The Crossover, Kwame Alexander

Title: The Crossover
Author: Kwame Alexander
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Year: 2014
Pages: 237
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Novel in Verse
Themes: Sports, Family, Growing Up, First Love, Dealing with Loss
Age Range: 3rd-8th Grade

Summary: from Booklist (mostly)

The Bell twins are stars on the basketball court and comrades in life. While there are some differences—Josh shaves his head and Jordan loves his locks—both twins adhere to the Bell basketball rules: In this game of life, your family is the court, and the ball is your heart. With a former professional basketball player dad and an assistant principal mom, there is an intensely strong home front supporting sports and education in equal measures. When life intervenes in the form of a hot new girl, the balance shifts and growing apart proves painful.

When their father dies unexpectedly towards the end of the book, Jordan and Josh are forced to examine their relationship, and realize that while they may have their differences, nothing more important than family.

Review:
Novels written in verse are big right now. I have a good friend who thinks that they are the kind of books that teachers like but don't really appeal to students. I suppose, depending on the book, that may be true. Books like Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson and Words with Wings by Nikki Grimes may appeal to a more mature reader, and may not have the widespread appeal of a graphic novel like Raina Telgemeier's Smile or genre mash-ups like Big Nate or Captain Underpants. But I think that any reader will enjoy The Crossover. Mature readers will find the format appealing, less able readers will be sucked in by the subject matter, and reluctant readers won't be scared away by the amount of print on a page. Just an importantly, the style and subject matter should appeal to Africa American students, who don't often find their lives and culture represented in children's literature.

The style is not a gimmick. The book reads like a rap song, which in less deft hands could distract from the emotional impact of the story. But this book is full of heart, and it gave me one of my biggest cries of the reading year. Josh and Jordan as character ring entirely true-I have nephews that are just like them in many ways. Their relationship with their father, and ultimately with each other, reveal deeper truths about love and family, and the tumultuous time in life when children start to separate their identity from that of their parents. The books reads very much like a traditional coming of age story, focusing in social relationships and first romances, until tragedy strikes Jordan and Josh's family. Sparking conversation about the themes and structures of this books should be easy, making it perfect for use in guided reading, book clubs, or literature circles. The Crossover definitely deserves the the medals it received as the Newbery and Coretta Scott King Award winner for 2015.

Eight Keys, by Suzanne LaFleur

Title:  Eight Keys
Author:  Suzanne La Fleur
Publisher:  Wendy Lamb Books
Year:  2011
Pages:  224
Genre:  Realistic Fiction
Themes:  Loss, Family, Identity, Growing Up
Age Range:  4th-6th Grade

Summary:
Elise has just started middle school, and so far things are not going well.  Her best friend Franklin suddenly seems babyish and embarrassing to be around,  she's being bullied by a girl at school, and her schoolwork is overwhelming.  Things are changing at home, too.  Elise has had her aunt and uncle all to herself since she was a small child, coming to live with them after her parents died.  Now her cousin Annie is coming to live with them, and bringing her infant daughter.  Elise tries to solve her problems on her own, but nothing she does seems to do anything but make things worse.  Then, right around her twelfth birthday, she finds the key.  Her father, who died of cancer before she was old enough to start school, left her eight keys, each one opening a mysterious door in her uncle's barn.  When Elise opens the first door, she discovers a room that is full of her mother, who died the day Elise was born-pictures, mementos, her favorite chair, and her childhood teddy bear.  Her father left a note in each room, and as she discovers the keys to the other doors, she learns more about her parents, the uncle who took her in, and finally herself.

Review:
This is a beautiful, thoughtfully written book.  LaFleur does an excellent job showing how Elise changes from a rather selfish, immature girl into a young woman who understands what it means to be a friend, and who learns to appreciate the people in her life in new ways.  The other characters are equally well-written:  Franklin, her best friend from early childhood, with his allergies and Star Wars figures; Amanda, the bully; Aunt Bessie and Uncle Hugh, who know just how to help Elise find her way; and Caroline, the new friend that shows Elise that sometimes things change for the better.  And while he may have passed away prior to the start of the book, her father is very much a character.  As a parent myself,  I was especially moved by the effort he took to ensure that his daughter would learn the important lessons she needed to be happy.

This would be a great book for discussing how characters change from the beginning of the story to the end. It would also be good for looking at character motivation-even the school bully becomes a more sympathetic character when you realize what motivates her to be so mean.  It is also an excellent vehicle for talking about what makes a family, or how we handle adversity.  Just a wonderful gem of a book!

Cosmic, by Frank Cotrell Boyce

Title:  Cosmic
Author:  Frank Cotrell Boyce
Publisher:  Walden Pond Press
Year: 2008
Pages:  336
Genre:  Science Fiction
Themes:  Family, Growing Up
Age Range:  4th-8th grade

Summary:  (from Goodreads)
Liam is too big for his boots. And his football strip. And his school blazer. But being super-sized height-wise has its advantages: he's the only eleven-year-old to ever ride the G-force defying Cosmic rollercoaster - or be offered the chance to drive a Porsche. Long-legged Liam makes a giant leap for boy-kind by competing with a group of adults for the chance to go into space. Is Liam the best boy for the job? Sometimes being big isn't all about being a grown-up.


Review: 
 That summary doesn't really do the plot justice, but I can understand why it's written the way it is. The plot for this book is convoluted and completely unbelievable-except it's not.  Somehow Boyce manages to make the story about an extremely mature looking 12 year old who fakes his way into a top secret space mission by pretending to be someone's dad feel real.  But I suspect that the authenticity that I felt while reading the book had less to do with the plot and more to do with the emotions that Liam brings out in the reader.


Liam is awkward and brilliant and lacks all common sense-much like almost any other tween.  He desperately wants to fit in, but has mostly given up on that due to his extreme height and premature facial hair.  The one place he feels accepted is in the online community of World of Warcraft.  But when he hears about a special contest for dads and their kids to ride the most amazing ride ever, The Rocket, Liam knows he has to find a way to win.  And when he finds out The Rocket is, well, a rocket, going to space, instead of running for the hills like most sensible chaps, he fights for the right to ride.

Liam's character perfectly demonstrates the stage of life that comes between childhood and the teen years.  He feels left-out by his peers, misunderstood by his parents, restless for adventure...the tween age reminds me of how a reptile must feel before it sheds its skin.  Itchy and twitchy and impatient for the next stage of life to begin.  Before Liam can truly understand the importance of his family and his own self-worth, he has to scrape away all of that immaturity and try to see the world for what it really is.  At least the view is better from space!