The Crossover

Kwame Alexander's novel in verse is a refreshing departure from the genre.  Novels in verse often tackle controversial subjects in the YA category: drug use, pregnancy, murder, and promiscuity all resonate with teens in long-form verse as do lighter, navel-gazing forays into the singular, lonely experience.  Alexander's book manages to bring verse to the safer middle school playground, where pain is less often self-inflicted, but the story still manages to challenge the reader with verse, allegory, conflict, and tragedy.  Josh and his twin brother Jordan are serious ballers, with the skills and pedigree to take their talents far. In Josh's narration, the reader experiences the struggle with athletic pressure, sexual awakening, identity, and guilt. The momentum of the poetry crescendos and ebbs on the boys growing concern for their beloved father, who has a dangerous medical condition. The crossover is not only a nasty basketball fake, but it alludes to the brink of adulthood that both Josh and Jordan must traverse. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2014, The Crossover has been awarded a Newbery Medal, the Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor, and the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award.  It is a story that connects pride and passions with anxieties and frailties. The verse is written in a refreshing boom-bap, ratta-tat-tat that is pulled from street lingo and idiomatic hip-hop rhythm and rhyme. The sections that depict basketball prowess are explosive, engaging, and mind-blowing. This book is uniquely positioned to bring reluctant readers into the world of poetry and fiction. It is the O-positive of literature--a universal connection and recognizable lifeblood for all teens--whether they are a poet, a baller, a drama queen, or a fiction aficionado.