Crossover

Title: The Crossover
Author: Kwame Alexander
Genre: realistic fiction
Awards: Coretta Scott King Award and a Newbery Award

Teacher Evaluation: This is a great read that is written in poems, so it is good when teaching poetry lessons. I would use this book and read excerpts in the book. It is a really nice book with a lot of details. It is also Hard to read because it is a bit sad towards the end. It will get the students thinking. 

 Summary: Josh is narrating his day through his basketball Game. He calls himself Josh Bell, but he is called Filthy McNasty. He is tall and wants to be a basketball star. His dad has a favorite Jazz Artist Horace Silver. Josh is not interested in his work, so his dad dedicated a song to Filthy McNasty. Josh did not like the nickname, but when he started doing very good at basketball, he began liking it. Josh has a twin who goes by JB. He likes to bet. Their dad was a professional player, and Josh wants to know if Dad misses playing. Dad really likes coaching. JB tries to dunk the ball and so Josh shows off how he can. JB tells Josh if he wins then Josh has to cut his long hair. JB cut off five of Joshes locks. When their mom sees it, she says that he needs to cut the rest off. Josh is so sad about cutting his hair he wants to put his locks in box. He goes into his dad's closet, and instead of finding an empty box he finds all of his basketball memorabilia. Now kids are joking that JB and Josh look exactly the same so they can't tell them apart. Josh then sees a new girl called Miss Sweet Tea. they discuss how beautiful she is. But she is interested in JB. JB askes Josh to give Miss Sweet Tea a note. The teacher catches him passing the note and Josh takes the fall. Joshes mom gets him into trouble. Josh is later forced to help the teacher, and he watches JB and Miss Sweet Tea pass more notes. Josh Then askes his dad about it and tells his dad to only call him Josh. Joshes dad is not feeling well, but he refuses to go see a doctor. Miss Sweet Tea comes over for dinner Josh calls her "The girl who stole my brother" Jb and Josh get into a large argument. At his next game he realizes his parents are not in the stands, then Josh and his dad play a warmup game later on where Josh's dad collapses and has a heart attack. Josh is getting comforted, but he does not want it. Their dad later passes away in the hospital and Josh decided to dedicate everything to that. JB gives Josh his dads championship ring at the end of the story. 

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