Alexander, K. (2014).
The crossover. NY: Houghton Mifflin Hardcourt
12-year-old African American Josh Bell narrates The Crossover in verse. He and his twin brother Jordan, both play basketball. At six feet tall and with the guidance of their legendary basketball player father, Charles (Chuck) “Da Man” Bell, Josh and Jordan are the stars of their basketball team. One of the only ways people can tell them apart is that Josh has dreadlocks and Jordan has no hair at all. The brothers are closely monitored by their mother, Crystal, both at home and at school as she is their school’s assistant principal. Crystal keeps a close eye on her husband, Chuck, as well, watching what he eats and calming his nerves when they attend their sons’ basketball games.
Josh earns the
nickname “Filthy McNasty” in honor of his dad’s favorite jazz song. It’s a
nickname Josh doesn’t like at first because of the taunts he receives from his
classmates, but once his dad shouts it from the bleachers, he is ok with
it. His brother, Jordan, prefers to go
by “JB,” as an homage to his all-time favorite basketball player, Michael
Jordan, widely known as “MJ.” The only
thing Jordan likes better than basketball is betting. When Josh loses a bet to
his brother, Jordan gets to cut off one of Josh’s locks, but the scissors slip,
and he cuts off such a large chunk that Josh has to cut them all. Josh and
Jordan enjoy a tight-knit bond—laughing and playing with their friends and
teammates, practicing free throws with their dad, being grossed out by their
wildly-in-love parents—until Miss Sweet Tea comes along.
Jordan is immediately
smitten with the new girl in school, Alexis. She plays ball, too, drinks sweet
tea, and has a crush on Jordan. He’s showering more, sitting with her at lunch,
talking with her on the phone, and catching a ride with her and her dad to the
basketball games, all of which makes Josh feel left out. With his locks gone
and now his brother, Josh struggles to find his footing and regain his
confidence. His resentment towards Jordan grows until Josh snaps and throws a
basketball in Jordan’s face, almost breaking his brother’s nose. Josh’s mom
suspends him from the team.
To make amends, Josh
writes a letter to his brother at the suggestion of his dad. Slowly, over time,
Jordan begins to forgive him. Josh proves himself to his mother, and she agrees
to lift his suspension from the team for the championship game. To get Josh
back in shape, Chuck takes his sons to play one-on-one. As he warms up with
Josh, Chuck has a heart attack and collapses. His inherited fear of hospitals
kept Chuck from seeking medical attention earlier, but now he has no choice.
He’ll be in the hospital during the championship game, and he tells his sons
that he wants them to play. On the night of the championship game, Crystal
receives a phone call at home that Chuck has had another heart attack. She
tells the boys to go to the game as she races to the hospital. Jordan decides
to follow her on his bike, but Josh is determined to play. It’s what his father
wanted. Josh scores the game-winning goal, but his dad dies from complications of
a massive heart attack.
Friends and family
fill the Bell’s house after Chuck’s funeral. Josh slips outside to shoot free
throws, something he and his dad had frequently done. His
dad could make 50 free throws in a row. The
more he shoots, the closer Josh feels to his dad. Just before Josh’s fiftieth
free throw, Jordan joins his brother outside. He hands over their father’s
championship ring and tells Josh that he’s “Da Man” now. Josh counters that
they both are and invites his brother to shoot for number fifty, completing
their father’s legacy together.
This book is a hodge-podge of poems that tell a story, but it works. Josh’s story is told in the format of a basketball game. It starts with the warm-up, transitions to the first quarter and ends in overtime. This signals the reader that the book is a narrative poem, a poem that tells a story. However, some parts of the book are written as a lyric poem, which is melodic and sound like. We see this form emerge in Josh’s thoughts about his game. These poems are also concrete poems, taking on the shape of the words to further represent how Josh feels when he plays basketball.
I am not a big fan of
basketball, so I was not looking forward to reading this book. After I got started, I saw the word play the
author used, and I gained an appreciation for the author’s writing skills. His use of imagery in his language and in the
actual position of the words on the page gave the story more meaning. I see the value. For a young man who loves basketball, but not
reading, this book would be a good match.
I found a teaching
guide called Walker Books Classroom Ideas.
These notes were created by Bethany Nevile. It has classroom ideas, discussion questions
and activity ideas.
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