Poetry Books with Poetry Written by Teens

There are many examples of published poetry by teens, including volumes from the WritersCorps, pocket-sized graphic poetry collections, and culminations from writing competitions. Poets like Naomi Shihab Nye, Sanford Lyne, Joyce Sidman, and Betsy Franco, to name a few, have assembled several notable collections of poetry written by young people-- all books full of unsentimental and authentic young voices. These can be particularly inspiring for young people who want to become poets—to see their peers pave the way before them.

The list begins:

Aguado, Bill, ed. 2003. Paint Me Like I Am. New York: Harper.

Francis, Lee. 1999. When The Rain Sings: Poems by Young Native Americans. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Franco, Betsy. 2008. Comp. Falling Hard: 100 Love Poems by Teenagers. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.

Hirschfelder, Arlene B., and Beverly Singer, comp. 1992. Rising Voices: Writings of Young Native Americans. New York: Scribner’s.

Johnson, Dave, ed. 2000. Movin’: Teen Poets Take Voice. Orchard.

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