Hello, friends! Today, I'm here to tell you about a book I finished last week called The Crossover. Now, most would avoid this book because it seems like a little bit more of a young read, which it is, but I would still recommend it for people ages 13 and up.
Basically, I read this for school as a part of a brief poetry unit. It's about a 12-year-old boy named Josh that loves to play basketball. Him and his brother, JB, love to play together, and are the stars of their team. The two are extremely close, but all of that changes when JB meets a new girl in their grade, becomes interested in her, and starts to pull away from Josh, making him feel lonely. At one point, Josh's jealousy gets the better of him, and he does something to JB that he ultimately regrets. In the meantime, Josh finds out that their father, former basketball champion, has high blood pressure, which could lead to a heart problem later on. Crystal, Josh's mom, spends most of the book trying to convince her husband, Chuck, to go to the doctor's for it, but he keeps on refusing.
That was a summary of basically what happens in this book. I swear that you could read this book in a couple of days once you really get into it, as this book is written in the style of a bunch of poems. It's a poem book, but more interesting because of the stories that the poems tell. There's also a great amount of variety of poems in this book, from the standard free-verse, to ambigrams, to definition poems – this book had it all.
The use of formatting also made a huge impact on the way the reader conveyed the events that were happening. During a basketball game, Alexander would arrange letters in different shapes and make letters bigger or smaller depending on the effect he wanted it to have on the audience. Overall, this was a really nice read.
There are also so many metaphors for life in this book. Throughout the story, you'll be able to identify some different theories as to what Alexander was trying to say, and find some patterns throughout the book.
I really hope you consider reading this!
I don't read nearly enough poetry. This is something I really want to change as I think poetry has a way of moving you differently than other forms of stories. Appreciate you sharing your thoughts on this one.
Hi Cec! I think this book looks great! I haven't read poetry in a while, but I am really looking forward to reading Ronit and Jamil – a new diverse book that came out this year (at least I think it has come out already). I might give The Crossover a try after I read this one 😀 Great post!
I'm glad you liked it! After you read Ronit and Jamil, let me know if you recommend it.
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