Dark books have thought-provoking topics

In two weeks, it will be National Poetry Month. It's time to brush up your iambic pentameter, your rhyming couplets, your imagery and your figurative language so you can start waxing poetic.

Most of today's selections are dark. Four of them deal with suicide. But we've included one selection for the very young and one selection of love poetry.

"Chicken Scratches," by George Shannon and Lynn Brunelle. Ages 4 to 8. Chronicle, $14.99.

These silly poultry poems are sure to delight readers. Colorful illustrations accompany the chickens as they sing and dance. In the opening poem, a ballet-dancing chicken lays an egg in her tights. Chicks take baby steps, and a doctor gives his chicken patient some chicken-noodle soup. It even has educational value: One chicken shows readers where his wishbone is. A great book of whimsical fun, this is a must-have in all kindergarten classrooms.

"Dizzy in Your Eyes," by Pat Mora. Ages 12 and older. Knopf, 176 pages. $15.99.

These 50 poems are all about love. Written in different styles, Mora does an excellent job of illustrating love's complex nature. Mora is bilingual and incorporates Spanish into several pieces, and other cultures also are referenced. From familial love to teenage longing, this is a full poetic examination of teen life.

"Orchards," by Holly Thompson. Ages 12 and older. Random House, 336 pages. $17.99.

Kana's parents send her to Japan for the summer to live with her grandparents after Ruth, one of her classmates, commits suicide because of bullying by Kana's friend Lisa.

Told in enticing poetry, Kana's road to self-discovery is haunted by the tragedy that occurred in upstate New York. During the summer, Kana tries to understand Ruth's side of the story and is weighed by the feeling that she and her friends played a major part in Ruth's death. Just when Kana's emotions start returning to normal, news about Ruth's main bully, who is also Kana's best friend, sends Kana spiraling into another emotional breakdown.

This lyrical look at bullying and the aftershocks of suicide may be gut-wrenching, but "Orchards" is crafted with a sensitive beauty.

"Glimpse," by Carol Lynch Williams. Ages 14 and older. Simon & Schuster, 484 pages. $16.99.

Tersely written with razor-sharp descriptions, this haunting, free-verse story of an abusive mother and two sisters is not for the fainthearted. When Lizzie attempts to commit suicide, her younger sister, Hope, is left to figure out why. Their mother earns her living as a prostitute, and Hope begins to suspect that Lizzie's unwillingness to live is linked to their mother's lack of maternal responsibility and compassion. The doctor at Lizzie's treatment facility encourages Hope to open up to him. Hope discovers that to save her sister, she may lose what she has always known. The possibility terrifies and relieves her, but Hope will stop at nothing to save her sister.

"Karma. A Novel in Verse," by Cathy Ostlere. Ages 12 and older. Penguin, 528 pages. $17.99.

Certain books leave readers breathless and overwhelmed by an intricate plot, exotic settings and expressive phrasing. Ostlere weaves multiple story lines into the tale of Maya, a young Indian teen whose mother has committed suicide in their small Canadian town because she can no longer bear the loneliness. Maya and her father return to India with her mother's ashes — unfortunately, at the same time Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated in 1984.

Maya records her personal angst in her diary in free verse while also chronicling the dangerous times. Her father, a Sikh, is placed in danger as the Hindus rise over Indira Gandhi's death. Maya and her father are separated, and Maya is forced to flee the city. She endures hardship and witnesses violence. She tries to disguise herself as a boy. A physician rescues her, but Maya has chosen to become mute. The physician sends Maya to live with her own family in a rural village where the physician's adopted brother, Sandeep, attempts to draw Maya out of the silent walls she has erected for her survival.

The neighboring villagers begin to harbor ill and dangerous feelings toward Maya, and the family must smuggle her out of the village. Unless Sandeep can persuade Maya to trust him, she may end up the concubine of a nomad. Adding to the story's intricate tension, Akbar, the nomad, has his own agenda linking him to Sandeep. Riveting and difficult to predict, this book is well worth reading.

"So Shelly," by Ty Roth. Ages 16 and older. Random House, 336 pages. $17.99.

This dark novel is not for the easily shocked or naive reader. The author has re-created characters around the Romantic Age British poets — Keats, Byron and Shelley — with a plot that is both gruesome and strangely evocative. John Keats and Gordon Byron, Catholic high school students, set off on an unlikely mission to scatter the ashes of their friend Shelly after swiping the urn at her funeral. Through the book, the author uses contemporary situations based on the poets' real-life foibles and characteristics to create his plot. Like the actual poet Byron, the main character Byron engages in sexual excess, including incestuous romps with his half sister that ends in an unwanted pregnancy. Shelly's obsession with Byron leads to her suicide while sailing, and Keats pieces the clues of her passion together. The novel is gloomy and mesmeric, especially for those familiar with the Romantic poets.