Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Crossover
    Unavailable
    The Crossover
    Unavailable
    The Crossover
    Audiobook2 hours

    The Crossover

    Written by Kwame Alexander

    Narrated by Corey Allen

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Fourteen-year-old twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health. Review Quotes: "This novel in verse is rich in character and relationships. . . . Poet Alexander deftly reveals the power of the format to pack an emotional punch." --"Kirkus, " starred review "Alexander fully captures Josh's athletic finesse and coming-of-age angst in a mix of free verse and hip-hop poetry that will have broad appeal. . . . This will inspire budding players and poets alike." --"Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, "starred review "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-worth triumph to profound pain." --"Publishers Weekly, "starred review
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJul 11, 2014
    ISBN9781490626970
    Unavailable
    The Crossover
    Author

    Kwame Alexander

    Kwame Alexander is a poet, an educator, and the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty-five books, including his Newbery Medal–winning middle grade novel The Crossover. Some of his other works include Booked, which was longlisted for the National Book Award; The Playbook: 52 Rules to Aim, Shoot, and Score in This Game Called Life; Swing; the picture books How to Read a Book and How to Write a Poem (coauthored with Deanna Nikaido), both illustrated by Melissa Sweet; and The Undefeated, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, which was longlisted for the National Book Award and won the Caldecott Medal, a Newbery Honor, and the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award. He is a regular contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition, currently serving as their poet ambassador. He lives in Virginia with his family. Visit his website at kwamealexander.com. 

    More audiobooks from Kwame Alexander

    Related to The Crossover

    Titles in the series (2)

    View More
    View More

    Related audiobooks

    Children's Family For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Joy Rider

      Jun 5, 2022

      Joy Rider
      11 min read

    • Article

      Shooting Hoops With Dad

      Apr 1, 2023

      IT,S STILL LIGHT out, and Dad isn’t home yet. He works all day cleaning pools. In South Port, Florida, that means a lot of pools. Mom tells us we need to wait for dinner so all of us can eat together. Even when Dad doesn’t get home until after eight

      7 min read

    • Article

      Shame Shack !

      Jan 3, 2024

      Hey KRASH. Okay, so here’s my most embarrassing moment. I was, ten years old and playing goalkeeper for my soccer team! We were doing really well and I wasn’t really paying attention when, BAM! The other team’s striker rocketed the ball right at me.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Levi Jarvis

      Sep 14, 2017

      Levi Jarvis
      5 min read

    • Article

      Trash Talk

      Mar 29, 2019

      I haven’t been down since Day 1, although I remember my first issue. Dad came home with Derrick Rose “No Bull” (No. 143). How seldom do we see promise fulfilled, especially after it appears on a magazine cover? That was almost a decade ago. Since the

      2 min read

    • Article

      What I’ve Learned...

      May 15, 2022

      What I’ve Learned...
      3 min read

    • Article

      It GiRL OF the MONTH meet: VICTORIA

      Jun 7, 2023

      AGE: 8 NICKNAME: Vic, Vicklet, Vicky, V SIBLINGS: Three older siblings, Carla, Sean, and Samantha PETS: Two Cavoodles named Violet and Bonnie FAVE SINGER: Meghan Trainor FAVE MOVIE: Encanto FAVE COLOUR: Yellow FUN FACTS: • I would eat sushi every day

      1 min read

    • Article

      Be A Winner, Not A Whiner

      Apr 30, 2018

      Be A Winner, Not A Whiner
      4 min read

    • Article

      How To Be A Champion

      Feb 1, 2024

      How To Be A Champion
      6 min read

    • Article

      Shaun Paul

      Apr 4, 2019

      Shaun Paul
      7 min read

    • Article

      I’m An 11-plus Failure

      Sep 21, 2022

      Sheep is to mutton as pig is to… What? Bacon? Chops? Sausages? Shall I just hedge my bets and write down all three? No, you idiot – it must be pork. The precious seconds tick away. ‘It’s too soon to be concerned, Mrs Bardwell. I don’t think they’ve l

      3 min read

    • Article

      Riley Pavey

      Jul 4, 2018

      Riley Pavey
      6 min read

    • Article

      Peter Crouch

      Jul 3, 2023

      Peter Crouch
      6 min read

    • Article

      Peter Bakare

      Jun 8, 2020

      Peter Bakare
      3 min read

    • Article

      Peyton Burgess

      Mar 9, 2021

      Sometimes PB to my students, Sack to my friends, and always Pete to my family, my name is Peter Burgundy and I worry that death has been my only inspiration to be a better person—that death has had a way of making life understandable. And oh whoa, ho

      30 min read

    • Article

      John Mcenroe

      Jul 4, 2022

      John Mcenroe
      5 min read

    • Article

      Shame Shack

      Mar 1, 2023

      I was once in PE and we were warming up and doing exercises for fitness. We started to do squats and my pants started to stretch and then on the last squats my pants ripped. Everyone started laughing. The teacher told me to go to the office to get ne

      2 min read

    Reviews for The Crossover

    4.5/5

    509 ratings57 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      This book is incredible.

