Booked by Kwame Alexander

Booked by Kwame Alexander was published in 2016 and is a book told in verse. I love stories written in verse, especially ones that appeal to teens because this type of book helps make a reader. 

Nick Hall, the main character of this book, is a soccer player, his dad is a writer who wrote a dictionary called Weird and Wonderful Words, and his mom is a horse trainer. Nick is expected to read and know the words in his dad's book, but he doesn't enjoy learning all these words. Nick also has a crush on a girl from his etiquette and dance class. He has a best friend and twin bullies who have the same name as twin bullies that I had in my childhood - Dean and Don. 

Nick has a really good relationship with his mom and when she takes a job out of town to train a horse, he is angry and sad about her being gone. 

He says:

"Thought

It does not take

a math genius

to understand that

when you subtract

a mother 

from the equation

what remains

is negative" (pg 59).

There is a lot of word play in this story, found poetry, good teachers, good friends, and loving parents.  I like that this author is careful with language in his books because it makes it easier to get them approved for our school district's book list. Students love his books. 

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

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.