The Crossover: A Newbery Award Winner (The Crossover Series) - Softcover

Alexander, Kwame

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0544935209 ISBN 13: 9780544935204

Publisher: Clarion Books, 2019

Synopsis

Series streaming now on Disney+, with executive producers including NBA great LeBron James!

The Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award–winning middle grade bestseller! Basketball and heartache share the court in this slam-dunk novel in verse.

"With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . .The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. Cuz tonight I’m delivering," announces dreadlocked, 12-year old Josh Bell. He and his twin brother Jordan are awesome on the court.

But Josh has more than basketball in his blood. He's got mad beats, too, that tell his family's story in verse, in this fast and furious middle grade novel of family and brotherhood from Kwame Alexander. Josh and Jordan must come to grips with growing up on and off the court to realize breaking the rules comes at a terrible price, as their story's heart-stopping climax proves a game-changer for the entire family.

About this title

About the Authors

Kwame Alexander is a poet, an educator, and the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty-five books, including his Newbery Medal–winning middle grade novel The Crossover. Some of his other works include Booked, which was longlisted for the National Book Award; The Playbook: 52 Rules to Aim, Shoot, and Score in This Game Called Life; Swing; the picture books How to Read a Book and How to Write a Poem (coauthored with Deanna Nikaido), both illustrated by Melissa Sweet; and The Undefeated, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, which was longlisted for the National Book Award and won the Caldecott Medal, a Newbery Honor, and the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award. He is a regular contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition, currently serving as their poet ambassador. He lives in Virginia with his family. Visit his website at kwamealexander.com. 

Dawud Anyabwile is an Emmy Award–winning artist, illustrator, and cocreator of the groundbreaking comic book series Brotherman: Dictator of Discipline. Anyabwile has worked with companies such as Cartoon Network, Turner Studios, NBA TV, Nickelodeon, and many others as a character designer, storyboard artist, illustrator, and concept artist. Anyabwile illustrated the graphic novel adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel Monster by Walter Dean Myers. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Anyabwile now volunteers, teaches art classes to young students, and gives lectures when he isn't working on his art.

Instagram @brothermancomix

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Dribbling
At the top of the key, I’m
   MOVING & GROOVING,
POPping and ROCKING—
Why you BUMPING?
   Why you LOCKING?
Man, take this THUMPING.
Be careful though,
’cause now I’m CRUNKing
   CrissCROSSING
FLOSSING
flipping
and my dipping will leave you
S
L
I
P
P
I
N
G   on the floor, while I
SWOOP in
to the finish with a fierce finger roll . . .
Straight in the hole:
Swoooooooooooosh.

Josh Bell
is my name.
But Filthy McNasty is my claim to fame.
Folks call me that
’cause my game’s acclaimed,
so downright dirty, it’ll put you to shame. My hair is long, my height’s tall.
See, I’m the next Kevin Durant,
LeBron, and Chris Paul.

Remember the greats,
my dad likes to gloat:
I balled with Magic and the Goat.
But tricks are for kids, I reply.
Don’t need your pets
my game’s so
fly.

Mom says,
Your dad’s old school,
like an ol’ Chevette.
You’re fresh and new,
like a red Corvette.
Your game so sweet, it’s a crêpes suzette.
Each time you play
it’s ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL net.

If anyone else called me
fresh and sweet,
I’d burn mad as a flame.
But I know she’s only talking about my game.
See, when I play ball,
I’m on fire. When I shoot, I inspire.
The hoop’s for sale, and I’m the buyer.

How I Got My Nickname
I’m not that big on jazz music, but Dad is.
One day we were listening to a CD
of a musician named Horace Silver, and Dad says,

Josh, this cat is the real deal.
Listen to that piano, fast and free,
Just like you and JB on the court.

It’s okay, I guess, Dad.
Okay? DID YOU SAY OKAY?
Boy, you better recognize

greatness when you hear it.
Horace Silver is one of the hippest.
If you shoot half as good as he jams—

Dad, no one says “hippest” anymore.
Well, they ought to, ’cause this cat
is so hip, when he sits down he’s still standing, he says.

Real funny, Dad.
You know what, Josh?
What,  Dad?

I’m dedicating this next song to you.
What’s the next song?
Only the best song,

the funkiest song
on Silver’s Paris Blues album:
“FILTHY
   McNASTY.”

At first

I didn’t like the name
because so many kids made fun of me
on the school bus,
at lunch, in the bathroom.
Even Mom had jokes.

It fits you perfectly, Josh, she said:
You never clean your closet, and
that bed of yours is always filled
with cookie crumbs and candy wrappers.
It’s just plain nasty, son.

But, as I got older
and started getting game,
the name took on a new meaning.
And even though I wasn’t into
all that jazz,
every time I’d score,
rebound,
or steal a ball,
Dad would jump up
smiling and screamin’,

That’s my boy out there.
Keep it funky, Filthy!

And that made me fee
real good
about my nickname.

Edition details

• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0544935209
• ISBN 13: 9780544935204
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Anyabwile Dawud
• Number of pages: 256