      I would absolutely say that to read this book you have to listen to it on audiobook. It's written in verse, so that makes the experience of it all the more powerful. It's rhythmic, melodic, prosaic and probably one of my favourite audiobooks ever. The author has such great little riffs and tricks that he can pull with his words, I didn't know a book could be so smooth, so effortless.

      If you like Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, you'll love this book.

      I know nothing about basketball, but it actually doesn't matter because the story is great, and the characters are so well-developed for a young adult novel. It really surprised me.

      I feel like I swallowed this book whole. Maybe I'm officially out of my reading slump thanks to this book.

      Either way, I have a new favourite genre. Thank you, Kwame Alexander, may you make poetry for the rest of your damn life.
    • 5/5
      I really liked that it compared life to basketball.. READ IT!!!!!
    • 4/5
      Loved this book, how the text moved with the story. Interesting subject matter, and I think it will grab a lot of young boys and reluctant readers. The ending was a little overly sentimental and dramatic, but it was a good book overall.
    • 3/5
      Sometimes with novels written in poems I don't always get the full sense of the characters or the complete spirit of the story. With this one though, there's a shimmering energy that had me envisioning the twins and their father and relating to the warmth between them (and to Josh's loneliness when Jordan freezes him out). As a bonus, reluctant readers and non- will enjoy this; at the very least they'll pick it up and look through it.
    • 5/5
      i liked how josh and Jordan learned talk to each other at the end and how josh doesn't want the ring that his father gave. " hey, i shout we da man." that part made me think that he is telling his brother that we both can be da man.
    • 4/5
      I have to admit that I approached this book a little skeptically: a middle-grades novel, written in verse, about identical twins who love basketball? I feared it might be a little gimmicky--a clever way to get boys to read poetry, like sneaking zucchini into brownies. But Kwame Alexander deserves all the accolades and awards (including the Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King award) he's received for _The Crossover_. It's amusing and insightful and sad, and while the poems can be read separately, together, they tell a powerful story about a critical few months in the brothers' lives.What I really enjoyed about the book is the variety among the poems themselves. The topics range from basketball to sibling rivalry, and from family drama to "pink Reeboks-wearing girls." But the poems also vary in form: some are short, some are long, some are free-verse, and others are very traditional, such as Josh's "Tanka for Language Arts Class":This Christmas was notMerry, and I have not foundjoy in the new yearwith Dad in the hospitalfor nineteen days and counting.I especially like the poems where Alexander makes use of different fonts and unusual layouts to capture the movement and rhythm of a basketball game. Those would be especially fun to teach on their own. In short, a highly teachable book--and while it's much more than a good book for getting those reluctant middle-school boys to read, it certainly works that way, as well.
    • 5/5
      I loved this read. I was a little leery at first of the verse approach, but it didn't take long to start hearing music as I read the book. You don't have to be a sports enthusiast to get drawn into this story. I find myself going through the list of reluctant readers I know to to see in who's hands I can place this book. I'm pretty confident this book will have them asking for more and I'll be getting multiple copies.
    • 5/5
      This was soooooo very different. A novel in verse. And each chapter the style or format of the poem was slightly different. It did tell a complete story and I could follow along quite easily. It was so very different but i loved it. Plus since was in verse it was a super quick read. It had some emotional depth that I was not expecting in a story about a family of basketball phenoms.
    • 5/5
      Very good! I enjoyed listening along with the book with middle school students in my Summer learning Camp!
    • 5/5
      Fast paced basketball and family focused novel in verse that packs a huge emotional punch with an amazingly small number of words. Relevant, gripping, powerful.
    • 3/5
      Middlegrade novel in verse (basketball, school, 9th grade twins). Kwame writes good poetry (with vocabulary-boosting words, even), and this would do well with certain 6th-9th grade boys who can't find books that speak to them otherwise. I generally want to skim over poetry novels and just find out what happens, but it becomes fairly clear that (1) the father will have some terrible health calamity happen to him and (2) this new girl will come between the two twins. Once I figured that out I stopped reading, since I wasn't really interested in the characters and how that would affect them so much (maybe because I didn't relate to them at all).
    • 5/5
      A fantastic middle grade novel in free verse about twin brothers and their changing lives both on and off the basketball court. It's beautifully done, with varying methods of verse that reflect the situations and emotions as they change throughout, and with a story that grabs you right from the beginning and holds you to the end.A reread for me - Charlie read it for a school project and I decided to join him. (He loved it, too!)
    • 5/5
      I was struggling to find a book to fit the "Read a book about sports" challenge in the 2017 BookRiot Read Harder Challenge. Although my children are athletes, and they and my husband enjoy watching sports, there's never really been a sport that I liked enough to want to read about it.

