The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

1. Bibliography 

Alexander, Kwame. The Crossover. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.

2. Plot Summary 

The Crossover is the emotional, poetic tale of a Black American family made up of an assistant principal mother, former professional European basketball player father, and two high school twin boys as they journey through life’s changes and trials on and off the basketball court. Readers experience a crossover from adolescence into adulthood, a crossover from basketball player into father, and the celebration of basketball culture and family in this bouncy novel in verse. 

3. Critical Analysis

In his novel in verse, Kwame Alexander structurally separates his poem sections by basketball quarters; however, the poems follow the speaker's, Josh Bell's, growth both on and off the court. His poems have a smooth, cool feel, and Kwame Alexander shows the style and personality of Josh with lines like, “Each time you play/ it’s ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL net”. Some poems have graphic features such as in the poem The Show where Alexander manipulates font size and line shape to create movement that mimics the movement of Josh on the court. Alexander also often uses italics to show speakers other than Josh, helping readers get a sense of their personalities and the changes occurring in his brother, his parents, and the relationship he has with each. 

Alexander addresses the theme early on in the novel, giving readers a sense of what is most important: family. In the poem Basketball Rule #1, he uses a metaphor to say “In the game of life/ your family is the court/ and the ball is your heart./ No matter how good you are,/ no matter how good you get,/ always leave/ your heart/ on the court.” Throughout his poems, readers continue to see how important family is in this coming of age sports poetry novel. 

4. Award(s) and Review Excerpt(s)

• 2015 Newbery Medal Winner
  
• 2015 Coretta Scott King Honor Award Winner
  
• 2015 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award
• From School Library Journal: “Alexander has crafted a story that vibrates with energy and heart and begs to be read aloud. A slam dunk.”
  
• From Kirkus Review: “Poet Alexander deftly reveals the power of the format to pack an emotional punch.”
  
• From Horn Book Magazine: “Since poet Alexander has the swagger and cool confidence of a star player and the finesse of a perfectly in-control ball-handler, wordplay and alliteration roll out like hip-hop lyrics, and the use of the concrete forms and playful font changes keep things dynamic."

5. Connections

Gather other other Kwame Alexander texts such as:

• Booked. ISBN 1328596303
  
• Rebound. ISBN 0544868137
  
• The Crossover (Graphic Novel). ISBN 1328575497
  

Gather other novels in verse for middle grades such as:

• Woodson, Jacqueline. Brown Girl Dreaming. ISBN 9780147515827
  
• Lai, Thanhha. Inside Out and Back Again. ISBN 0061962791
  
• Warga, Jasmine. Other Worlds for Home. ISBN 006274780

Have students compare and contrast Josh and his twin brother.

Have students compare to other sports novels to compare style.

Use as a read aloud during a poetry unit especially in the middle grades.