Alexander,
K. (2014). The crossover.
New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-489-85855-9
Josh Bell’s
nickname is Filthy McNasty and he loves basketball. His twin brother, Jordan, loves basketball as
much as he does and their dad was a professional ball player known for his
crossover. The two boys start to gain
independence as Jordan starts to show interest in a girl and Filthy feels
abandoned by his brother. Another
wrinkle in his life is his dad’s having health problems. Filthy’s family is really close, but the life
lessons learned are hard.
The
Crossover’s style is evident
from the very beginning. Alexander has presented this story in verse, using a
hip-hop style in some parts and free verse in others. There are also kind of a
shape and lettering use on some of the poems as Filthy tells his story of
basketball, his twin brother’s abandonment for a girl, and eventually his dad’s
death. Through his struggles we see a theme of loneliness and the way he
responds is probably very typical of a 13 year old. The development of a
realistic character in Filthy is done through his thoughts and emotions, along
with the syntax Alexander uses. Some cultural markers are noted in the
nicknames that are given in the book such as: “Filthy McNasty”, “Da’Man”, “Miss
Sweet Tea” along with dialect of “…if some girl done locked up JB, he’s going
to jail. Now let’s go get some
doughnuts.” (92).
I definitely see my sports
loving, reluctant readers eating this book up. With the format of verse it will
make them think they are not reading a long book. :)
School Library Journal
Gr 6–10—Twins
Josh and Jordan are junior high basketball stars, thanks in large part to the
coaching of their dad, a former professional baller who was forced to quit
playing for health reasons, and the firm, but loving support of their
assistant-principal mom. Josh, better known as Filthy McNasty, earned his
nickname for his enviable skills on the court: "…when Filthy gets hot/He
has a SLAMMERIFIC SHOT." In this novel in verse, the brothers begin moving
apart from each other for the first time. Jordan starts dating the
"pulchritudinous" Miss Sweet Tea, and Josh has a tough time keeping
his jealousy and feelings of abandonment in control. Alexander's poems vary from
the pulsing, aggressive beats of a basketball game ("My shot is F L O W I
N G, Flying, fluttering…. ringaling and SWINGALING/Swish. Game/over") to
the more introspective musings of a child struggling into adolescence
("Sit beside JB at dinner. He moves./Tell him a joke. He doesn't even
smile….Say I'm sorry/but he won't listen"). Despite his immaturity, Josh
is a likable, funny, and authentic character. Underscoring the sports and the
fraternal tension is a portrait of a family that truly loves and supports one
another. Alexander has crafted a story that vibrates with energy and heart and
begs to be read aloud. A slam dunk.—Kiera Parrott, School Library Journal.
The
Crossover won the 2015 Newbery Medal and the 2015 Coretta Scott King Honor Award
Connections:
Booked is another book by Kwame
Alexander about soccer.
McKissack, P. (1992). The
dark-thirty: Southern tales of the supernatural. Ill. By Brian Pinkney. New
York: Scholastic. ISBN 0-5-47735-8
The
Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural contains 10
stories set in the past from the 1800’s up to the 1960’s. One of the stories tells of a slave family
who is going to be sold and how they run away at the last minute and jump off a
cliff and disappear, but the owner see’s three birds rise up. Another story tells of a train that comes to
get you when you die at 11:59 P.M. and there is the story of a little boy
wandering into the forest and goes missing for over a year only to be
discovered to have been taken care of by “Big Foot”.
These stories were likely passed down through story-telling and
McKissack notes that she learned that some of the stories were based on real
people. McKissack also adds her own
story at the end of the book. In the first story we see a story with a theme of
hatred and resentment. The owner of the
plantation, Harper, is half-brother to one of the mulatto men. He hates that he sees his father take care of
Henri and resents that he took him in.
We see Henri say to Harper, “Massa, what about Charlemae and the baby?”
and we see the hatred win out by Harper falling to his death after Henri. In Pinkney’s illustrations he uses a technique
called scratchboard, in which a white board is covered with black ink and then
scratched off to reveal the white underneath.
The results are a picture in black and white. The pictures are mostly rural in nature with
a child in front of an old wooden building, a girl with a basket of grapes in
front of an old wooden door, and a small boy surrounded by leaves and standing
in two large footprints. The black and
white pictures give an eerie feel to the book. We also see the characters with
dark skin tones and hairstyles of short curly hair and hair pulled into small
ponytails all over the head.
From Publishers Weekly
In these stories, "haunting in both
senses of the word," said PW's starred review ghosts exact vengeance for
lynchings, and slaves use ancient magic to ensure their freedom; historical
backdrops run from the Underground Railroad to 1960s activism. Ages 8-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
1993 Newbery Honor and a Coretta Scott King award
Connections:
Williams-Garcia, R. (2010). One
crazy summer. New York: Scholastic. ISBN 978-0-545-44784-3
It
is the summer of 1968 and Delphine, Vonetta and Fern are three sisters
traveling from Brooklyn, New York to Oakland, California to visit the mother
they never knew. Delphine tells the
story of their less than warm reception and how they are not allowed in the
kitchen, Cecile (mom) doesn’t really want them there, and how they have to feed
and take care of themselves. Cecile
sends them to breakfast and summer camp at what turns out to be part of the
Black Panther movement. Delphine
struggles with wanting to get to know her mother and making choices about what
she knows her father and grandmother would want her to do.
In
this book the story presents many themes of love, hope, forgiveness, and
growing up. The characters are fully
developed. We see many characteristics
that we can see in ourselves in Delphine.
She says, “People say ‘Yes, ma’am,’ and ‘No, ma’am,’ in Alabama all the
time. That old word was perfectly fine
for Big Ma. It just wasn’t perfectly fine
for me.” as she is becoming her own person and finding her own way. She wants to be polite, but strong. We also see cultural markers in their dialect
when Pa says, “We made it down sure ‘nuf.
You know, Ma. Same old same old.” We also see another one after they girls go
swimming and the chlorine water “knotted” up their hair. Delphine asks her mom to use her hot comb to
press their hair. Delphine remembers
that, “We never entered the house of God without our hair pressed and smelling of
Dixie Peach hair grease.”
School
Library Journal
…”Emotionally challenging and beautifully written, this book
immerses readers in a time and place and raises difficult questions of cultural
and ethnic identity and personal responsibility. With memorable characters (all
three girls have engaging, strong voices) and a powerful story, this is a book
well worth reading and rereading.”—Teri Markson,
Los Angeles Public Library
Booklist
…”Regimented, responsible, strong-willed Delphine narrates in
an unforgettable voice, but each of the sisters emerges as a distinct,
memorable character, whose hard-won, tenuous connections with their mother
build to an aching, triumphant conclusion. Set during a pivotal moment in
African American history, this vibrant novel shows the subtle ways that
political movements affect personal lives; but just as memorable is the finely
drawn, universal story of children reclaiming a reluctant parent’s love. Grades
4-7.” --Gillian Engberg
Connections:
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