Newbery Award: The Crossover
Author: Kwame Alexander
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Major Awards: Newbery Medal, Coretta Scott King Award Honor
Age Group: 8-13 years old
The Bell family is a basketball family. The narrator Josh and his twin brother Jordan have been raised on the sport; their father Chuck "Da Man" Bell played professional basketball overseas and raised his boys on the sport as well. Basketball is a major component of the boy's lives. When they're not practicing at home and at school, they're talking about the game and their hopes of winning the county championships. Chuck "Da Man" Bell is a major supporter of his sons, and when he's not making the family laugh or telling stories, he playing basketball and teaching his sons his rules of the game. Like with any family, they too have their ups and downs. Mrs. Bell keeps urging Mr. Bell to go to the hospital due to his family history of hypertension and his recent symptoms, but he refuses because he doesn't like doctors. Jordan is now dating, and what was once two brothers who did everything together, turned in to Josh doing a lot of things on his own. Josh gets upset by the fact that so much has changed since his brother started dating. During a game he hit his brother in the nose, and with the first spill of blood the relationship between the inseparable brothers shifted. Josh gets suspended from the team and the two boys aren't on speaking terms for the majority of the book. On the road to county championships the boys are a force to be reckoned with. With Josh suspend from the team, the team is still winning with Jordan, but it's not the same with half of the Bell brothers on the bleachers, and the brothers not being on speaking terms. Mr. Bell has many close calls with his health, he faints multiple times, get dizzy, tired, and fatigued quickly, and even suffers a heart attack that puts him into a coma. This event affects Jordan to the point that he no longer wants to play basketball, Josh, on the contrary, is angry, angry with himself for not noticing sooner, angry with his dad for not taking better care of his health, angry with his brother, and angry at the world. After some time, Mr. Bell wakes up from the coma but still has to stay in the hospital under observation. Josh's suspension from the team is lifted just in time for the big game. Then, Mrs. Bell receives news that Mr. Bell had another heart attack; she runs to the hospital with Jordan behind, but Josh decides to go the game because he knows that's what his dad would want. Mrs. Bell stays with Mr. Bell at the hospital and sends Jordan to the school to support Josh in the game, but during the final half of the game, they receive terrible news. With just a look at his brother in the stands, Josh knows that as the timer stops and the games over his father has passed away. The funeral is hard for the entire family, but especially Josh. Besides his twin brother Jordan, his dad was the other person he could always talk to, his father was gone and he and his brother where still not on speaking terms. It isn't until the funeral that the two boys both find themselves in the driveway throwing free throws, as they'd done with their dad since they were kids. At that moment, they both felt as if he was still there with them.
If I'm being completely honest, at first glance I was hesitant to read this book. I did the opposite as the saying goes and judged the book by its cover. I saw the basketball and automatically assumed that the book was only going to be about sports, but I was wrong. This book is so much more. This book is about life, family, growing and changing, set to the backdrop of a basketball court. This is an incredible story that will take readers on emotional highs and lows until the clock runs out. The Crossover is an amazing book that would make a wonderful addition to all 3rd- 8th-grade classroom libraries. The book itself is written in verse and follows a rhythm that is almost like a rap. I think students would absolutely love reading this book during a poetry unit, delving into the rhyme scheme and discussing the style and meaning of the words. Although, beyond using the book in a poetry unit, it is overall a great book to have in class for students to read independently. The Crossover is one of those books that everyone either directly or indirectly can relate to. Whether its a relationship with your sibling, a love for a sport, growing apart from someone you were once close to, being afraid of doctors, losing a loved one, the list is endless. This book was beautiful and taught me so much, especially to never judge a book by its cover because this was truly a slam dunk!
Age Group: 8-13 years old
The Bell family is a basketball family. The narrator Josh and his twin brother Jordan have been raised on the sport; their father Chuck "Da Man" Bell played professional basketball overseas and raised his boys on the sport as well. Basketball is a major component of the boy's lives. When they're not practicing at home and at school, they're talking about the game and their hopes of winning the county championships. Chuck "Da Man" Bell is a major supporter of his sons, and when he's not making the family laugh or telling stories, he playing basketball and teaching his sons his rules of the game. Like with any family, they too have their ups and downs. Mrs. Bell keeps urging Mr. Bell to go to the hospital due to his family history of hypertension and his recent symptoms, but he refuses because he doesn't like doctors. Jordan is now dating, and what was once two brothers who did everything together, turned in to Josh doing a lot of things on his own. Josh gets upset by the fact that so much has changed since his brother started dating. During a game he hit his brother in the nose, and with the first spill of blood the relationship between the inseparable brothers shifted. Josh gets suspended from the team and the two boys aren't on speaking terms for the majority of the book. On the road to county championships the boys are a force to be reckoned with. With Josh suspend from the team, the team is still winning with Jordan, but it's not the same with half of the Bell brothers on the bleachers, and the brothers not being on speaking terms. Mr. Bell has many close calls with his health, he faints multiple times, get dizzy, tired, and fatigued quickly, and even suffers a heart attack that puts him into a coma. This event affects Jordan to the point that he no longer wants to play basketball, Josh, on the contrary, is angry, angry with himself for not noticing sooner, angry with his dad for not taking better care of his health, angry with his brother, and angry at the world. After some time, Mr. Bell wakes up from the coma but still has to stay in the hospital under observation. Josh's suspension from the team is lifted just in time for the big game. Then, Mrs. Bell receives news that Mr. Bell had another heart attack; she runs to the hospital with Jordan behind, but Josh decides to go the game because he knows that's what his dad would want. Mrs. Bell stays with Mr. Bell at the hospital and sends Jordan to the school to support Josh in the game, but during the final half of the game, they receive terrible news. With just a look at his brother in the stands, Josh knows that as the timer stops and the games over his father has passed away. The funeral is hard for the entire family, but especially Josh. Besides his twin brother Jordan, his dad was the other person he could always talk to, his father was gone and he and his brother where still not on speaking terms. It isn't until the funeral that the two boys both find themselves in the driveway throwing free throws, as they'd done with their dad since they were kids. At that moment, they both felt as if he was still there with them.
If I'm being completely honest, at first glance I was hesitant to read this book. I did the opposite as the saying goes and judged the book by its cover. I saw the basketball and automatically assumed that the book was only going to be about sports, but I was wrong. This book is so much more. This book is about life, family, growing and changing, set to the backdrop of a basketball court. This is an incredible story that will take readers on emotional highs and lows until the clock runs out. The Crossover is an amazing book that would make a wonderful addition to all 3rd- 8th-grade classroom libraries. The book itself is written in verse and follows a rhythm that is almost like a rap. I think students would absolutely love reading this book during a poetry unit, delving into the rhyme scheme and discussing the style and meaning of the words. Although, beyond using the book in a poetry unit, it is overall a great book to have in class for students to read independently. The Crossover is one of those books that everyone either directly or indirectly can relate to. Whether its a relationship with your sibling, a love for a sport, growing apart from someone you were once close to, being afraid of doctors, losing a loved one, the list is endless. This book was beautiful and taught me so much, especially to never judge a book by its cover because this was truly a slam dunk!
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