As students read this book, the same question can be answered with the characters in the book. In this middle grade novelinverse by the newbery medalwinning and coretta scott king honor awardwinning author of the crossover, soccer, family, love, and friendship take center stage as 12yearold nick learns the power of words when he wrestles with problems at home, stands up to a bully, and tries to impress the girl of his dreams. In this middle grade novel told in dynamic verse, twelveyearold twin basketball stars josh and jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health. This feels stange to you, because as long as you can remember there has always been a second person,alexander 114. The crossover is a 2015 childrens book by american author kwame alexander and the winner of the 2015 newbery medal and coretta scott king award honor. Cat clarke recommends her favorite top 10 books with teens behaving badly for the guardian. The crossover themes from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Tea her resour e for the crossover y kwame alexander anhor text the rossover opies available at the s ook warehouse. Some within publishing deem a novel crossover when it is written for children or young adults but attracts a healthy adult audience. Helping him along are his best friend and sometimes. The crossover chuck bell was known for his crossover during his basketball career, and it earned him the nickname da man.
Apr 09, 2015 the crossover falls on the other side of that balance. The crossover themes from litcharts the creators of. The crossover by kwame alexander by matthew deleon on prezi. The crossover study guide contains a biography of kwame alexander, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full. A bulletin board for the wonderful newbery book the crossover by kwame.
Share read this book and over 1 million others with a kindle unlimited membership. Learn how to find the theme of a book or short story. Two major themes are prominent in this book family relationships and loss. The graphic novel is an adaptation of kwame alexanders novel in verse about twin,12yearold african american basketball players. It was published in the back of the paperback version of the house of hades on march 31, 2015, and later as an ebook and audiobook. Apr 22, 2014 i have been on the hunt for a nongirlie book in verse. Josh has many identities in this bookson, brother, basketball player, poet, and friend. An eminently satisfying story of family, recovery, and growing into manhood. This is one element that would add a lot of depth to the possibilities in teaching this book in the classroom. The crossover by kwame alexander by kellee on march, 2015 5 comments in book inverse, characterization, classroom library buy, close readinganalysis, comparecontrast, conflict, figurative language, foreshadowing, imagerydescriptive language, languagestyle, literature circle book clubs, multicultural, novel. The crossover summary and study guide supersummary. Parents need to know that author and poet kwame alexanders the crossover is a poignant novel in verse that mixes basketball, family, and comingofage themes and includes serious issues regarding adult health and a parents lifethreatening condition. From the cover, it was obviously about basketball although i didnt realize that crossover is a basketball move and it appeared to be a male protagonist. As you read this book with students, they may notice that the poet presents a variety of types of poems in the book or you can point this out after reading.
He and his twin brother jordanor jbare basketball stars and are best friends on and off the court. A books theme is not the same as its plot or its moral lesson, but these elements are related and necessary in building the larger story. While the definition of crossover fiction within the industry is debatableon this readers, writers, agents, editors, and publishers can agreeeveryone wins when a novel has ageless appeal. Alexanders highly anticipated followup to newberywinning the crossover is a reflective narrative, with little of the first book s explosive energy. Josh s narration makes use of changes in font size, line breaks, and rhyme to guide the reader through the novel, slowing down or speeding up the action according to how the text is arranged on the page. Sep 24, 2019 his soccer dream derailed, nick turns to the books he has avoided and finds more than he expected. How high can you score on this list of words from alexanders awardwinning novel in verse. The crossover, by kwame alexander literary fusions. The crossover, by awardwinning childrens book author and poet kwame. The grand tradition of crossover novels books the guardian. Confidence and vulnerability at the beginning of this story, josh does not lack confidence.
It seemed like a futile task until i came upon the crossover. As a novel written in verse, the text of the crossover is able to play with rhythm, visuals, and language in a way that a novel written in prose cannot. I would begin by asking students an openended question such. The plot of a novel is the action that takes place within the course of the narrative. Others expectations of you are determined by their limitations of life.
