The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander is a book written in verse that manages to tell a multi-faceted story with so few words and I feel that the style will appeal to readers, whether they normally enjoy poetry or not. It is also a Newbery and Coretta Scott King award winner, which means that it has been recognized by multiple bodies as quality literature for ‘children’. I found the ending to be predictable, as I’ve come to recognize what people value in children’s and teen’s literature, but the rest of the book I found very enjoyable.
The Crossover follows two twin brothers who are in middle school and their lives revolve around basketball. Their father was a famous basketball player who pushes them to do better, which is why they are the stars of their team. Josh and JD are twins, so they’ve always had one another – until a new girl comes to school and suddenly Josh feels like he has lost his brother. They start to drift apart, as he spends every lunch alone and it starts to get to him. We get to experience what he goes through emotionally, from his changing relationship with his brother to the uncertainty with his family. I really appreciated how healthy (in general) the family relationship was that was portrayed here.
The reason that this is an award winner is the beautiful way that it is written. Although it is entirely in prose and significantly less words than many other works, it still manages to get to many poignant moments across. It makes you love the game and the family, and it breaks your heart. I personally don’t read poetry, so I try to push myself out of my comfort zone and I truly enjoyed the Crossover. I was almost immediately drawn into the story and breezed through it.
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