Bibliography Alexander, Kwame. 2014. The Crossover. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780544107717 Review & Critical Analysis In this Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Honor award winning verse novel, Kwame Alexander tells the story of 12-year-old, dread-locked, basketball loving Joshua Bell. Josh and his twin brother Jordan, better known as JB, own the court on their junior high basketball team. Their father, Charles “Chuck” Bell, was known as “Da Man” during his glory days in the European basketball league. With his coaching and their mother/assistant principal’s guidance, the two are an unstoppable pair on and off the court. Changes in their personal life begin to alter the relationship of the two brothers, leaving Josh to cope with being alone for the first time in his life. At the climax of the book, a game-changing moment turns the family’s world upside down and changes their lives forever. This verse novel utilizes a variety of poetic forms. There are rhyming couplets, free verse, and the most striking of all, poems that epitomize the rhythm, hustle, and movement of basketball. The poems range from the athletically driven, pulse pounding beats of basketball, to the simple, emotional thoughts of a boy becoming a young man. Alexander uses movement, font, white space, and sound to put you in Josh’s shoes in each poem. Even though the basketball theme is strong, including the “Basketball Rules” poems scattered throughout, the theme of family stands firmly at the center of the poems. This verse novel paints the portrait of a loving, supportive family who encourages their children to strive for success on and off the court. Readers will easily relate to these strong themes and feel the deep emotions that come with it. For example, as Josh struggles to cope with “losing” his brother to his first girlfriend, the reader can easily sense and understand his loneliness, frustration, and resentment. The use of basketball to relate life lessons and emotions is creative and intense, drawing the reader in and creating those experiences through moving poetry. The forms of poetry included in this novel vary greatly, but Alexander successfully keeps the quality consistent. The poems have a hip-hop and jazz, musical feel, creating a natural rhythm for the reader. Many of the poems feature movement, utilizing white space, font variety, and other poetic tools to create motion that is palpable. The poems range in emotion from funny, to angry, to heartbreaking. This novel truly gives the reader a complete and candid view of Josh’s world, family, and feelings. The poems are arranged chronologically into a basketball game. There is the “Warm-Up,” followed by four quarters, and then finally by an “Overtime.” This is an appropriate and inventive layout for a novel centered around basketball. Even the title is a play on the basketball theme. A “crossover” is a basketball move, but it is also indicative of the changes Josh and his family go through in this novel. Alexander does a fantastic job of creating a middle grade novel geared toward boys that is also highly relatable and well-written for any reader. The Crossover is a verse novel that, in my opinion, is a new classic. It is the perfect title for a student who loves sports or music, but is struggling to find a book to enjoy. The mix of poetry forms, written in Josh’s bold, yet realistic voice will speak to readers of all ages. This verse novel is moving, funny, and full of elements that intrigue and entice the reader. It is no wonder that this title won the Lee Bennet Hopkins Award in 2015. I will recommend this title for years to come! Spotlight Poem This poem, found on page 59, is a great example of how Kwame Alexander uses movement, white space, and different sizes/shapes of lettering to create movement. You can actually feel and hear Josh and JB (and their mother) talking, yelling, and playing hoops in this poem.
I would introduce this poem by first showing it to the students. Before reading it, I would talk about what they see. What do you notice about the lines, spacing, and use of bold/capital letters? Then, I would read it aloud, or if able to, find a recording of Alexander reading it aloud. After sharing the poem with the students, I would share a few more examples of this type of poem from the novel and discuss how the shape and lines create the movement and dialogue in the poem. As a follow up activity, I would encourage students to find other examples of poetry with movement to share with the class. I would also encourage students to choose an activity they enjoy watching or participating in and create a poem like this one to share with the class or in their poetry anthologies.
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AuthoRMy name is Mrs. Scott and I'm a secondary Media Resource Specialist (librarian) in Texas. This blog was created as part of my graduate coursework at Texas Woman's University. All reviews and opinions are my own. Archives
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