The Crossover

This book is an adaptation of the 2015 Newbery Award-winning novel, and it relies heavily on text language. Most likely this is due to preserving the verse from the source material, but I still feel it is a very engaging and moving book. Its main character is 12-year-old Josh Bell, the star basketball player on his junior high basketball team. He is very confident and flashy, wearing his hair in dreads. He revels in the attention he gets from his athletic prowess. He is also influenced heavily by hip-hop culture, and his voice is full of flavor and verve, as you can see from how he introduces himself in this book.

Josh plays along with his twin brother Jordan (JB), and the two of them are very close until a new student (whom he calls "Miss Sweet Tea") complicates their relationship. He seeks advice on how to deal from his dad, a former professional basketball player, and less so from his mom, who is the vice-principal at their school. All of these relationships have there own tensions, which make for all sorts of drama and intrigue that get heaped on top of the ups and downs of individual games and the competitive season.

I found this book to be very engrossing and affecting. The artwork was very expressive, and I loved its interplay with text. The expressions and actions are very clear, and the storytelling is able to go between the bombastic aspects of athletic competition as well as more quiet moments of reflection or emotional responses. Sometimes adaptations of novels can be done in a loose or quick fashion, but I this one is very thoughtful and successful. I have not read the source material, but this book really left an impression on me as I could not put it down.

This book was written by Kwame Alexander and illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile. Alexander is a best-selling author of over 30 books, including Booked and Out of Wonder. Anyabwile is a veteran artist who is best known for the Brotherman series of graphic novels.

All of the reviews I have read of this book have been positive. Marissa Moss concluded, "This is a graphic novel for people who don't like graphic novels, a sports book for readers who don't like sports books. It's a strong story that breaks through genres, well told through a magical combination of words and pictures." In a starred entry, Kirkus Reviews summed up, "Flashy and engaging with emotional depth—a slam-dunk thrill." Esther Keller wrote, "I think that visual learners will absolutely love this adaptation, and I will be highly recommending it to students — even if I can’t categorize it as standard."

The Crossover was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and they offer a video preview and more info about it here.

For those interested in hearing more of the novel, author Kwame Alexander read the book aloud during this time of self-quarantine and "shelter in place," and you can find each update on his Twitter feed.