Crossover

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander, 237 pages

Josh and Jordon Bell are twin basketball phenoms playing with each other and against each other in that way of siblings.  There is not much more I can add to what has already been said about this Coretta Scott King Honor and Newbery Medal winning title.   Read it. It is good.  Strike that, it is breath-taking.  It is a novel written in verse about families, brothers and basketball.  It is one part coming-of-age and one part vocabulary lesson and one part stunningly well-constructed highly structured novel that will appeal to a lot of middle and high school students.   The plot is strong, and the characters feel real.  And the climax at the end.  Well, it's heartbreaking, real and honest.