Books in Battle: Championing Verse Novels in the Middle School Library

Join Michelle Davies as she shares a successful and engaging program to hook middle school readers onto verse novels.

This round of wide reading sessions with Year 6 had a clear purpose: to introduce students to verse novels as a rich and distinctive narrative form, and to connect that experience to their classroom poetry unit. What I didn’t anticipate was just how much impact it would have.

 

Why Verse Novels?

A verse novel combines the storytelling of a novel with the style and rhythm of poetry. Where a conventional novel builds its scenes from paragraphs, a verse novel builds them from poems. The story is the same kind of story. The language just moves differently, and for middle school readers, the difference turns out to matter enormously.

 

Literacy researchers have identified verse novels as a highly engaging format for teens, largely because they feel visually approachable. The short lines, white space and varied layouts make them less overwhelming than dense blocks of prose, which can be especially helpful for reluctant readers or students who lack confidence in reading. There’s also a sense of quick progress as pages turn easily, helping students build confidence and momentum as they read.

 

The poetic structure also invites readers to slow down and “hear” language, making it a natural fit for reading aloud, a quality that would prove central to everything that followed.

 

Enter: The Book Battle

 

As part of our wide reading program, our three Year 6 classes visit the library each week. In a recent session, I had two main goals: to introduce students to verse novels and connect that experience to their classroom English unit on poetry. The Book Battle was designed to achieve both, drawing on the competitive energy middle schoolers bring to just about everything they do.

 

The premise is simple: two verse novels go head-to-head. I read the opening chapter of each aloud, students listen, then vote for their favourite. The winner advances. Over six lessons and four rounds, the field narrows from eight books to four quarterfinalists, then two semi-finalists, and finally one champion, with each successive chapter building as the stakes rise.

Results were projected live onto our library screen, and the atmosphere lifted straight away. Students leaned forward, some cheering, others turning to friends in disbelief as the rankings shifted. The energy in the room was everything.

 

When the winning book was finally announced, it was handed to the classroom teacher to be read aloud in the weeks ahead. The students already knew how it began. They were already invested.

 

 

Three Classes, Three Champions

 

What surprised and delighted me most was this: all three Year 6 classes heard the same books, the same chapters, and voted independently, yet each class produced a different champion. When this was revealed, the discussion that followed was exactly the kind of rich literary conversation we aim to foster. Reading is subjective. Taste is personal. Yet the books we love are worth arguing for.

The buzz extended well beyond the library. Students who had voted a book out in round one were suddenly curious about why another class had championed it, and demand for the verse novel collection quickly followed.

After the final vote

There is no right answer in a Book Battle. The outcome isn’t decided in advance, and no external award defines the winner. Students, through their collective choices, determine which book earns its place in their space. That sense of ownership is, I believe, one of the most powerful ways to build reading identity in middle school.

What stayed with me long after the champion was crowned was watching students leave the library carrying a book they had chosen, argued for, voted for, and claimed as their own.

It doesn’t get better than that.

 

Michelle Davies

Librarian (Middle & Senior School)

The Hutchins School

Tasmania Reads 2026

Reading connects us all: Be part of the story!

Libraries Tasmania is celebrating Tasmania Reads from Sunday 22 to Saturday 28 March 2026 and we invite you to be part of the story. 

Tasmania Reads is an annual week-long celebration of reading and stories in all forms, now in its fourth year!

The week is filled with fun reading-inspired events and activities for all ages at libraries, schools and organisations across Tasmania. From Storytime for the youngest story fans to hands-on workshops for teens eager to write their own story, there’s something for everyone.

Libraries Tasmania events are free to attend. Children and young people (and their families) are encouraged to attend events to connect with reading by:

     # Attending a StoryWalk led by Tasmanian Aboriginal writers and storytellers.

     # Creating a comic in a Tony Flowers workshop.

     # Visiting a library to read to a Story Dog.

     # Making a zine to tell your story, your way, by joining a zine-making session at  the library or downloading the template from our website and crafting your mini  story at home.

