The Crossover (Crossover Graphic Novel)

by Kwame Alexander (Author) Dawud Anyabwile (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 6th − 7th Grade

 The Crossover is now a graphic novel!

"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," raps twelve-year-old Josh Bell. Thanks to their dad, he and his twin brother, Jordan, are kings on the court. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood--he's got mad beats, too, which help him find his rhythm when it's all on the line. See the Bell family in a whole new light through Dawud Anyabwile's dynamic illustrations as the brothers' winning season unfolds, and the world as they know it begins to change.

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$15.99

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Kirkus

Starred Review
This graphic-novel adaptation of Alexander's 2015 Newbery Medal winner offers powerful visuals to an already-cherished narrative....Veteran comics illustrator Anyabwile brings an expansive range of black-boy emotional expressiveness to the page, accompanied by a striking attention to detail and pop-cultural reference....Flashy and engaging with emotional depth--a slam-dunk thrill.

ALA/Booklist

An energetic and lively re-envisioning, this transformation of the original text into a combination of visuals, poetry, and changing font styles will be sure to engage young readers who are both familiar and unfamiliar with Alexander's original work.

None

Starred Review
This graphic-novel adaptation of Alexander's 2015 Newbery Medal winner offers powerful visuals to an already-cherished narrative....Veteran comics illustrator Anyabwile brings an expansive range of black-boy emotional expressiveness to the page, accompanied by a striking attention to detail and pop-cultural reference....Flashy and engaging with emotional depth--a slam-dunk thrill.

None

Alexander's Newbery Medal-winning verse novel of the same name (rev. 5/14), about African American twins and middle-school b-ballers Josh and JB Bell, is an ideal choice for graphic-novel adaptation, with its on-court action, swagger­ing narrative voice, and poignant emotional pitches. The original novel's success mingling accessible poetry with basketball, middle-school dynam­ics, and Black boyhood is reinforced by Anyabwile's impressive visual interpreta­tion. 

Publishers Weekly

In this graphic novel adaptation of Alexander's 2015 Newbery-winning novel, Anyabwile's clean lines, athletic characters, and free-form layouts capture the fluid poetry of basketball and the helplessness and confusion of early adolescence. Middle school basketball star Josh "Filthy McNasty" Bell navigates sibling rivalry with his twin brother, JB, on and off the court. The two are neither clones nor opposites; they share plenty, but Josh tends to brood while JB runs cool. Josh's jealousy over JB's first girlfriend, Alexis, eventually takes a backseat to their father Chuck's escalating health problems. A former Euroleague champion sidelined by a knee injury, Chuck has always been averse to medical treatment, provoking a family crisis. Alexander's complex, affectionate family portrait is augmented by Anyabwile's dynamic characterizations; when the boys' father gets in a ref's face and their mother pulls him back, each character's pain is palpable on the page. With confident strokes and choice details--likenesses of rappers attending "five reasons I have locks," movement-filled moments on the court, and a close-up on a saltshaker alongside an explanation of hypertension--the graphic version brings out the best in the original, as any good teammate should. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 10-12. (Sept.)

Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

Starred Review

Gr 5-8--A fresh look at the Newbery Medal-winning book, still told in verse but now stunningly illustrated by Anyabwile. Josh and Jordan Bell are 12-year-old twins who have each other's backs, on and off the basketball court. With the support of their loving parents, they're on track for an amazing season, hoping to claim the championship trophy for their junior high. But everything changes, and the boys and their family find themselves on the brink of a crisis. Basketball is important to the novel, with the brothers' rivalry and game action fueling many of the poems. But the heart of the story is the joy and heartbreak of family love. In this graphic novel/prose hybrid, characters are sympathetically drawn and distinct. The text is thoughtfully positioned and sized, moving the narrative quickly along and complementing the energetic artwork, which is rendered in grayscale with burnt orange accents. VERDICT With lively poems that use basketball as a metaphor for life, this mix of free verse, hip-hop, and powerful artwork will resonate with fans of the original book and inspire a new audience of nascent players, artists, and poets.--Kelley Gile, Cheshire Public Library, CT

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

★ "This graphic-novel adaptation of Alexander's 2015 Newbery Medal winner offers powerful visuals to an already-cherished narrative....Veteran comics illustrator Anyabwile brings an expansive range of black-boy emotional expressiveness to the page, accompanied by a striking attention to detail and pop-cultural reference....Flashy and engaging with emotional depth—a slam-dunk thrill."—Kirkus, STARRED review

★ "A fresh look at the Newbery Medal-winning book, still told in verse but now stunningly illustrated by Anyabwile....With lively poems that use basketball as a metaphor for life, this mix of free verse, hip-hop, and powerful artwork will resonate with fans of the original book and inspire a new audience of nascent players, artists, and poets."—School Library Journal, STARRED review

"An energetic and lively re-envisioning, this transformation of the original text into a combination of visuals, poetry, and changing font styles will be sure to engage young readers who are both familiar and unfamiliar with Alexander's original work."—Booklist

"With confident strokes and choice details...the graphic version brings out the best in the original, as any good teammate should."—Publishers Weekly

"Alexander's Newbery Medal-winning verse novel of the same name (rev. 5/14), about African American twins and middle-school b-ballers Josh and JB Bell, is an ideal choice for graphic-novel adaptation, with its on-court action, swagger­ing narrative voice, and poignant emotional pitches. The original novel's success mingling accessible poetry with basketball, middle-school dynam­ics, and Black boyhood is reinforced by Anyabwile's impressive visual interpreta­tion. " —The Horn Book
Kwame Alexander
Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, publisher, and New York Times bestselling author of more than 35 books, including the Caldecott Medal and Newbery Honor-winning picture book The Undefeated, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, the Coretta Scott king Illustrator Award-winning picture book American Story, the Newbery medal-winning novel, The Crossover, Becoming Muhammad Ali, co-authored with James Patterson, Booked, which was longlisted for the National Book Award, Rebound, Solo and Swing. A regular contributor to NPR's Morning Edition, Kwame is also the recipient of numerous other awards, including the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, the Coretta Scott King Author Honor, three NAACP Image Award Nominations, and the 2017 Inaugural Pat Conroy Legacy Award. He invites you to visit him at kwamealexander.com on IG and Twitter @kwamealexander.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781328960016
Lexile Measure
670
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Clarion Books
Publication date
September 24, 2019
Series
Crossover Graphic Novel
BISAC categories
JUV008000 - Juvenile Fiction | Comics & Graphic Novels | General
JUV013060 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Parents
JUV015020 - Juvenile Fiction | Health & Daily Living | Diseases, Illnesses & Injuries
JUV013070 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Siblings
JUV032020 - Juvenile Fiction | Sports & Recreation | Basketball
Library of Congress categories
African Americans
Fathers and sons
Brothers
Novels in verse
Graphic novels
Basketball
Twins
JUVENILE FICTION / Family / Siblings
JUVENILE FICTION / Sports & Recreation / Bask
JUVENILE FICTION / Family / Parents
Comics (Graphic works)
JUVENILE FICTION / Comics & Graphic Novels /
JUVENILE FICTION / Social Issues / Death & Dy

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