The Crossover (Graphic Novel)

by Kwame Alexander, Dawud Anyabwile (Illustrator)

Overview

Kwame Alexander’s New York Times bestseller and Newbery Medal–winning The Crossover is vividly brought to life as a graphic novel with stunning illustrations by star talent Dawud Anyabwile.
 
New York Times Bestseller · Newbery Medal Winner · Coretta Scott King Honor Award · 2015 YALSA Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults · 2015 YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers · Publishers Weekly Best Book · School Library Journal Best Book · KirkusReviews Best Book
 
“A beautifully measured novel of life and line.” —New York Times Book Review
 
The Crossover is now a graphic novel!
 
“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.
 
See the Bell family in a whole new light through Dawud Anyabwile’s dynamic illustrations as the brothers’ winning season unfolds, and the world as they know it begins to change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781328960016
Publisher:	HMH Books
Publication date:	09/24/2019
Series:	Crossover Series
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	234,688
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	GN670L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, and the New York Times best-selling author of twenty-eight books, including Rebound, the prequel to his Newbery Medal[en dash]winning middle grade novel, The Crossover. Other works include Booked, a National Book Award nominee; The Playbook: 52 Rules to Help You Aim, Shoot, and Score in this Game of Life; and picture books Out of Wonder,Surf’s Up, and The Undefeated. The 2018 NEA Read Across America Ambassador, Kwame is also the host and producer of the literary variety/talk show Bookish, which airs on Facebook Watch, the cofounding director of the LEAP for Ghana initiative, and the founding editor of Versify, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers. The recipient of the 2017 Inaugural Pat Conroy Legacy Award, Kwame lives with his family in Virginia. www.kwamealexander.com.
Twitter and Instagram: @kwamealexander

Dawud Anyabwile is an Emmy Award winning artist, illustrator and co-creator of the groundbreaking comic book series Brotherman: Dictator of Discipline. Anyabwile has worked with companies such as Cartoon Network, Turner Studios, NBA TV, Nickelodeon,  and many others as a character designer, storyboard artist, illustrator, and concept artist. Anyabwile illustrated the graphic novel adaptation of the New York Times best selling novel Monster by Walter Dean Myers. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Anyabwile now volunteers, teaches art classes to young students, and gives lectures when he isn't working on his art.
Instagram: @brotehrmancomix

Editorial Reviews

06/24/2019

In this graphic novel adaptation of Alexander’s 2015 Newbery-winning novel, Anyabwile’s clean lines, athletic characters, and free-form layouts capture the fluid poetry of basketball and the helplessness and confusion of early adolescence. Middle school basketball star Josh “Filthy McNasty” Bell navigates sibling rivalry with his twin brother, JB, on and off the court. The two are neither clones nor opposites; they share plenty, but Josh tends to brood while JB runs cool. Josh’s jealousy over JB’s first girlfriend, Alexis, eventually takes a backseat to their father Chuck’s escalating health problems. A former Euroleague champion sidelined by a knee injury, Chuck has always been averse to medical treatment, provoking a family crisis. Alexander’s complex, affectionate family portrait is augmented by Anyabwile’s dynamic characterizations; when the boys’ father gets in a ref’s face and their mother pulls him back, each character’s pain is palpable on the page. With confident strokes and choice details—likenesses of rappers attending “five reasons I have locks,” movement-filled moments on the court, and a close-up on a saltshaker alongside an explanation of hypertension—the graphic version brings out the best in the original, as any good teammate should. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 10–12. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 07/01/2019

Gr 5–8—A fresh look at the Newbery Medal–winning book, still told in verse but now stunningly illustrated by Anyabwile. Josh and Jordan Bell are 12-year-old twins who have each other's backs, on and off the basketball court. With the support of their loving parents, they're on track for an amazing season, hoping to claim the championship trophy for their junior high. But everything changes, and the boys and their family find themselves on the brink of a crisis. Basketball is important to the novel, with the brothers' rivalry and game action fueling many of the poems. But the heart of the story is the joy and heartbreak of family love. In this graphic novel/prose hybrid, characters are sympathetically drawn and distinct. The text is thoughtfully positioned and sized, moving the narrative quickly along and complementing the energetic artwork, which is rendered in grayscale with burnt orange accents. VERDICT With lively poems that use basketball as a metaphor for life, this mix of free verse, hip-hop, and powerful artwork will resonate with fans of the original book and inspire a new audience of nascent players, artists, and poets.—Kelley Gile, Cheshire Public Library, CT

School Library Journal

★ 2019-06-16
This graphic-novel adaptation of Alexander's 2015 Newbery Medal winner offers powerful visuals to an already-cherished narrative of teenage black boys navigating the game of life.

The tale follows a year in the life of the Bell family, with Chuck "Da Man" Bell at the helm as he teaches his twin sons, Josh and Jordan, how to follow in his star-studded footsteps. Josh "Filthy McNasty" Bell takes the lead in narration, providing readers with in-depth court play-by-play as he deals with the growing pains of adolescence, balancing brotherhood and his own becoming. Myriad poetic forms appear throughout. A portion embrace rhyme, with a hint of old-school flow recalling hip-hop's golden era. Veteran comics illustrator Anyabwile brings an expansive range of black-boy emotional expressiveness to the page, accompanied by a striking attention to detail and pop-cultural reference. Just check the fresh barber lines on display or the true-to-life illustrations of beloved athletes and musicians such as LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, and more. Eschewing the traditional paneled look of the graphic-novel form creates a dynamic flow between the scenes. These are sectioned out into basketball-appropriate quarters and dotted with Chuck's inspirational Basketball Rules, such as this excerpt of No. 3: "The sky is your limit, sons. Always shoot for the sun and you will SHINE." These messages grow ever more resonant as readers approach the climax of this heartwarming story.

Flashy and engaging with emotional depth—a slam-dunk thrill. (Graphic fiction. 10-12)

Kirkus Reviews

★ "This graphic-novel adaptation of Alexander's 2015 Newbery Medal winner offers powerful visuals to an already-cherished narrative....Veteran comics illustrator Anyabwile brings an expansive range of black-boy emotional expressiveness to the page, accompanied by a striking attention to detail and pop-cultural reference....Flashy and engaging with emotional depth—a slam-dunk thrill."—Kirkus, STARRED review

★ "A fresh look at the Newbery Medal–winning book, still told in verse but now stunningly illustrated by Anyabwile....With lively poems that use basketball as a metaphor for life, this mix of free verse, hip-hop, and powerful artwork will resonate with fans of the original book and inspire a new audience of nascent players, artists, and poets."—School Library Journal, STARRED review

"An energetic and lively re-envisioning, this transformation of the original text into a combination of visuals, poetry, and changing font styles will be sure to engage young readers who are both familiar and unfamiliar with Alexander’s original work."—Booklist

"With confident strokes and choice details...the graphic version brings out the best in the original, as any good teammate should."—Publishers Weekly

"Alexander’s Newbery Medal–winning verse novel of the same name (rev. 5/14), about African American twins and middle-school b-ballers Josh and JB Bell, is an ideal choice for graphic-novel adaptation, with its on-court action, swagger­ing narrative voice, and poignant emotional pitches. The original novel’s success mingling accessible poetry with basketball, middle-school dynam­ics, and Black boyhood is reinforced by Anyabwile’s impressive visual interpreta­tion. " —The Horn Book

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