Hi, I’m Rebecca. I write books and I write here at This Joyful Mess to inspire everyone to find JOY in the everyday messes of life. Here you’ll find inspiration, educational resources, and so much more. Please explore and connect—I’d love to hear from you!
MFAC YA Booklist: True Believer by Virginia Euwer Wolff
True Believer is a novel in verse, or is it? I would say funky line breaks and jaggy right margins do not verse make (how’s that for some ferociously f*rked syntax?).
Books for Tweens and Teens: Two Novels in (Supposed) Verse
On my worktable I have two novels. Open each and you’ll see line breaks, ragged margins, the form of poetry. But after reading both I wonder, are they truly in verse? Does the poetic form fit both novels equally well in terms of voice, use of language, and creation of vivid moments? Is the poetic form necessary for both books, and if not, why?
Witness this!
This book was made up of poems from different points of view and usually in differing and discernible voices all telling one story.
The plot, though ... the story seemed to end at the wrong spot. It ended with...
Fire and Brimstone (Journals)
A novel in verse. First person with various voices and stories that weave in and out of one another all culminating in one hate-filled young man’s desire to blow away everyone on his sh@t list. Brilliant, beautiful...