The Crosssover

Alexander, K. (2014). The crossover. New York, New York: Harcourt Publishing.

Josh Bell is in 7th grade at Reggie Lewis Middle School.  He is the son of former basketball superstar player Chuck Bell.  He has a twin brother name JB. He is very close to his brother and father. Josh loves his family, his life, and basketball.   He wants to follow in his father’s footsteps and even has dreadlocks like him.  Josh lost a bet to his brother JB and loses five dreadlocks and has to end up cutting them off.  His brother also get a girlfriend and begins spending less time with him and his dad.  This starts making Josh feel lonely, jealous, and leads to anger against his own brother.  While this is happening, Chuck’s health starts deteriorating from his poor eating habits and his heart condition.  It causes him to have a few heart attacks and he loses his life with the last one.  When his dad dies, Josh understands that his brother JB will symbolically take his father’s place.   The brothers realize that all they have is each other and put their differences to the side.  The appropriate age range for this book is 10-12 years old, mostly middle school children.  I think this book appeals to readers who love sports.  Personally, that is the reason I chose to read this book.  Even though I am a girl, I have always grown-up loving sports. As a teacher, I can have students analyze the relationships between father/son and brother/brother.  They can compare it to their own relationships in their family and write a blog about it.   The author chose to write this book in a poetic format.  It was well written and the basketball action and Josh’s strong narrative voice speaks loud and can be envisioned by the reader.  The author uses fonts, styles, and unique constructions to make the text more appealing.  He divides this book into quarters and overtime, which is labeled according to a basketball theme.  Family is a very important theme in this novel.  The loyalty, support, encouragement, and the family structure helps for the family.  “In life, family is the court, and the basketball is one’s heart.  The heart should always be left on the court.”  (Basketball Rule #1, Paragraph 1)