Mar 18, 2014 in this prequel to newbery awardwinning the crossover 2014, alexander revisits previous themes and formats while exploring new ones for charlie bell, the future father of the crossovers jordan and josh, his fathers death alters his relationship with his mother and causes him to avoid what reminds him of his dad. People on the street know about his crossover, espn analysts talk about his crossover, and josh practices daily to try and develop his crossover to be more like his dads. Mar, 2015 the crossover by kwame alexander by kellee on march, 2015 5 comments in bookinverse, characterization, classroom library buy, close readinganalysis, comparecontrast, conflict, figurative language, foreshadowing, imagerydescriptive language, languagestyle, literature circlebook clubs, multicultural, novel. October 19, 2015 by lynne the magic pixie dust for how to reach lots and lots of readers may be elusive, but two things about book discoverability are indisputable. At times he likes his nickname filthy mcnasty, but at other times he wants to be called josh. Family is one of the most important themes in the text.
He lives with his wife and two daughters in the washington, d. In this novel, the family unit is a supportive, uplifting. The crossover by kwame alexander the book smugglers. The crown of ptolemy is the third and last book in the percy jackson and the olympians and the kane chronicles crossover series. This study guide consists of approximately 39 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of the crossover. Download an educators guide to the 2015 newbery medalwinning book the crossover by kwame alexander. I dont think the label crossover really fits for any of these sorts of books. These american footballthemed skins can be equipped with a style option for each of the 32 nfl teams. Feb 24, 2020 all of these themes are unlikely to return unless more relevant media releases for them at a later date. Josh and his twin brother jordan live for the game and plan to. Explore classroom activities, puzzles, teacher resources and enrichment pdfs for this book. Sometimes its tough to get a kid to pick up a book.
Written in verse, basketball is a metaphor for life for twin middle school boys jordan and josh. Family is an important theme in the novel the crossover by kwame alexander. Oct 06, 2014 the crossover will make a great bridge to books like matthew quicks boy21, too, both because of the content and the welldrawn, dynamic, and memorable characters. The crossover is about two twin brothers, jb jordan bell filthy mcnasty josh bell. See more ideas about crossover, sports theme classroom and teaching poetry. You know exactly the kid who needs this book, who will fall in love with this book, and most important, who will see himself in this book. The crossover falls on the other side of that balance. Mar 01, 2012 ill read the book whether its crossover or not and sometimes i hardly notice that it is a crossover. A reading list for the best new books featuring books that are targeted at adults but are likely to be of interestsuitable for teens, with links to full book information. Inheritance and genetics brotherhood and growing up. It was a slow week in young adult and crossover book news. People on the street know about his crossover, espn analysts talk about his crossover, and josh practices daily to try and develop his crossover to.
New york times bestseller ala notable book an eminently satisfying story of family, recovery, and growing into manhood. The themetracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of brotherhood and growing up appears in each chapter of the crossover. The theme of brotherhood and growing up in the crossover from. When a book hits a sweet spot, it zooms from one student to another. The crossover by kwame alexander unleashing readers.
Kwame alexander is a poet, childrens book author, playwright, producer, public speaker and performer. His soccer dream derailed, nick turns to the books he has avoided and finds more than he expected. Alexanders highly anticipated followup to newberywinning the crossover is a reflective narrative, with little of the first books explosive energy. This skimming reminds me of no other newbery winner more than jacob have i loved, which, incidentally, is one of the worst books i have. Using those poems, determine a theme of the novel and analyze its. Two major themes are prominent in this book family relationships. The crossover printables, classroom activities, teacher. The narrator of the novel which is told in verse is josh bell, an 8thgrade boy. Come in to read stories and fanfics that span multiple fandoms in the book universe. He conducts creative writing workshops in middle and high schools, often reaching more than 500 students monthly. On my list of mustread crossover books are alice in wonderland, the brothers karamazov, sons and lovers, for whom the bell tolls. Twin brothers josh and jordan bell clash both on and off the basketball court.