     # Attending the State Library and Archives of Tasmania Zine Fair to explore the world of zines.

We also encourage participation in one of our many partner events.

How will you be part of the story this
Tasmanian Reads Week?

Share how you’re connecting this Tasmania Reads week by tagging @librariestasmania on Facebook or Instagram.

Celebrate Tasmania Reads Week, 23 - 29 March 2025

It’s time to plan for this great annual event to celebrate reading. Tasmania Reads Week, hosted by Libraries Tasmania has some great ideas and resources to get you inspired.

Let’s celebrate reading together!

Join the fun with Tasmania Reads Week, from 23 to 29 March 2025

Tasmania Reads Week is a celebration of reading and stories in all forms, featuring community pop-ups, author talks, story times, poetry readings, and other reading-based activities in libraries and community spaces throughout the state.

 

Tasmania Reads celebrates Tasmanian writers, authors, illustrators, and creators and highlights the connections and benefits that can be found through stories and reading.

There are many opportunities for Tasmanians to read and to connect with local stories during Tasmania Reads Week, visit libraries.tas.gov.au/Tasmania-reads to find an event near you.

Get involved!

To get involved in Tasmania Reads Week 2025 you can: 

• attend a Tasmania Reads event 
• join your library.
• start or join a book club.
• spend time reading – alone, aloud, or with friends.

If you are a teacher, we have special activity resources just for you – email us at tasmania.reads@libraries.tas.gov.au for more information!

There are also numerous events in different locations across the state and also partner events. An online webinar on Illustrating with Tony Flowers is being offered for kids hosted by UCTV forMarch 27. Registration is now open.

What will you be reading for Tasmania Reads Week? 

Lily Fletcher Stojcevski
Reporting and Policy Officer, Libraries Tasmania

W: https://libraries.tas.gov.au/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/LibrariesTasmania/ 

Share a book on International Children’s Book Day

Have you ever enjoyed a book so much, you have wanted to tell everyone about it, rushed out to buy copies for family and friends or placed holds on copies of the author’s other titles? Research by Clarke et al. (2017) found that many Tasmanian adults enjoy sharing books as members of book clubs. IBBY Tasmanian members are providing a similar opportunity through ‘book sharing’ for young readers across Tasmania to talk about and promote their favourite books.

At last year’s IBBY Congress in Trieste, approximately 20 students from several European countries complained bitterly that adults were not sharing good books and that young adults themselves had little opportunity to share their favourites with other young adults. This led to a small group of enthusiastic IBBY/CBCA members deciding to encourage Tasmanian teachers, parents and grandparents to set aside 20 minutes on April 2 for students/children to share the books they love. Why that date? Wednesday April 2 is Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday also known as International Children’s Book Day.

Bradley (2018) champions recommendations from peers as the best way to inspire students to read. For suggestions on starting a culture of book sharing, Miller considers the importance of adults in sharing their own favourites but that ultimately “No matter how good we are at making book recommendations to a fifth grader, the best person to make a book recommendation to a fifth grader is another fifth grader” (Colby Sharp, 2017). 

Another idea drawn from Miller (2014) and expanded on by Jennifer Findley (n.d.) is book commercials along with other suggestions for providing opportunities for students to make personalised recommendations to their peers of the books that they have read and enjoyed. Further suggestions for celebrating books and reading can be found on BubbleUpClassroom. 

As well as providing young readers with the opportunity to talk about their favourite recent reads, IBBY, Tasmanian children and teenagers are invited to submit a brief paragraph (no more than 50 words) to promote their chosen book and convince others that the book is so good that they want others to read and enjoy it. There are some engaging examples of peer book recommendations on a recent CBCA Tas blog post: What are teenage boys reading for pleasure? Insights from a school library. For those who need some guidance the following prompts provide some pointers to get started: 

• Why did you enjoy the book so much?
• What did you find most thought-provoking or compelling about the storyline or characters? (Don’t re-tell the story!)
• What is the main reason you’d recommend this book to someone else/ what would be the main reason you'd give them to convince them to give it a read? 
• Who do you think would enjoy reading this book?

