The Crossover

The Crossover
By Kwame Alexander

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Interest Level: Grades 5-8
Reading Level: Q
Where to find this book: Winship School Library, Boston Public Library

Dribbling

At the top of the key, I'm

  MOVING & GROOVING,

POPping and ROCKING--

Why you BUMPING?

  Why you LOCKING?

Man, take this THUMPING.

Be careful though, 

'cause now I'm CRUNKing

  CrissCROSSING

FLOSSING

flipping

and my dipping will leave you

S

 L

  I

    P

     P

      I

       N

        G on the floor, while I

SWOOP in

to the finish with a fierce finger roll...

Straight in the hole:

Swoooooooooooosh.

Crossover, a novel in poetry by Kwame Alexander, begins with this poem. It perfectly captures the athletic and emotional energy of this story of Josh and Jordan Bell, 13 year-old identical twins who are the stars of their junior high basketball team. Narrated in the first person by Josh, the story has plenty of confident basketball trash talk. But the reader also peeks into Josh's thoughts and feelings as he transitions from child to teenager. In this book, Josh and Jordan mature as basketball players under the coaching of their father, ex-pro player Chuck Bell. But their father teaches them much more than that. Josh learns from his father how to deal with the "loss" of his brother to a girl--when Jordan begins dating a new girl at school, Josh is for the first time left to eat lunch alone, walk home alone, and study alone. As if this weren't enough, Josh's father begins to have health problems that increase the stress level of the whole family. Although it is not easy, Josh brings the same strength and confidence that he uses on the basketball court to cope with the other difficulties in his life. Josh emerges from these trials as a victorious, but changed and matured, teenager. 

If you are an 11 to 13 year old boy who loves basketball, you will LOVE this book! There are lots of comparisons in this book between basketball and wisdom about living a good life. At the end of this excellent book, Josh is able to reflect on Basketball Rule #10: 

"A loss is inevitable, 

like snow in winter. 

True champions

learn

to dance

through

the storm."