The Crossover

Alexander, K. (2014). The Crossover. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Josh and his twin Jordan are the stars of their junior high basketball team. Their dad played professionally in the European league and would have been a pro in America, if he hadn't had an injury. And Josh seems to be following in his father's footsteps, until a series of events changes his life. His brother falls for a girl and basketball is no longer his priority. His father's health is an isssue, an issue that his father ignores, until he ends up in the hospital with a massive heart attack. Josh struggles to deal with losing his twin to other interest and losing his father to his bad health choices, all the while trying to be the best basketball player and win the county championship.

This book is written in free verse poetry and may be the perfect way to get some of my boys to read poetry. In some ways, Mr. Alexander's poems border on hip hop lyrics which would be very appealing to my students.

I enjoyed the character development. Seeing Josh deal with his brother's girl friend and the relationship between Josh and his dad drew me into the book. I wasn't sure I'd like this, as I am not a sports girl, but this was more about life than ball. I may even use it as a read aloud.