Email your submission to ibbyicbdau@gmail.com  

Please include the child’s given name, age, and location. Selected reviews will be added to IBBY Australia website. Submissions close Friday 11 April.

 

References

 

Bradely, L. (2018, 27 Feb). How to get your students to read more? Peer recommendations. KQED: In the Classroom. https://www.kqed.org/education/530724/how-to-get-your-students-to-read-more-peer-recommendations

 

Clarke,  R., Hookway, N. & Burgess, R.  (2017). Reading in community, reading for community: A survey of book clubs in regional Australia. Journal of Australian Studies,  41(2), 171-183. https://doi.org/10.1080/14443058.2017.1312484

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317280010_Reading_in_Community_Reading_for_Community_A_Survey_of_Book_Clubs_in_Regional_Australia 

Colby Sharp. (2017, 25 October). The book Whisperer Donalyn Miller talks about books. YouTube. https://youtu.be/5aVS_Gmi1ls?si=nJVknMfu61cdDlMM 

Miller, D. (2014). Reading in the wild: the book whisperer’s keys to cultivating lifelong reading habits. Jossey-Bass.
[Held by Libraries Tasmania along with other books by this inspiring advocate for reading.]

 

Nella Pickup, reader, grandparent of readers, IBBY & CBCA TAS member 

Jennie Bales, CBCA Tasmania Social Media Coordinator, retired teacher librarian and adjunct lecturer.

Editor’s note: Although written submissions are limited to Tasmanian entries, anyone, anywhere, can set up a book sharing session – at school, at home, in a library, in a bookshop or with friends. Join in and celebrate International Children’s Book Day on April 2.

Why not share a favourite children’s book here?

Why Book Clubs Matter

This week Lyndon considers the power of sharing our reading experiences and how book clubs can add richness and deeper connections to the books we have engaged with.

We often think of reading and writing as solitary acts. These pastimes, we know, are the hobbies of the reclusive eccentric. As John Green states, writing is “a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don't want to make eye contact while telling it.” 

Yet if that’s the case, why is it that some of the best moments I’ve experienced in reading have not been those when I have been alone in the experience? When I think of the core memories I associate with my love of books, of course there are winter nights wrapped in a blanket by the fire with a hot chocolate and a great six-hundred-page-doorstop, but conversely, I also think of the books that become a shared cultural moment as everyone discussed them, the ones I lined up for outside shops, or the ones with a great twist that sparked a series of text messages with someone who I knew would share the agony of a secret shock with me. The rise of #BookTok, I think, indicative of our desire for this sense of community around reading, and ultimately, I believe, the existence of the book itself relies on the idea that it is part of a conversation between at least two people: the writer and the reader. Reading may be done alone, but stories are always something we make together.

It is interesting to consider how and why readers converge. I had long dreamed of joining a book club by the time I was invited to one by my friend Georgie. Her group of friends, known as the “We Drink and We Know Things Literary Circle” meets at a local bar or restaurant every four weeks, where each of us emerges from hiding for a big hearty meal and an even heartier discussion. A book club, I have discovered, is about several things. It is about friendship. It is about civilised disagreement, seeking clarity, and answering questions of interpretation. It is about the accountability involved that ensures that each of us at least finds the time to read one book a month, and it is about occasionally having your heart broken when no-one loves a book quite as much as you do. Mostly, however, the guiding principle of a book club is the same as that of the English classroom: it is founded on the fundamental belief that when we work together to unpack a story we gain more from it.

At Launceston College this year, we decided to attempt to bring some sense of this culture to the school as an extension of what we had seen in the Shadow Judging process. We started three new clubs centred on a love of story: a Launceston College Film Club, Writers’ Club, and Book Club. For the last of these each month, the library orders six copies of an individual book selected by the group, and students have a month to read them while they are shared around. We meet in a lunch break, and across our reading we explore different genres and ideas, with the students challenging each other to consider the varied perspectives they each bring to a work. This year, perhaps, the hot favourite has been V.E. Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, but there have been wonderful and rich discussions for every text that we have engaged with. Whether the book is loved or hated (and usually it is both depending on who you talk to), there is always a lot to discuss. The only truly dangerous book is an average one.

