The Crossover: Graphic Novel by Kwame Alexander

Bibliography

Alexander, K., & Anyabwile, D. (2020). The crossover: Graphic novel. Andersen Press. ISBN 1328575497

Plot Summary

Josh Bell is a 12 year old who loves basketball. More than that, he loves his family which includes his twin brother, mom, and former pro basketball player dad. In beautiful verse, now adapted to be a graphic novel illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile, Kwame Alexander shares the story of Josh and his family both on and off the court. 

Critical Analysis

This story of family, friendship, growing up, and loss is the well loved award winning work of Kwame Alexander that has been beautifully adapted into a graphic novel. The illustrations by Dawud Anayabwile are mostly gray-scale with pops of orange. They feature expertly drawn characters with a variety of hair textures, detailed expressions, and include well-known celebrities like LeBron James and Lil Wayne. The illustrations have cartoonish angles that complement the perspective of the poems. For example, in the first poem, in the section titled warm-up, the illustrations depict Josh Bell from below as he moves to the basket with “A FIERCE FINGER ROLL...STRAIGHT TO THE HOLE! SWOOSH!”. On that note, the graphic novel adaptation plays around with font size and style to express emotion in the same way that the original book does. This graphic novel forgos traditional panels for full page spreads and borderless sections with words placed throughout. At times, it made it difficult to follow the poems, but frequent graphic novel readers may not struggle in the same way. 

The story of the Bell family, an African American family, is one that adds to the collection of Black American stories, showing a story that is not focused on racial struggles, but instead health, growing up, and other universal issues. 

Review Excerpts and Awards

Awards for The Crossover by Kwame Alexander:

• 2015 Newbery Medal Award
  
• 2015 Coretta Scott King Honor Award
  
• 2015 YALSA Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults
  
• 2015 YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
  

From Kirkus Reviews: “This graphic-novel adaptation of Alexander’s 2015 Newbery Medal winner offers powerful visuals to an already-cherished narrative of teenage black boys navigating the game of life...Veteran comics illustrator Anyabwile brings an expansive range of black-boy emotional expressiveness to the page, accompanied by a striking attention to detail and pop-cultural reference. Just check the fresh barber lines on display or the true-to-life illustrations of beloved athletes and musicians such as LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, and more. Eschewing the traditional paneled look of the graphic-novel form creates a dynamic flow between the scenes.”

From School Library Journal: “In this graphic novel/prose hybrid, characters are sympathetically drawn and distinct. The text is thoughtfully positioned and sized, moving the narrative quickly along and complementing the energetic artwork, which is rendered in grayscale with burnt orange accents.”

Connections

Since this book is a graphic novel adaptation, comparing the original and this book would be a great activity. As an extension, students could take another poem and depict it as a graphic novel or comic. Students can discuss how illustrations add to the meanings of individual poems, and discuss the choices made on how to illustrate poems.