The Crossover - Kwame Alexander

Basketball and verse? An unexpected collaboration of subject and literary composition, but Kwame Alexander delivers with Crossover (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $16.99). Josh Bell—known as Filthy McNasty—is always “agitating / combinating / and elevating” his game. His twin brother Jordan is also a “baller” but is recently distracted by another equally engrossing game: girls. Alexander’s verse weaves, pump fakes, and slam dunks across the page, adding visual excitement to this “running gunning / shooting” story of sibling rivalry and, ultimately, brotherly love. Ages 11-14. Renée Bosco