8/24/2023 0 Comments Reviews of crossover bookDiscover more books like The Crossover by following along with our reviews and articles tagged with Award Winning Authors, Books Written in Verse, Family Books, John Newbery Medal Winner, Sibling Rivalry, and Sports. area. Visit him at The Crossover, by Kwame Alexander, was reviewed by Elizabeth Varadan. He lives with his wife and two daughters in the Washington, D.C. He conducts creative writing workshops in middle and high schools, often reaching more than 500 students monthly. Kwame Alexander is a poet, children’s book author, playwright, producer, public speaker and performer. This is a book young people will probably want to read more than once, both for the themes in the story and for the author’s storytelling. It will appeal to middle grade readers who like sports – especially basketball – and coming of age stories. “Basketball Rule #1: In the game of life/ your family is the court/ and the ball is your heart./ No matter how good you are,/ no matter how down you get,/ always leave/ your heart/ on the court.” Within that framework, every other character’s voice is clear as well. Always the poetry pushes the story along at a fast pace, and you are squarely in Josh’s head while events run their courses. The Crossover is told in verse – but what verse! Chapters are individual poems, sometimes rhyming, sometimes blank sometimes sounding like hip-hop, sometimes just wonderful visuals, as when descending capital letters show a missed shot on the court, or get bigger as a player tries for a fast break. Which brings us to the music of the author’s writing. These two issues run through the book like counterpoint in a musical score. But Josh’s father is afraid of hospitals and won’t even consider it. While Josh is dealing with separation angst, his mother is nagging his father to go to a doctor because of symptoms she’s noticed. Suddenly Jordan has eyes for only her, and Josh, always half of a duet before, is now a solo. The twins are inseparable buddies until a new girl with pink Reeboks appears at school. Both parents are loving and fair – and strict when they need to be. They are a formidable pair on the basketball court, thanks to their father, Chuck “Da Man” Bell, a former superstar with the European league who was once invited to try out for the Los Angeles Lakers. There is so much to enjoy about this book:įirst, the characters: Josh and Jordan Bell are twelve-year-old twins who live and breathe basketball. The crossover is an amazing book about a boy who plays basketball.
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