Review of The Crossover

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alexander, Kwame. The Crossover. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014. ISBN 9780544107717

2.  PLOT SUMMARY
Josh "Filthy McNasty" and Jordan "JB" Bell are the most skilled players on their middle school basketball team. The twins love the game, but are super competitive on their court and with each other. When JB begins a relationship with Alexis, and develops priorities other than basketball and his family, Josh does not know how to deal with the change in their relationship and acts out violently, causing Josh to lose his spot on the team and risk everything he has worked so hard for. 

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Chuck "Da Man" Bell is raising twin 12-year-old boys, Josh and Jordan, in his basketball image of greatness. They love the game and are highly competitive players on their middle school basketball team, but the boys are growing apart, as Jordan begins to focus on girls in a way that Josh can't contemplate —yet. 

In this moving free verse novel, author Kwame Alexander introduces readers to what it's like when the main focus of play in childhood shifts and changes our peer and family relationships in the most uncomfortable ways. The novel is told from Josh's perspective. In his poetry, he and his alter ego,"Filthy McNasty," are unstoppable on the basketball court. He is the only member of his team that can dunk the ball. He has the fastest, most dominant moves. Off the court, the twins' mother has reinforced that education comes first because basketball can't last forever. The family understands this fact firsthand, as Chuck's promising career was ended early due to knee injury and now, in his late 30's, Chuck is trying to live his life with his boys while balancing a scary heart condition. 

The poetry in Alexander's story is sharp, moving, and rhythmically aggressive, like Josh's moves on the court. In the poem "Conversation" Josh is direct with his father about his health issues. "In the car/ I ask Dad/ if going to the doctor/ will kill him./ He tells me/ he doesn't trust doctors,/ that my grandfather did/ and look where it got him:/ six feet under/ at forty five/" (p. 123). 

Alexander balances many coming-of-age themes including: competition, romance, team work, practice, and independence throughout the book. He also addresses common issues with being black in America, like when Chuck is pulled over for a broken taillight while taking Josh to a basketball game. His fame makes the uncomfortable stop more tolerable, but for the reader it resonates with the fear African Americans feel when they are often pulled over for driving while black. 

My favorite portrayal of the book though comes from the way Alexander has Josh describe both his mother, who happens to be his assistant principal, and her no nonsense way of putting school, health and family before basketball, and his descriptions of Alexis, his brother's girlfriend, otherwise known as "Sweet Tea," whom he likes because she's a basketball junkie, but also hates because her relationship with Jordan has created an emotional distance between the brothers. In the poem "Things I Learn at Dinner" you can feel the apprehension Josh feels about disliking Alexis. "She knows how to do a crossover./ Her AAU team won a championship./ She's got game./ ... She smells like sugarplum. She has a sister in college. HER SISTER GOES TO DUKE" (p. 172). 

Most of the book is set either at the twins' home or at their school or on the court at local schools and the gym. Alexander focuses on what brings people to their "Tipping Point" when, as adolescents, they have difficulty regulating their emotions, and how the action they take after emotional faltering is an important part of learning how to grow up. 

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S) and AWARDS
Newbery Medal Honor Book
Coretta Scott King Honor Award, 2015
School Library Journal Best Book, Middle Grade, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Best Book
An ALA Notable Children's Book, Older Readers, 2015

From Booklist
"An accomplished author and poet, Alexander eloquently mashes up concrete poetry, hip hop, a love of jazz, and a thriving family bond." 

From Kirkus Reviews
"This novel in verse is rich in character and relationships. Most interesting is the family dynamic that informs so much of the narrative, which always reveals, never tells."

5. CONNECTIONS
Other novels by Kwame Alexander: 

• Booked. ISBN 9780544570986
• He Said, She Said. ISBN 9780062118981

Additional books by Kwame Alexander:

• Crush: Love Poems for Teenagers. ISBN 9781499364781
• Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets. ISBN 9780763680947
• The Playbook: 52 Rules to Aim, Shoot, and Score in This Game Called Life. ISBN 9780544570979

Kwame Alexander has been a lot of things in his career: a former high school English teacher, a former radio show host, a music producer, but foremost, he is a poet and a writer. According to his website, Alexander has written 24 books and his characters are often wonderfully smart, strong and represent the complexity of social issues surrounding being black in America.

The Crossover is a wonderful access point for middle grade and middle school readers to discover the power of poetry in contemporary fiction, as well as gaining insight into the American experience of diversity outside of what is typical in canonized literature. 

Alexander's books do something not a lot of other authors have done. They connect the past with the present. They link non-fiction with fiction, and they use both to inspire and tell stories without being preachy or righteous. They cradle humanity while confronting bigotry in a real and honest way. An author study on Kwame Alexander is a win-win situation for any classroom. And if you're really lucky, you may even be able to get him to visit...