Rick Riordan's Reviews > The Crossover

I am late in reviewing this, but oh my goodness, what an amazing book. Kwame Alexander gives us a novel in verse -- a series of poems about twin brothers, JD and Jordan Bell, sons of a former pro basketball player, who are making their way through middle school as best they can -- navigating first crushes, homework, family tensions, and of course, basketball. I was in awe of Alexander's ability to tell such a rich, multifaceted story with so few words. Poetry is hard, at least for me, yet Alexander, like all great athletes and writers, makes the three-point shots look easy. You will laugh in this book, many times. You will also cry. You've been warned. You will want to know more about the characters' lives, but you will also put down the book with a satisfied sigh, knowing the ending was perfection. It's a quick read, even for a slow reader like me. I kept thinking, so many times, I wish I'd had this book when I was teaching in the 90s. My students would have devoured this -- the basketball players, sure, but everyone else, too.