The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander was published in 2014 and is written in verse. The verses in the book are visually appealing because of form and font usage. This would be a great book for any reader who needs a fast paced story with a lot of white space. 

Josh and Jordan Bell are sons of a retired basketball star, and their father has worked hard to teach them all he knows. Both boys are amazing players, but things start to change when Jordan falls in love, and when their dad starts having health problems. 

The book is broken into sections just like a basketball game, from warm-up to over-time.

Page 20:
Basketball Rule #1

In this game of life
your family is the court
and the ball is your heart.
No matter how good you are,
no matter how down you get,
always leave
your heart
on the court.

This book deals with race relations, sibling relationships, parent relationships, and friendships. I enjoyed the sections that deal with hair issues. I liked how realistic the relationships and the characters felt. This won the Newbery award and is a Michael I Printz Honor book.

Several more donations to our NICU book project have come in.

Janelle Topik donated these books.

Naomi Peterson sent this selection.

Miranda Heinz sent these books to honor her son, Liam.

Family members of one of our NICU staff sent this selection.

Once again, thanks to everyone who has sent books for the babies. We appreciate your support of this project.

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you.