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We love verse novels (B2)

828 Vues 2 J'aime Posté sur: January 17th 2023

We love verse novels

Niveau B2 (intermédiaire avancé)

Does poetry remind you of boring language lessons in a dark classroom on a gloomy day? If it does, you probably won’t believe me when I say that you might not like poetry, but you’ll love verse novels. 

Verse novels are not like the classical poetry you didn’t understand at school. They’re fresh, original, easy to read, and they pack a punch. A verse novel is a short book in free verse instead of prose. There’s also a lot of white space on the page and strange line breaks that emphasise words and ideas, or replace punctuation. 

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Les deux images © DR

Most verse novels are for children or teenagers, but you can also find some for adults. These books focus mainly on the experiences of the main character, but some verse novels emphasize a specific time in history or highlight challenges the character faces.

Why should you read a verse novel? They’re re actually easier to read than another book of the same length. As I mentioned before, there is a lot of white space and word count is low. While the verse looks strange, most of these books don’t use complex grammar and sentence structure. They’re often told in first-person, so it feels like you’re having a private conversation with the main character. This makes them easy to understand. Many writers use the poems to write in fun and surprising ways too. Basically, verse novels are wonderful books to read for people who are learning English!

If you would like to try a verse novel, I recommend you start with Alone by Megan E. Freeman. The blurb says, “When twelve-year-old Maddie hatches a scheme for a secret sleepover with her two best friends, she ends up waking up to a nightmare. She’s alone—left behind in a town that has been mysteriously evacuated and abandoned.

With no one to rely on, no power, and no working phone lines or internet access, Maddie slowly learns to survive on her own. Her only companions are a Rottweiler named George and all the books she can read. But Maddie’s most formidable enemy is the loneliness she faces every day. Can Maddie’s stubborn will to survive carry her through the most frightening experience of her life?”

Enjoy!

boring = ennuyeux

gloomy = sombre

a verse = strophe

pack a punch = puissant

free verse = vers libre

a line break = un saut de ligne

the main character = le personnage principal

to highlight = souligner

the word count = le nombre de mots

a blurb = résumé

to hatch a scheme = comploter

a sleepover = soirée pyjama

a nightmare = un cauchemar

to rely on = compter sur

power = (ici) électricité

on her own = toute seule

stubborn = obstiné

the will = la volonté

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© DR

Marque: Novels
Publié dans: Culture

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