In booked, the new novelinverse by newbery award winner kwame alexander, 12yearold nick knows all about words. Booked by kwame alexander overdrive rakuten overdrive. This time around, his free verse echoes the lilting and graceful feel of the game. April 2, 2018 in this prequel to newbery awardwinning the crossover 2014, alexander revisits previous themes and formats while exploring new ones.
Kwame alexander reads an extract from booked youtube. An obvious love of words, and the way they flow together and create their own rhythm, makes alexander s work somewhat irresistible. Burg is another novel in verse featuring sports, and is actually read by nick in booked. The entire book is written, except where noted, in blank verse.
What the mostly freeverse novel does have is a likable protagonist, great wordplay, solid teen and adult secondary characters, and a clear picture of the challenges young people face when. Like lightningyou strikefast and freelegs zoomdown fieldeyes fixedon the checkered ballon the goalten yards to gocan t nobody stop. Alexander believes that poetry can change the world, and he uses it to inspire and empower young people. This book in verse looks like a sequel to kwame alexanders newbery awardwinning the crossover, but its a whole new cast of characters and story. Kwame alexander born august 21, 1968 is an american writer of poetry and childrens fiction. His father is obsessed with them and makes nick read every day from weird and wonderful words, a dictionary that he wrote. Kwame alexander gives readers a bit of a head fake with the title of his latest novel in verse, booked. Alexander believes that poetry can change the world, and he uses it to. The following version of this book was used to create this study guide.
Kwame alexander is a poet, childrens book author, playwright, producer, public speaker, performer, and winner of the 2015 newbery medal for his novelinverse, the crossover. In his followup, booked, he tells a more reflective tale in verse, one about a boy who loves soccer. Jan 09, 2017 i have a theory that kwame alexander is mostly interested in poetry, family, and basketball, and the soccer in this one is more of a draw. There are a couple of fistfights, some namecalling stupid, ignorant, and racist names used to insult a student of asianghanian descent. Kwame alexander is a poet, educator, new york times bestselling author of 21 books, and recipient of the 2015 newbery medal for his novel, t. His book the crossover won the 2015 newbery medal recognizing the years most distinguished contribution to american literature for children. Pepper championship, but the boys father is obsessed with words, and forces his son, who hates reading, to read his dictionary of obscure words every day. I teach 6th grade, and so many of my boys this year were obsessed with kwame alexander s books. The transcript is divided into the following sections. Kwame alexander, award winning childrens book author, poet.
His book acoustic rooster and his barnyard band, was selected for the 2014 michigan reads. He runs the bookinaday program to introduce children to writing and publishing and was born in manhattan, new york. In this middle grade novelinverse by the newbery medalwinning and coretta scott king honor awardwinning author of the crossover, soccer, family, love, and friendship take center stage as 12yearold. In this middle grade novelinverse by the newbery medalwinning and coretta scott king honor awardwinning author of the crossover, soccer, family, love, and friendship take center stage as 12yearold nick learns the power of words when he wrestles wit. A play on words and the game of soccer in kwame alexanders. Enhancements were made to more precisely measure materials read in k2 classrooms. This avid soccer fan and player, is the son of a university professor that has written a dictionary of unusual words. Kwame alexander national book festival library of congress. Nick finds out he is going to the world cup nick asks april out his mother moves his appendix burst he gets to see the dragonfly box i think the theme is desire to escape because he wants to escape from reality, from words, from bullies and from everything, but soccer. Some of his other works include booked, which was longlisted for the national book award, the playbook. This book was really amazing, it is the sequel to the book crossover. Biography kwame alexander is a poet, educator, and the new york times bestselling author of 32 books, including the undefeated, illustrated by kadir nelson, how to read a book, illustrated by melissa sweet, swing, rebound, which was shortlisted for prestigious carnegie medal, and, his newbery medalwinning middle grade novel, the crossover. The book contains a tight plot that encompasses family, friendship, love, health, and more. Written by kwame alexander, narrated by kwame alexander.
Transcript from an interview with kwame alexander reading. Kwame alexander books list of books by author kwame alexander. Kwame alexanders newbery awardwinning the crossover takes on the explosive poetry of basketball. It means that the book was meaningful and perhaps it impacted readers enough that they want to know more. Theres also a novel is called booked, and its about a boy who loves soccer and loathes reading.
Alexanders highly anticipated followup to newberywinning the crossover is a reflective narrative, with little of the first books explosive energy. Once again, kwame alexander has outdone himself with his wonderful use of words and unique poetry style, to write a book about the coming of age of an eighth grade boy. See all books authored by kwame alexander, including the crossover, and booked, and more on. In this story, a young soccer players select team is chosen to play in the houston dr. Awardwinning author kwame alexander on why we need. Jun 01, 2016 awardwinning poet and author kwame alexander on why we need diverse books by cindy long poet and childrens author kwame alexander won the 2015 newbery award for the crossover, a middlegrade novel about twin tween boys on the cusp of thirteen who play basketball and are brimming with preadolescent angst. Its what powered the crossover, and it is at the core of booked. Apr 05, 2016 kwame alexander is a poet, childrens book author, playwright, producer, public speaker, performer, and winner of the 2015 newbery medal for his novelinverse, the crossover. Kwame alexander is a poet, educator and bestselling author of 24 books, including the crossover, which received the 2015 john newbery medal for the most distinguished contribution to american literature for children, the coretta scott king author award honor, the ncte charlotte huck honor, the lee bennett hopkins poetry award and the paterson poetry prize. Jun 26, 2016 booked by kwame alexander is available today. In booked, alexander presents the reader with nick hall, a gifted student and soccer player who is coping with his parents recent divorce. This study guide consists of approximately 62 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of booked. His verse novel the crossover won the 2015 newbery medal recognizing the years most distinguished contribution to american literature for children.
