Booked: A New York Times Bestselling Novel-in-Verse about Soccer, Family, and Friendship for Children (Ages 10-12): Alexander, Kwame: 9780544570986: Amazon.com: Books

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The Crossover: A Newbery Award Winner―A Slam-Dunk Sports Book for Boys and Girls Ages 8-12 (The Crossover Series, 1)

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Rebound: A Powerful Coming-of-Age Novel in Verse About Basketball and Family for Children (Ages 10-12) (The Crossover Series, 3)

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The Crossover: A Newbery Award Winner―A Slam-Dunk Sports Book for Boys and Girls Ages 8-12 (The Crossover Series, 1)
Kwame Alexander

Paperback
#1 Best Seller
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Rebound: A Powerful Coming-of-Age Novel in Verse About Basketball and Family for Children (Ages 10-12) (The Crossover Series, 3)
Kwame Alexander

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Jason Reynolds

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Booked Graphic Novel: A Graphic Novel (The Crossover Series, 2)
Kwame Alexander

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The Crossover Series 3-Book Paperback Box Set: The Crossover, Booked, Rebound
Kwame Alexander

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The Crossover Graphic Novel: A Graphic Novel (The Crossover Series, 1)
Kwame Alexander

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From the Publisher

	The Crossover	Booked	Rebound	The Playbook

Customer Reviews	6,130	2,112	1,507	733
Read All the Books in the Crossover Series	Twelve-year-old twins and basketball stars Josh and Jordan Bell must learn to deal with problems on and off the court as they navigate homework, first crushes, family and, of course, basketball.	Soccer, family, love, and friendship take the field as twelve-year-old Nick learns the power of words as he wrestles with problems at home, stands up to a bully, and tries to impress the girl of his dreams.	The dynamic prequel to Kwame Alexander's Newbery Award–winning novel in verse, The Crossover.	You gotta know the rules to play the game. Ball is life. Take it to the hoop. Soar. An inspirational book full of poetry and inspiring lessons about the rules of life.

	The Crossover Graphic Novel	Booked Graphic Novel	The Crossover Series Boxed Set

Customer Reviews	1,213	191	332
	Kwame Alexander's The Crossover is vividly brought to life as a graphic novel with stunning illustrations by star talent Dawud Anyabwile.	An electric and heartfelt follow-up to Newbery Medal–winner The Crossover, from the dynamic team behind the graphic novel edition.	For the first time, the Crossover series, three explosive novels in verse about sports and family, is available in one paperback boxed set.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 6-10-Twelve-year-old Nick loves soccer, and he and his best friend Coby have big plans for winning the Dr. Pepper Dallas Cup, the renowned world youth soccer tournament, even though they will be playing on opposing teams. Besides the big game, Nick has a lot of other things on his mind. For one thing, his mother wants to move away to pursue her dream of training race horses, and his linguistics professor father is pressuring him to improve his vocabulary by reading the dictionary. Throw in the twin eighth-grade tyrants who relentlessly want to pound him and weekly lessons at Miss Quattlebaum's School of Ballroom Dance & Etiquette, and his life at Langston Hughes Magnet School of the Arts is pretty hectic. But school is also where "the Mac" can be found, Langston's resident rapping, dragonfly-loving, red mohawk-wearing librarian and Nick's favorite adult. And then there's April, Nick's current crush. Newbery-winning poet Alexander once again brings to life a novel in verse that equally captures the rapid-fire excitement of a soccer match and the palpable pain of a young boy whose family is falling apart. Peppered throughout are useful and amusing vocabulary words as well as wise-cracking yet sage life lessons from a beloved librarian. Authentic characters and amusing situations abound, making this story one that will be welcomed by readers of all levels. VERDICT Another winning goal for Alexander and middle school readers alike.-Carol Connor, Cincinnati Public Schools, OHα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Review

National Book Award longlist 2017 ILA-CBC Children's Choice List Book Links’ Lasting Connections 2016 Kirkus Best of 2016 Nerdy Book Club Nerdies 2016 Poetry/Novels in Verse New York Times Bestseller San Francisco Chronicle Best of 2016 Washington Post Best of 2016 BookPage Best of 2016 "A novel about a soccer-obsessed tween boy written entirely in verse? In a word, yes. Kwame Alexander has the magic to pull off this unlikely feat, both as a poet and as a storyteller. " —The Chicago Tribune "This lively, touching middle school soccer story is full of fun." —Common Sense Media * "A satisfying, winning read." —Kirkus, STARRED review * "Alexander skillfully juggles verse styles to realistically capture Nick's humor and smarts, passion for soccer, and vulnerability when being bullied, having surgery, or facing his parents' troubled marriage. Emotionally resonant and with a pace like a player on a breakaway..." — Publishers Weekly, STARRED review * "Alexander understands reluctant readers deeply, and here hands them a protagonist who is himself a smart, reading-averse kid who just wants to enjoy the words that interest him on his own terms. With accessible poetic forms and engaging formatting, Booked ’s pages will be turned swiftly and enthusiastically." — Horn BookMagazine, STARRED review * "Middle-school readers and their advocates will surely love Alexander’s joyous word play and celebration of reading." — Booklist, STARRED review "Newbery-winning poet Alexander once again brings to life a novel in verse that equally captures the rapid-fire excitement of a soccer match and the palpable pain of a young boy whose family is falling apart. Another winning goal for Alexander and middle school readers alike." —School Library Journal "This is a fantastic book with a never-ending supply of new words like “onomatophobia” and “yobbery” that will leave readers full of new words and ideas. This is an absolute must-have for any library serving tweens." — VOYA "A powerful story that will leave the reader breathless, right to the very end." —BookPage Children's Top Pick

