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Summary
Summary
Series streaming now on Disney+, with executive producers including NBA great LeBron James!
The Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award-winning middle grade bestseller! Basketball and heartache share the court in this slam-dunk novel in verse.
"With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . . The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. 'Cuz tonight I'm delivering," raps twelve-year-old Josh Bell. Thanks to their dad, he and his twin brother, Jordan, are kings on the court. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood--he's got mad beats, too, which help him find his rhythm when it's all on the line.
In this fast and furious middle grade novel of family and brotherhood from Kwame Alexander, Josh and Jordan must come to grips with growing up on and off the court to realize breaking the rules comes at a terrible price, as their story's heart-stopping climax proves a game-changer for the entire family.
Author Notes
Kwame Alexander is a poet, children's book author, playwright, producer, speaker, and performer. His books include And Then You Know: New and Selected Poems, Crush: Love Poems, Family Pictures: Poems and Photographs Celebrating Our Loved Ones, and Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band. He won the 2015 John Newbery Medal for his bestselling novel The Crossover. Since 2006, his Book-in-a-Day writing and publishing program has created more than 2500 student authors in 50 schools across the U.S., and in Canada and the Caribbean.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
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. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Josh Bell, known on and off the court by the nickname Filthy McNasty, doesn't lack self-confidence, but neither does he lack the skills to back up his own mental in-game commentary: "I rise like a Learjet-/ seventh-graders aren't supposed to dunk./ But guess what?/ I snatch the ball out of the air and/ SLAM!/ YAM! IN YOUR MUG!" Josh is sure that he and his twin brother, JB, are going pro, following in the footsteps of their father, who played professional ball in Europe. But Alexander (He Said, She Said) drops hints that Josh's trajectory may be headed back toward Earth: his relationship with JB is strained by a new girl at school, and the boys' father health is in increasingly shaky territory. The poems dodge and weave with the speed of a point guard driving for the basket, mixing basketball action with vocabulary-themed poems, newspaper clippings, and Josh's sincere first-person accounts that swing from moments of swagger-worthy triumph to profound pain. This verse novel delivers a real emotional punch before the final buzzer. Ages 9-12. Agent: East West Literary Agency. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Excerpts
Excerpts
Dribbling At the top of the key, I'm MOVING & GROOVING, POPping and ROCKING -- Why you BUMPING? Why you LOCKING? Man, take this THUMPING. Be careful though, 'cause now I'm CRUNKing Criss CROSSING FLOSSING flipping and my dipping will leave you S L I P P I N G on the floor, while I SWOOP in to the finish with a fierce finger roll . . . Straight in the hole: Swoooooooooooosh. Josh Bell is my name. But Filthy McNasty is my claim to fame. Folks call me that 'cause my game's acclaimed, so downright dirty, it'll put you to shame. My hair is long, my height's tall. See, I'm the next Kevin Durant, LeBron, and Chris Paul. Remember the greats, my dad likes to gloat: I balled with Magic and the Goat. But tricks are for kids, I reply. Don't need your pets my game's so fly. Mom says, Your dad's old school, like an ol' Chevette. You're fresh and new, like a red Corvette. Your game so sweet, it's a crêpes suzette. Each time you play it's ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL net. If anyone else called me fresh and sweet, I'd burn mad as a flame. But I know she's only talking about my game. See, when I play ball, I'm on fire. When I shoot, I inspire. The hoop's for sale, and I'm the buyer. How I Got My Nickname I'm not that big on jazz music, but Dad is. One day we were listening to a CD of a musician named Horace Silver, and Dad says, Josh, this cat is the real deal. Listen to that piano, fast and free, Just like you and JB on the court. It's okay, I guess, Dad. Okay? DID YOU SAY OKAY? Boy, you better recognize greatness when you hear it. Horace Silver is one of the hippest. If you shoot half as good as he jams-- Dad, no one says "hippest" anymore. Well, they ought to, 'cause this cat is so hip, when he sits down he's still standing, he says. Real funny, Dad. You know what, Josh? What, Dad? I'm dedicating this next song to you. What's the next song? Only the best song, the funkiest song on Silver's Paris Blues album: "FILTHY McNASTY." At first I didn't like the name because so many kids made fun of me on the school bus, at lunch, in the bathroom. Even Mom had jokes. It fits you perfectly, Josh, she said: You never clean your closet, and that bed of yours is always filled with cookie crumbs and candy wrappers. It's just plain nasty, son. But, as I got older and started getting game, the name took on a new meaning. And even though I wasn't into all that jazz, every time I'd score, rebound, or steal a ball, Dad would jump up smiling and screamin', That's my boy out there. Keep it funky, Filthy! And that made me fee real good about my nickname. Excerpted from The Crossover by Kwame Alexander All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.