The Crossover

[Jenni]

I am not usually a fan of novels in verse, but I really enjoyed this one. What did you think?

[Ariel]

I LOVED it. Normally I always think there is some disconnect between verse and novels. Sometimes they just read like prose that's broken up into short lines. With Kwame Alexander's book, I felt like it was meant to be in verse. It made sense.

Also, he's really nice and great with kids.

[Julie]

I like that it really appeals to kids too. I have two reluctant readers who have not been able to put this down.
Alexander's poetry reads like basketball games!

[Kim]

I didn't read this for the challenge because I picked it up and read it the day it won the Newbery (I didn't think it would show up on the Hub Challenge). I'd picked it up so many times before, but was turned off by both the verse and the basketball references. I'm so glad I finally forced myself to read it. It's really excellent.
Like Jenni, I'm so over the novels in verse, but new ones like The Crossover and Brown Girl Dreaming keep making me reconsider.

[Sarah]

There was great flow to the verse in this book. I think my usual problem with verse novels is that I can't see the main character thinking in verse, but for this one it made sense to me. Kwame Alexander captured the flux of being 12 years old really well.

[Jmrunninglib]

I loved that it was a novel in verse about basketball. I think I can generate interest in this next year with a wide variety of students.