About the Author

Kwame Alexander is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of 47 books, including Booked; The Brainstormerz; The Mighty Macy; Black Star, a Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book; J vs. K, an illustrated novel he penned with Jerry Craft; and The Crossover, his Newbery Medal-winning novel turned Emmy® Award-winning Disney+ TV series. He regularly shares his passion for literacy, books and the craft of writing around the world, including Ghana, West Africa, where he opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic. A recipient of the 2025 NAACP Image Award, Kwame is the founder of the literacy non-profit One Word at a Time. You can visit him at KwameAlexander.com

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Gameplay

on the pitch, lightning faSt,
dribble, fake, then make a dash

player tries tO steal the ball
lift and step and make him fall

zip and zoom to find the spot
defense readies for the shot

Chip, then kick it in the air
take off like a Belgian hare

shoot it left, but watch it Curve
all he can do is observe

watch the ball bEnd in midflight
play this game faR into night.

Wake Up Call

After playing FIFA
online with Coby
till one thirty a.m.
last night,
you wake
this morning
to the sound
of Mom arguing
on the phone
with Dad.

Questions

Did you make up your bed?
Yeah. Can you put bananas in my pancakes, please?

Did you finish your homework?
Yeah. Can we play a quick game of Ping-Pong, Mom?

And what about the reading. I didn't see you doing that yesterday.
Mom, Dad's not even here.

Just because your father's away doesn't mean you can avoid your chores.
I barely have time for my real chores.

Perhaps you should spend less time playing Xbox at all hours of the night.
Huh?

Oh, you think I didn't know?
I'm sick of reading his stupid words, Mom. I'm going to high school next year and I shouldn't have to keep doing this.

Why couldn't your dad

be a musician
like Jimmy Leon's dad
or own an oil company
like Coby's?
Better yet, why couldn't
he be a cool detective
driving
a sleek silver
convertible sports car
like Will Smith
in Bad Boys?
Instead, your dad's
a linguistics professor
with chronic verbomania*
as evidenced
by the fact
that he actually wrote
a dictionary
called Weird and Wonderful Words
with,
get this,
footnotes.

* verbomania [vurb-oh-mey-nee-uh] noun: a crazed obsession for words. Every freakin' day I have to read his 'dictionary," which has freakin' FOOTNOTES. That's absurd to me. Kinda like ordering a glass of chocolate milk, then asking for chocolate syrup on the side. Seriously, who does that? SMH!

In the elementary school spelling bee

when you intentionally
misspelled heifer,
he almost had a cow.

You're the only kid
on your block
at school
in THE. ENTIRE. FREAKIN'. WORLD.
who lives in a prison
of words.
He calls it the pursuit of excellence.
You call it Shawshank.
And even though your mother
forbids you to say it,
the truth is
you
HATE
words.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Clarion Books
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 5, 2016
Edition ‏ : ‎ Illustrated
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0544570987
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0544570986
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.2 ounces
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 9 - 13 years, from customers
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.25 x 5 x 1.08 inches
Book 2 of 2 ‏ : ‎ The Crossover
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 5 - 7
Best Sellers Rank: #128,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #24 in Children's Books on Death & Dying
- #78 in Children's Books on Boys' & Men's Issues
- #95 in Children's Parents Books
Customer Reviews:
(2,112)

About the author

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Kwame Alexander

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Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, publisher, and New York Times Bestselling author of 35 books, including BECOMING MUHAMMAD ALI (co-authored with James Patterson), SOLO, REBOUND, which was shortlisted for prestigious UK Carnegie Medal, The Caldecott Medal and Newbery Honor-winning picture book, THE UNDEFEATED, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, and, his NEWBERY medal-winning middle grade novel, THE CROSSOVER. A regular contributor to NPR's Morning Edition, Kwame is the recipient of numerous 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. In 2018, he opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic in Ghana, as a part of LEAP for Ghana, an international literacy program he co-founded. Kwame is the Founding Editor of VERSIFY, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt that aims to Change the World One Word at a Time.

Kwame's most recent book is LIGHT FOR THE WORLD TO SEE: A THOUSAND WORDS ON RACE AND HOPE. Find out more info on Kwame and where he'll be at www.KwameAlexander.com.