      Thankfully, one morning on my way to work I was listening to "All the Books," a podcast from BookRiot, and one of the hosts mentioned that The Crossover, in addition to being a match to the listener's request, would be a great book for this particular challenge. I had a eureka moment, because I'd bought this book a couple of years ago for my boys. It was still sitting on Littlest's shelf. I was in.

      I was immediately drawn in by the verse. The way the verse fluctuated in length, and the way different size fonts and spacing were used, really brought the feelings and emotions of the 13-year-old narrator to life. Really well done.

    • 5/5
      I just finished reading this incredible, lovely, wrenching book. And now I am sobbing like a fool. This is one of those books that has incredible potential for all ages.
    • 3/5
      The Crossover book is about the life of a 12 year old basketball player, Josh Bell, in his 7th grade year at Reggie Lewis Middle School. This book is very relatable to junior high students, especially those that are involved in sports. This book talks about a lot of junior high topics such as love, loss, family, and sports.
    • 4/5
      I've been curious about this since it came out, and it was absolutely fantastic. Yes, I know, the fact that it's award winning probably highlights that, but I don't like ALL award winning books, so. It's a quick read, so while I'm not usually patient enough to make it through novels in verse it worked well for me. I also enjoyed that the story touched on so many things without slowing down or dragging. AND I TEARED UP. Maybe read this with some tissues.
    • 5/5
      The Crossover is a realistic fiction book written in poetry/verse format. The verses tell the story of 14 y-o Josh Bell and his family. Mr. Bell is a former European League basketball star whose career was cut short due to a knee injury that he refuses to have surgery to fix. Mr. Bell passes his love and knowledge of basketball to his twin sons, Josh and Jordan. Both boys a standout basketball stars at their school however, Josh loves the game a bit more than Jordan. Jordan discovers girls and now has a girlfriend and Josh feels like he's losing his brother and best friend. Meanwhile, Mr. Fell's heart problems begin to get worse and both boys are affected by their father's decline health. Alexander beautifully captures this story of family, friendship, and loss in verse form. The way he changes the format of between chapters when Josh is narrating the story in a more traditional line and stanza poetry form to a free verse form when Josh is talking about his basketball skills and the game his playing helps draw the reader into the emotion and pace of the story. The entire story centers around basketball from the four sections of the book being called quarters to individual chapter titles. This is a great read for any 6-12 grader and for the reluctant male reader.
    • 5/5
      A quick, unforgettable read written in hip hope verse. On the surface The Crossover is about sports, but it's about so much more than that. Josh and his twin Jordan are real ballers. They are the stars of their middle school basketball team and if they weren't twins they would probably hate each other. Their relationship starts to sour when Jordan starts spending more of his time with a new girl then with Josh or basketball. To top it off he's worried about his dad and he wants the basketball championship trophy more than anything. Wonderfully written, appealing to boys and girls of all ages as well athletes, poets, and pretty much everyone. Definitely worthy of the Newbery medal.
    • 5/5
      This book is amazing.
      I hate basketball, but I loved this book.
      The verses are insane and it all falls together so quickly.
      I ended with tears in my eyes and amazed it was over so quickly.

