12 October 2014 THE CROSSOVER by Kwame Alexander, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, March 2014, 240p., ISBN: 978-0-544-10771-7

“Mom calls me into the kitchen

after we get home from beating

St. Francis. Normally she wants

me to sample the macaroni and cheese

to make sure it’s cheesy enough,

or the oven-baked fried chicken

to make sure it’s not greasy and

stuff, but today on the table

is some gross-looking

orange creamy dip with brown specks in it.

A tray of pita-bread triangles is beside it.

Maybe Mom is having one of

her book club meetings.

Sit down, she says. I sit as far

away from the dip as possible.

Maybe the chicken is in the oven.

Where is your brother? she asks.

Probably on the phone with that girl.

She hands me a pita.

No thanks, I say, then stand up

to leave, but she gives me a look

that tells me she’s not finished

with me. Maybe the mac is in the oven.

We’ve talked to you two about

your grandfather, she says.

He was a good man. I’m sorry you never got to meet him,

Josh.

Me too, he looked cool in his uniforms.

That man was way past cool.

Dad said he used to curse

a lot and talk about the war.

Mom’s laugh is short, then she’s serious again.

I know we told

you Grandpop died after a fall, but

the truth is he fell because he had a stroke.

He had a heart disease. Too

many years of bad eating and not taking

care of himself and so--

What does this have

to do with anything? I ask,

even though I think I already know.

Well, our family has a history

of heart problems, she says,

so we’re going to start eating better.

Especially Dad. And we’re going to

start tonight with

some hummus and

pita bread.

FOR MY VICTORY DINNER?

Josh, we’re going to lay off the fried foods

and Golden Dragon. And when your dad

takes you to the recreation center,

no Pollard’s or Krispy Kreme afterward, understand?

And I understand more than she thinks I do.

But is hummus really the answer?”

Middle school basketball player Josh Bell and his twin brother Jordan have skills on the court that are sure to open them spots next year on the high school JV squad. They have the size and the skills thanks to their father, who retired after a career of pro ball in Europe where he was known as ‘Da Man.’

Dad is a happy jazz-loving guy who unfortunately turns out to have a dangerous heart condition like his own dad did. And Dad cannot help but make things worse by getting agitated and bellowing at the refs working the boys’ games.

Meanwhile, Josh’s twin Jordan has made everything doubly weird by finding himself a girlfriend.

So, when Josh starts stressing out as a result of the changes going on in his family, he loses his cool and makes a big mistake on the court. That leads the assistant principal to suspend him from the team. Since the assistant principal is his mother, he won’t get much sympathy at home!  With his parents so closely involved in his school life, Josh is performing a balancing act as his family dynamics collide with his life outside of home.

THE CROSSOVER is a high-interest, high-action, coming-of-age story told in prose poetry.

I appreciate the book’s peripheral focus on nutrition and Josh’s frustration with sudden changes in his mom’s cooking. Nutrition is a timely issue here in San Francisco, where we vote next month whether to tax soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages in order to curb consumption, à la cigarettes.

There has long been a connection between basketball and music. The rhythm that permeates this infectious verse novel provides a great beat for the game and for Josh’s feelings as he navigates his way through these turbulent family events.

Richie Partington, MLIS

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