Poetry Collections for Teens

Poetry is for everyone, but some poetry is particularly for teenagers. Love poems, heartbreak poems, sad and moody poems, I don't give a damn poems, and I'm on top of the world poems seem to be popular, as are collections of poetry about being a teenager. These are a few I've read recently and enjoyed, if not as a 30-year old, then as a former teenager.

Shame Is an Ocean I Swim Across by Mary Lambert
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I now have a poetry hangover. Lambert's lines are so sharp and hold nothing back. And that cover!! Reading this was therapy - and I had to slow down/not read anything for a bit after finishing it.

Favorite lines:

"this is how I learned to dance
with half of my body on fire."

Favorite poem: "Language Barrier"

The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I appreciate the pacing of this collection. It's not a novel, but there is a narrative. There are some truly sweet lines here. Some crushing ones, too. I'm recommending it to so many of my teen readers who feel like they are the only ones to experience their feelings. There's a strong sense of being seen in this collection - and it is part one of three!

Favorite lines:

"I am so glad
we were born
during the same
lifetime

I may not believe in fate, but I believe in you."

Favorite poem: "be a mermaid (don't allow the world to take your kindness)"

If My Body Could Speak by Blythe Baird

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This collection has a tender honesty. It read me as much as I read it - but I still felt cared for. While I've grown past the time and space of the emotions of the poems, it was easy to reconnect to a time in my life when so much of the lines were true for me. Others spoke to me - 30-yr old Rachel - directly.

Favorite lines:

"Still, do not mistake
how open I am

for emptiness"

Favorite Poem: "Pocket-Sized Feminism"

Extras: More Poetry Collections, or View All My Reviews