It's a quick read, even for a slow reader like me. You will want to know more about the characters' lives, but you will also put down the book with a satisfied sigh, knowing the ending was perfection. Poetry is hard, at least for me, yet Alexander, like all great athletes and writers, makes the three-point shots look easy. I was in awe of Alexander's ability to tell such a rich, multifaceted story with so few words.

Kwame Alexander gives us a novel in verse - a series of poems about twin brothers, JD and Jordan Bell, sons of a former pro basketball player, who are making their way through middle school as best they can - navigating first crushes, homework, family tensions, and of course, basketball. I am late in reviewing this, but oh my goodness, what an amazing book. Recently, Alexander led a delegation of 20 writers and activists to Ghana, where they delivered books, built a library, and provided literacy professional development to 300 teachers, as a part of LEAP for Ghana, an International literacy program he co-founded. A regular speaker at colleges and conferences in the U.S., he also travels the world planting seeds of literary love (Singapore, Brazil, Italy, France, Shanghai, etc.). Kwame believes that poetry can change the world, and he uses it to inspire and empower young people through his PAGE TO STAGE Writing and Publishing Program released by Scholastic. His other works include Surf's Up, a picture book Booked, a middle grade novel and He Said She Said, a YA novel. Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, and New York Times Bestselling author of 21 books, including The Crossover, which received the 2015 John Newbery Medal for the Most Distinguished Contribution to American literature for Children, the Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor, The NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor, the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, and the Passaic Poetry Prize.

The crossover kwame