about the book
Twelve-year-old twins Josh and Jordan Bell are exact opposites, except for their love of basketball. With Josh as the forward and Jordan the shooting guard, they are both slammin’ hot on the local court. Together, they are impossible to beat. They learned their moves from their father, a star pro player in Europe.
Dread-locked and swaggering with confidence, Josh has another talent. He excels at composing mad beats. This rapper, known as Fiflthy McNasty, narrates the book with pulsing verse and poetic musings, complemented with newspaper clippings along. He gives triumphant play-by-play game details, painful observations about middle school life, and insightful glimpses into his familial relationships.
Until recently, he was sure he and Jordon would follow in their dad’s footsteps. But now things are changing—and not for the good. Jordon has fallen hard for Alexis, the “pulchritudinous” Miss Sweet Tea and a talented basketball player in her own right. Jealous, Josh is sure Jordon is abandoning him.
Both twins have always adhered to the Bell Basketball Rule No. 1: “In this game of life, your family is the court, and the ball is your heart.” But lately their relationship is unraveling fast, and Jordon even tricks Josh into shaving his dreadlocks! Both twins wrestle with their bad decisions on and off the court.
To make matters worse, their father’s health is really shaky. When he collapses during a game of three on three and ends up in a coma, both boys realize that life isn’t always about winning. It’s time for them to forget their rivalries and to embrace Bell Basketball Rule No. 10: “True champions learn to dance through the storm”!
about the author
By the time Kwame Alexander was heading to college, he wanted nothing more to do with anything with two covers. He had had it with books!
Kwame grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and Chesapeake, Virginia, in houses where every single room was lined with books. Reading was mandatory and a family outing usually involved a library. Kwame’s father was the author of sixteen books and his mother was an English teacher. By the time Kwame was three, his parents had started a publishing business. From then on, when he wasn’t reading books he was packing them and selling them at trade shows!
So Kwame decided to study biochemistry at Virginia Tech. After a nasty brush with organic chemistry, Kwame met Nikki Giovanni, a world-renowned poet, writer, activist, and educator. After deciding writing poetry made a person pretty cool, he switched his major to English and, four years after graduation, published his first book. And yes, it did have covers!
Kwame went on to author twenty-one more books… and is still going strong. He wrote Crossover in verse because he feels basketball is like poetry in motion. He wanted to write a book where boys would enjoy the poetry, and basketball is a perfect hook. (It works for girls too!) He also really wanted to write about families and the relationships between parent and child. Like Jordan and Josh, Kwame’s father taught him how to play basketball. Crossover won the 2015 Newbery Medal and was a Coretta Scott King Honor book.
Kwame also owned several publishing companies, wrote for TV and the stage, hosted a weekly radio program, recorded a CD, performed and lectured around the world, produced jazz and book festivals, taught high school, and worked for the U.S. Government. He is the poet-laureate of LitWorld and founding director of Book-in-a-Day, which has taught more than 3000 teens how to write and publish their own books. He recently led a delegation of 20 writers to Ghana where they built a library and provided professional instruction to 300 teachers through the international literacy program he co-founded, LEAP.
Kwame, his wife, and two daughters currently live in Washington, D.C.—and yes, their home has much more than a few books!
Sources:
Author website
Author profile: Washington Post
Author biography: HarperCollins
Author biography: AALBC
Author interview: SI Kids
Book trailer: The Crossover
Also by Kwame Alexander:
The Playbook : 52 Rules to Aim, Shoot, and Score in This Game Called Life. HMH Books for Young Readers. March 2017.
Booked. HMH Books for Young Readers. 2016.
Read more!
Booked by Kwame Alexander
Nick’s love for soccer drives him to be the best on the field, together with best friend Coby, but he just can’t seem to impress the girl of his dreams. The Mac, a rapping librarian, points him in the direction of the books he needs for inspiration to keep on keeping on.
Fast Break by Mike Lupica
Ever since his mother died and her boyfriend abandoned him, Jayson has focused on basketball and doing whatever it takes to get by on his own. But when he is found out, he is placed with an affluent foster family of a different race. Now he must learn to accept many changes, including facing his former teammates in a championship game.
Tall Story by Candy Gourlay
Andi, a short basketball-loving girl with big dreams, wishes many things-most of all to be reunited with her long-lost half-brother, Bernado. When her wish comes true, Andi is shocked to see that Bernado is eight feet tall. Surely he will love basketball as much as she does.