One of our school club members, Zina, had her sister Aria
design these amazing badges!

I love being part of both my book clubs, and I feel sorry for anyone who does not have that experience as part of their lives. The good news is that wherever there are readers, there is hope. Everyone, no matter their age, should be able to share the experience of reading.

So… if you aren’t already part of a book club…

Why not start one?

Lyndon Riggall
Lyndon is a writer, teacher, and Co-President of the Tamar Valley Writers’ Festival. He can be found @lyndonriggall and at www.lyndonriggall.com

The Reading Journey

Booksellers play an important role in connecting children to great literature and I am always amazed at how widely read they are and their depth of knowledge on  new and classic publications. This week, Holly Cooper, from Petrach’s Book Shop, shares her experience in matching books to readers and suggests some personal and popular favourites.

A certain look appears on the faces of children as they enter a bookshop. It’s a look that will never stop bringing me joy, no matter how many years I spend behind the counter. It’s a look of awe, of anticipation, of elation. It never fails to make a bookseller smile, because we know that wherever they may be in their short yet full-to-the-brim lives, there will be a book just for them.

There are the babies, who, admittedly, care more about how the book tastes than the contents. Their parents look at us apologetically, but of course we don’t mind: ingestion of books still counts whether they’re being read or being eaten.

Then there’s the toddlers, whose wide little eyes light up at the sight of a book all about their latest obsession: ballerinas, tractors, dinosaurs, farts. This look is often followed up by one of desperation, claiming that this one book is all they’ve ever wanted in their entire lives. Yes, even more than that Lego set they saw earlier.

There are the kids who are new to reading independently, who may still hesitate over the tricky words, but are learning that their imagination is their most powerful tool. These children are discovering that books will always be among their most treasured friends.

There are the schoolkids who come in with their own savings, so excited to be able to buy a book all of their own with the money they earned mowing mum and dad’s lawn. They hand over their crumpled $20 note, and in that moment, that book becomes the first thing that’s properly theirs. 

Then there are the young adults, who have big futures and even bigger emotions. Don’t we all remember the feeling of being so utterly convinced that our favourite authors were the only ones to really understand us? Of course, we now take comfort knowing that every emotion we’ve ever felt has been felt and written about by someone before.

Some personal favourites:

All of the Factors Why I love Tractors by Davina Bell, Harper Collins.

For younger children this is a fabulous rhyming story with glorious illustrations, an absolute go-to for reading aloud to kids.

Cat on the Run by Aaron Blabey, Scholastic Australia.

Perfect for lower primary from the author of the amazing Bad Guys series, the first in a brand new series that is just as funny as Bad Guys but with the Cat of Death as the central character.  What’s not to love?

Millie Mak the Maker by Alice Pung, Harper Collins.

Targeting upper primary readers, this is a beautiful story from one of Australia’s most loved authors.  Mille Mak has a superpower - she can turn everyday things into something new!

Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden, Pan Macmillan.

For young adult readers this is an oldie but a goodie and one my personal favourites. A brilliant action-packed start to a series that has remained in print for over thirty years, and for good reason.

Perhaps, as children, we don’t understand how the trajectory of our lives will be mapped out by the books we read. They become our secrets, our confidantes, and our homes. These books will always fill us with a sense of nostalgia when we re-crack those spines and breathe in their glorious old book mustiness. 

So here’s to you, kids. May you always find wonder within the pages of books, and may you all continue to bring joy to those of us behind the counter. What a magical journey you have ahead of you.

Holly Cooper
Bookseller and lifelong bookworm.
Petrachs' Book Shop: https://www.petrarchs.com.au/ 

FB: https://www.facebook.com/petrarchs
https://www.instagram.com/petrarchs
https://www.instagram.com/hollyoftherain 

Editor’s note: Love Your Bookshop Day is on the horizon, celebrated this year on Saturday October 7. Head to a bookshop near you and tap into the wealth of knowledge and experience booksellers have to help connect young readers to great books. Keep bookshops alive!