The Crossover

Not a bad read! As an an aspiring author myself, and a fellow verse novelist, I can truly appreciate the concept of mixing all these different verse types together! Very well written! I'll will definitely be keeping an eye on Mr. Alexander in the future.

UPDATE: I am now a Self-Published Indie Author who also writes verse novels/Verse Thrillers. Mine are less slice of life and more fun, and full of magic, and excitement! One's that allow the reader to escape reality, and enjoy the story. So far everyone that reads them really likes them. If you're looking for a more magical take in a Verse novel I recommend you check out my books on amazon. I promise you won't be disappointed!

I picked this one up because all the youths I interact with are reading this one. I wanted to figure out what it was about so we could talk about it and so I can help recommend other books. 

Man, what a book. I did listen to this one and the narrator did a fantastic job. 

Josh is written so, so well and so believable. He's in between being a kid and being a teen who is dealing with some pretty heavy stuff. His twin is dating the girl he likes, his father is having health issues, and he has to cut his dreads off which were a huge part of his positive identity. This book touches on family matters, anger, loneliness, and change.

This book is heavy at times and, yeah, I might have cried a bit for Josh, but I will say I'm not a huge fan of how the heavy stuff is handled. At times it felt like Josh was using basketball as a way to ignore the other things going on in his life. I had hoped we'd see him tackle those issues in a healthy way. I see the appeal though. I see how it is realistic and shows that life, no matter what, is going to keep moving on. 

So, I'd give it 4 stars, but adding an extra .5 because of how much my youths like it (I swear I haven't seen this book back on my shelf in at least 2 months now). 

This was just fantastic. I wasn't sold on the verses in the first few pages but I was so engrossed by the story I couldn't put it down. Well written and the characters were so well developed despite the length.

Wow.
I never thought I would love a book about basketball. But it's really a lot more than that.

Read Harder: read a book about sports.

Two twin brothers, the son of a great basketball player, play ball together but grow apart when one of the twins has a girlfriend. Things between the two brothers grow worse as their father shows signs of illness. All written in poetry. Newbery Award winner, and deservedly so.

Ahh this was so great!! I had heard that it was so great and I was SECRETLY SKEPTICAL because it is about basketball. But guess what: it's so great and I cried a whole bunch at it.

A great diverse read that should appeal to a whole range of readers (and that should ensnare even readers who don't find it appealing from the initial description, eg me).