The book, which is told entirely through verse, was first published in the united states in hardback on march 18, 2014 through hmh books. Booked the crossover series and millions of other books are available for instant access. The crossover will make a great bridge to books like matthew quicks boy21, too, both because of the content and the welldrawn, dynamic, and memorable characters. Josh and jb are at the crucial age of passing from being children to young adults. However, as the story progresses, josh loses his footing and is set offbalance, first by the disruption of his relationship with jb, then by the declining health of his father.
The crossover study guide contains a biography of kwame alexander, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. So we asked the experts teachers, parents, and librarians to share their tips. A vocabulary list featuring the crossover by kwame alexander, warm upsecond quarter. Good thing, since i spent the weekend in chicago discussing undergraduate research and am still catching up on life.
Need help on themes in kwame alexanders the crossover. Will the brothers reunite and take on an amazing basketball career together. Bookpage childrens top pick, april 2014 work smart live smarter play hard practice harder love, dad the crossover is a novelinverse, with long flows of prose that spill out a tale of family, love, loss and basketball. Aug 22, 2014 connects with youtube videos of sports and music figures in the book, looks at the role of rules in the novel, showcases various forms and types of poetry that are included, and examines the crossover themes. Winner of 2014 newbery and coretta scott king awards for childrens literature. In this prequel to newbery awardwinning the crossover 2014, alexander revisits previous themes and formats while exploring new ones. Basketball is extremely important to them, and they both want to play professionally someday. In the book they go through many problems such as when jb starts to not hang out with filthy and only hangs out with his girlfriend. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel that the. Heres what i found for the week of march 28april 3. Its almost like a jornle of each day explaniing an important part of his days. Family, thematically, involves mutual love, compassion, loyal between, as well as emotional, physical, and even spiritual support and encouragement of individuals who may or may not be bloodrelated, but who still behave according to the typical family structure. Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in the crossover, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. These characters are from other television shows and other media like books and video games, but appeared in an episode of the simpsons as a crossover.
As soon as i read the opening lines of the crossover, with its basketball cover and bouncing rap beat, i just knew i had to read it aloud to my 5th graders. The point of view is taken in the first person beascuse the kid tells the story from his point of view. May 12, 2017 parents need to know that author and poet kwame alexanders the crossover is a poignant novel in verse that mixes basketball, family, and comingofage themes and includes serious issues regarding adult health and a parents lifethreatening condition. Basketball jargon throughout the narrative doubles as narrative detail. The crossover by kwame alexander, made for assignment 2 in childrens literature.
Where did the boys go to practice and shoot around. Sep 19, 2007 the grand tradition of crossover novels. I would begin by asking students an openended question such as how do relationships affect me. What the mostly freeverse novel does have is a likable protagonist, great wordplay, solid. Instead of crossover, perhaps we should simply say will appeal to a variety of ages and people. Josh has many identities in this book son, brother, basketball player, poet, and friend. The most likely of all the crossover skins to return are those in the fourth down set. Practice the six steps together using a common story such as frozen or by reading a picture book to students. Kwame alexanders decision to write the book in verse was a bold one, but i could now not picture it being written any other way. These themes will be a reference point for students in determining and analyzing. This 45page guide for the crossover by kwame alexander includes.
The book, which is told entirely through verse, was first published in the united states in hardback on march 18, 2014 through hmh books for young readers. If the book had worked more on its themes, the results could have been deeply compelling and powerful. Mar 18, 2014 new york times bestseller newbery medal winner coretta scott king honor award 2015 yalsa 2015 top ten best fiction for young adults 2015 yalsa quick picks for reluctant young adult readers publishers weekly best book school library journal best book kirkus best book a beautifully measured novel of life and line. How to write a theme statement in six steps and not just a theme topic. The crossover by kwame alexander, warm upsecond quarter. Illustrated by dawud anyabwile, the book follows josh and jordon bell as they deal with issues between them at home and on the court.
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