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Cara Delevingne in Paper Towns
Cara Delevingne in Paper Towns, playing Margo Roth who is rather fond of Walt Whitman’s poem Song of Myself… but why? Photograph: 20th Century Fox/Allstar
Cara Delevingne in Paper Towns, playing Margo Roth who is rather fond of Walt Whitman’s poem Song of Myself… but why? Photograph: 20th Century Fox/Allstar

Why is there so much poetry in YA/teen lit?

This article is more than 8 years old

From Walt Whitman in John Green’s Paper Towns to Dylan Thomas in Ally Condie’s Matched, YA ficton is full of poems and poetic references. Ciara Murphy wonders why

Many times in YA fiction,
I find authors with a strange addiction,
For referencing poetry in their book,
And encouraging us to take a look.
So from Matched and Crossed to Cassandra Clare,
Here’s some examples we’d like to share!

Poetry and prose can sometimes go together like chalk and cheese. However, there has been an interesting trend in YA fiction of many authors choosing to use poetry as a recurring theme throughout their novels, or make references to specific poems or poets in their work. For instance, a number of YA novels have characters who enjoy reading or writing poetry, and in many cases, is a way for them to express their emotions or bond with other characters. Similarly, many authors choose to include references or lines to poems as a way to begin a chapter or to move the story along.

Lines from poetry are often used at the beginning of chapters in some YA novels, many a time to hint at what is to come. For example, Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries series, began every chapter of her fantasy romance novel Avalon High with a stanza from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s The Lady of Shalott. Those who have read the novel will know that in doing so, Meg Cabot gives readers a slight clue as to the true identity of the characters.

Similarly, YA favourite Cassandra Clare chose to begin each chapter of her novel Clockwork Angel with a section from poems that her characters, who lived in late-19th century London, would be familiar with, such as John Milton’s Paradise Lost, and Alfred Lord Tennyson’s Sir Galahad.

Plot lines and poems seem to intersect in many YA novels too, and give us an insight into some of the main characters emotions. Sarah Dessen, author of Someone Like You, and Lock and Key, uses one of TS Eliot’s (yes, the man whose poems inspired Cats: The Musical!) poems, The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock, in her novel Dreamland. Experiencing feelings of rejection and a kind of separateness from the rest of the world, main character Caitlin finds it easy to identify with Prufrock’s own feeling of being in limbo.

Some of our favourite characters like poetry too. John Green’s Paper Towns is full of metaphors, and one of these can be found in the form of poetry. The elusive Margo from John Green’s Paper Towns, who mysteriously disappears one evening, leaves an odd clue to her whereabouts in the form of Walt Whitman’s poem Song of Myself from Whitman’s Leaves of Grass collection. However, the highlighted lines in the poem prove very ambiguous, making it difficult not only for our hero, Q, to understand, but for the reader too! As it turns out, Margo hadn’t intended the poem to be used as a way of finding her, instead simply highlighting the sections she felt exemplified her own life, much like Sarah Dessen’s character Caitlin.

Walt Whitman’s poetry is an integral part of John Green’s Paper Towns, and here’s the man himself. He died in 1892. Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis

Similarly, fans of Ally Condie’s Matched series will be familiar with the role of poetry in main character Cassia’s world. The totalitarian society in which she lives has a number of strict controls on its citizens, one of which includes have a list of only a hundred poems which citizens are allowed to read. Owning, or even having knowledge of, a copy of a poem not on the list constitutes a crime. For instance, one of the banned poems is Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas, which marks the catalyst that makes Cassia start asking questions about the strange society that she lives in. Similarly, in Crossed, the sequel to Matched, we are introduced to yet another forbidden poem, this time Tennyson’s Crossing the Bar. Again, this poem has a significant impact on the plotline in the it is the rallying cry of the rebellion, giving rise to the idea of “crossing the bar” between the current restrictive era they live in, and the past they wish to return to.

When reading works of fiction, I find it’s always nice to come across a cultural reference that I recognise, such as a particular place, film, or in this case, poem, even if it is a struggle to figure out why the author has chosen to include it in their novels! Poems in YA are often useful indicators in finding out more about the characters or the plot of the book itself, and always helps to bring a little bit of reality into these marvellous fictional worlds.

What YA novels have you read that have included poems or poetry as a key theme? Do you think reading about poetry in YA novels would make you more likely to read it yourself? Please share your thoughts by email at childrens.books@theguardian.com or on Twitter @GdnChildrensBks and we’ll add them to this blog!

Your ideas:

@GdnChildrensBks In Alexia Casale`s Bone Dragon Evie recites Hamlet in class.

— Pat Neal (@PatNeal6) October 5, 2015

@GdnChildrensBks Poetry in YA Literature: in The Outsiders by SE Hinton, "Nature`s first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold." Frost ?

— Pat Neal (@PatNeal6) October 5, 2015

@GdnChildrensBks Poetry in YA Literature: in The Outsiders by SE Hinton, "Nature`s first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold." Frost ?

— Pat Neal (@PatNeal6) October 5, 2015

@GuardianBooks @cassieclare @johngreen @GdnChildrensBks becuz poetry is amazing it speaks volumes

— Sophie Rose (@sophie_rose21) October 5, 2015

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