      Can't recommend this enough to anyone looking for a good different read.
    • 5/5
      This was a very well written chapter book that is written in verses. This book is about two brothers that are very good at basketball. These brothers stop talking to each other because of a girl that comes between them. The main character josh discovers information about his father that he has trouble overcoming. This book had a sad ending but it was very good. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to students in grades 4th-8th grade. Kwame makes the josh a relatable character and makes the book a smooth read.
    • 4/5
      My kids' school read this book a few years back as an all-district read, but I never picked it up. I wish I would have read it while my son did. There are lots of good life lessons in this book, like ask questions of those you love rather than just not speaking. And the need to work through the bad times rather than let them get worse.
    • 4/5
      Crossover by written in verse is the story of African American twins Josh and JP who are in middle schoolers with excellent grades and are basketball stars in their school. Although Josh and JP are twins they are completely different on the basketball court and hairstyles. Josh and JP relationship is tested when JP is attracted to the new girl in school and Josh is left fending for himself. The novel theme is family, basketball, dreams, and rhythm. The novel's format is especially important while reading this book because it flows like a basketball game through rhythm.
    • 4/5
      Who knew a book about basketball loving pre-teen twin boys could give you all the feels, send you careening back to those confusing in between years of middle school, and tear your parental apart in under 300 pages?! Bravo!
    • 4/5
      This is a poetry novel that uses a variety of engaging style of poetry to draw the reader in. I could see this being particularly of interest to sports fans. It is a 2015 Newbery Medal Winner,2015 Coretta Scott King Honor Award Winner, and New York Times Bestseller.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this YA book on basketball, family, grief, and life. And I liked the way it was written in blank verse, rhyme, and rap. Very interesting and a quick read!
    • 4/5
      A novel in verse about twin boys who play basketball. Enjoyable, though kind of heartbreaking in the end. Better poetry than it is a novel, though that's not really a criticism as such. Some of the poems about actually playing basketball on the court are amazing.
    • 5/5
      Summary: Basketball is everything until a girl comes between two twins and their dreams. One is perfectly happy with the new arrangement of having his first girlfriend...the other, not so much. Two brothers whose lives have revolved around basketball and a close knit family, suddenly find themselves torn apart by an invisible rift caused by a girl. Dad's health issues are what ultimately bring the twins back together in this real and engaging story.Personal Response: I hate basketball, partly because I don't understand the sport, but man did I love this book. It didn't matter how I felt about the sport because the character development and writing style was so engaging. I didn't want to put this book down. An honest tale of jealousy, the desire to win, and the support of a strong and loving family working their way through dad's health issues struck home. I can't imagine anyone not immersing themselves in this story, regardless of their sports interests. This was a book for ALL readers, and it is not surprising that it won the Newbery medal. Fantastically and brilliantly written.Curriculum Connections: This book is one of the better examples of a book written in verse to lead students into a unit on poetry. This would be perfect to evaluate poetry elements in the library or classroom. It could also be used to introduce criteria used to choose the recipient of the Newbery medal. This book is also a perfect "go to " book for those sports enthusiasts in the school. I gave my copy of the book to a sixth grade girl who loves basketball, the night after I finished it. She has already dropped by the library this week to tell me how much she is totally loving the book. She is connecting.
    • 3/5


      Josh and JB are twins, amazing on the basketball court, almost 13 years old. This is the year when everything changes. The story is written in beautiful verse.

      Josh and JB’s world is one in which both parents are professionals. Their father is a former European league basketball player, and their mother is an assistant principal at the boys’ junior high school. The fact that the twins are both college-bound is an understated given. This the sweet story of av successful, close-knit African-American family in the Obama era.

      “The Crossover” doesn’t ignore contemporary issues involving race. There is a traffic stop on the way to a game, in which the boys’ father (like many an African-American man) is pulled over for a minor infraction; Josh is warned by his mother about what happens to young black men who let their tempers get the better of them; his parents fight not over money or fidelity but over the father's diet and hereditary hypertension.

      This story has not been sugar coated.

    • 4/5
      A basketball story told in free verse. Might be great for reluctant readers. Twins are both basketball players. One starts to have a girlfriend and the other is jealous and ends up throwing a basketball right at the twin's face and almost breaking his nose. Meanwhile the father suffers from heart issues related to his diet.
    • 4/5
      This book is incredible.

      I would absolutely say that to read this book you have to listen to it on audiobook. It's written in verse, so that makes the experience of it all the more powerful. It's rhythmic, melodic, prosaic and probably one of my favourite audiobooks ever. The author has such great little riffs and tricks that he can pull with his words, I didn't know a book could be so smooth, so effortless.

      If you like Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, you'll love this book.

      I know nothing about basketball, but it actually doesn't matter because the story is great, and the characters are so well-developed for a young adult novel. It really surprised me.

      I feel like I swallowed this book whole. Maybe I'm officially out of my reading slump thanks to this book.

      Either way, I have a new favourite genre. Thank you, Kwame Alexander, may you make poetry for the rest of your damn life.