REVIEW | ‘The Crossover’

I may be late to the game on reading Kwame Alexander's 2015 Newbury Medal winning novel The Crossover. But as far as I'm concerned, the middle grade novel is worthy of all the accolades, and mad props if you will, that it has received since being published in 2014.

And if I can use some basketball terminology, I'd like to go on record and say that Alexander manages to achieve the equivalent of the coveted basketball triple-double with 'The Crossover.”

It tells the story of middle school student and basketball prodigy Josh Bell, otherwise known as 'Filthy McNasty” for his impressive basketball skills and mean crossover move, as he deals with preteen challenges like wanting to win the local basketball championship, having your twin brother fall for a girl who he spends more time with, and watching his dad's health fail. Skipping between Bell on and off the court, each chapter offers a glimpse into Bell's world and how he is responding to the circumstances he can and cannot control. 'The Crossover” is all of 237 pages long. With ample white space, some pages have just 15 words on them. Yet Alexander manages to tell the reader more about the characteristics and feelings of the main character then most novels can accomplish in three chapters' time.

And it's clear to see why many 12-year-olds would enjoy the book so well, thanks to Alexander's skilled used of language and understanding of the nuances of preteen lingo and banter. He has a true command for the novel written in verse, making words like swish, strut and zoom simply sail across the page.

Some chapters feature the fast moving language and action of a play-by-play broadcast of a basketball game. Other chapters contain all of three lines but convey a life lesson, basketball style, which readers are sure to carry with them. Still others feature heartfelt familial interactions. Alexander clearly demonstrates his knowledge of love and basketball with in the pages of The Crossover.

Not surprisingly, the book is divided up into quarters, much like a basketball game, and often the text is treated with non-traditional graphic layouts to convey a greater sense of the rhythm and intensity of the language. It's just plain fun to read, much like a quick game of pickup basketball is to play. It's a quick read thanks to the sparse text, but it's so compelling that many are sure to devour it in less time than it takes to watch an NBA basketball playoff game.

In the book, 'The Crossover” is like a game winning three-point shot, nothing but net. And I'm heading out the door now to grab another of Alexander's satisfyingly sporty yet perfectly poetic books.