordinary about her. Until one letter changes her life. Her teacher assigns them each penpal and when she chooses a penpal in a country called Zimbabwe, it leads to a friendship that spans over a decade and shows that what seems like one small act of kindness can mean so much more.

Martin Ganda is a poor boy in Chisamba Singles, Zimbabwe. A hard worker and incredibly smart, he is one of the first-and-only- to receive a pen pal! When he meets Caitlin, their friendship helps his family – and him- in so many ways. Their story is one of kindness, family, and most of all, friendship.

I loved this book, and how it was amazingly written. I cried when I reached the end. I was just frankly amazed. This book shows that one act of kindness can change a life. I recommend this book to anyone. Just remember, be kind.

The Blood of Olympus

By Rick Riordan

Hey fellow book lovers! Welcome to my final installment in my Percy Jackson Book reviews! I am so excited to tell you all about this book, so buckle up, bookworms!

In the Blood of Olympus, Percy and Annabeth recently escaped Tartarus ( Greek Hell) and are scarred physically and mentally. Unsure if they will ever recover, they forge on, stronger and more battle-hardened than ever. But with this new darkness hanging a veil over them, will they ever escape the Tartarus that lives in their minds?

Nico, son of Hades, is on his quest. A fellow survivor of Tartarus, he has learned to Harness his inner demons. Though he is still weak, he agrees to help in a truly dangerous mission. Take the Athena Parthenos back to Camp Half-Blood to stop an impending war between the Greeks and the Romans as history repeats itself. With the help of a Roman Traitor Reyna Ramirez Arellano and Satyr Gleeson Hedge, he must take the Parthenos across continents in a race to stop death.

Jason grace former praetor of Rome, a traitor now is threatened by the ghosts of his past. He is torn between his Roman heritage and his love of the Greeks as he begins to understand the true meaning of love and loyalty, friendship and hate, the past, present, and future, in this final thrilling conclusion to Rick Riordan’s series Heroes of Olympus.

I loved this series and how in each book it tried to tackle problems in a humorous, and sarcastic way that keeps you hooked and laughing till the end! It has been amazing to read this series and be able to share with you all how great I believe these books are. Keep on reading on, Bookworms!

The Mark of Athena

By Rick Riordan

Hey, bookworms! How many of you read these books by Rick Riordan in middle school? It’s almost like a tradition for us! I have loved this book series since the day I started reading it and as a tribute to the new Percy Jackson T.V series coming out, I am going to try and write reviews on my favorite Percy Jacksons!

“Wisdoms daughter walks alone, the mark of Athena burns through Rome. Twins snuff out the angel’s breath, who holds the key to an endless death. Giants bane stands gold and pale, won through pain from a woven jail.” Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena was tasked with this quest. Collect 6 other demigods to save the world and avenge her mother. She goes out on a mission of peace to Rome but it ends in bloodshed. She tries to succeed in her quests, but the Ancient Greek gods are cruel. When the 7 demigods begin to crumble, can this daughter of Athena hold them together?

this book mainly centers around the idea that our pasts don’t define us. What we did can give us grief or guilt, but we need to learn to move on from the mistakes of our pasts. We will never forget some of the things we did, but as long as we are trying hard to fix our mistakes, we are fixing them.