Apr 05, 2016 kwame alexanders newbery awardwinning the crossover takes on the explosive poetry of basketball. Kwame alexander plot the plot of the story is nicholas gets invited to play soccer in dallas nicholas parents get divorced nicholas mom moves to kentucky nicholas gets in a fight with dean and don coby accidentally sprains nicholas ankle nicholas appendix explodes. Kwame alexander, on the heels of his award winning crossover, has wowed his readers again with booked, an equally poetic tale about sports as the backdrop for teenaged angst. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Kwame alexander books, author biography, and reading level. In the description, booked is described as the followup, which i mistook for sequel. Visit scholastic, the worlds largest childrens book publisher. So heres the deal, at this point i am not writing a sequel, but its possible that there may be a, oh never mind, youll have to wait and see, but trust me, its gonna be good. Kwame alexander is an american writer of poetry and childrens fiction. While somewhat lighter than alexander s the crossover, booked still deals with serious life issues for middle schoolers, including bullying, racism, divorce, and education. In booked, alexander presents the reader with nick hall, a gifted student and soccer.
To pick up booked is to find yourself turning page after page, swept along as nick spills out his story. His book the crossover won the newbery medal last year for. It needed to be fastpaced and action packed enough to interest middlegrade male readers, with the characterdriven and threedimensional characters that middlegrade female readers crave. Over the moon about writing love poems becoming a poet form before story finding time to write the human soul distilled finding the universal in poetry visual poetry in the crossover. I have a theory that kwame alexander is mostly interested in poetry, family, and basketball, and the soccer in this one is more of a draw. Kwame alexander s booked is a young adult novel in verse about the life of nick hall, an eighthgrader and soccer aficionado who struggles to meet his parents expectations and honor his own selfidentity in the wake of his parents separation. They were asking each other to borrow the book after the current reader was done. I teach 6th grade, and so many of my boys this year were obsessed with kwame alexanders books. Therefore, when i came across the crossover, it intrigued me. Kwame alexander is a very talented writer that can intertwine poetry, the complexities of family life, and can reach ya readers. The short poems and engaging story make the 320 pages fly by. Its likely to have great appeal for reluctant middle school. So heres the deal, at this point i am not writing a sequel, but its possible that there may be a, oh never mind, youll have to wait and see, but trust me, its gonna be good are you writing a prequel to the crossover. Booked by kwame alexander lesson and activity ideas.
Kwame alexander, award winning childrens book author. The book is both a sports novel and a reflection on nicks experiences struggling with an injury and major changes in his home life. Kwame accomplishes a difficult and ambitious masterpiece by telling a story in short rhythmic verses. Discover book depositorys huge selection of kwame alexander books online.
It was also selected as an honor book for the coretta scott king award. Parents need to know booked, by newbery medal winner kwame alexander the crossover, is a novel in verse that centers on a middle school soccer player who struggles with his family going through a divorce, school bullies, and middle school romance. Kwame alexander writes books that bend genres novels about middle school boys, written not in prose but verse. Please note that the lexile measures for a small population of books have been recently updated. A novel about a soccerobsessed tween boy written entirely in verse. I am a soccer player and a bookworm, and i think this boys story is a great, realistic dealingwithlife story. He conducts creative writing workshops in middle and high schools, often reaching more than five hundred students monthly.
Like lightningyou strikefast and freelegs zoomdown fieldeyes fixedon the checkered ballon the goalten yards to gocant nobody stop you cant nobody cop you in this followup to the newberywinning novel the crossover, soccer. The author writes in a way that catches you from the start. Kwame alexander is a poet, childrens author, playwright, producer, performer, and winner of the newbery medal for his novelinverse, the crossover, and shortlisted for the carnegie medal with rebound. My goodness, does kwame alexander know how to write.
Download and keep this book for free with a 30 day trial. Booked by kwame alexander lesson and activity ideas made with by shannon guess hi, please share your lesson and activity ideas for our upcoming book in a day. Awardwinning author kwame alexander on why we need diverse books. The talented author kwame alexander did not disappoint. Kwame alexander is a poet, educator, and the new york times bestselling author of 28 books, including rebound, the followup to his, newbery medalwinning middle grade novel, the crossover. Whether you need a classic kids book or classroomproven teaching materials, discover it at scholastic. In this followup to the newberywinning novel the crossover, soccer, family, love, and friendship, take center stage as twelveyearold nick learns the power of words as he wrestles with problems at home, stands up to a bully, and tries to impress the girl of his dreams. The book is a mashup of poetry and prose told with the highenergy beat of a hiphop song or an edgeofyourseat basketball game.
Kwame writes childrens picture books, middle grade novels, ya novels, love poems, plays, tv scripts, grocery lists, doodles on church bulletins, recipes, occasional. Kwame alexander has the magic to pull off this unlikely feat, both as a poet. Below is an edited transcript from our interview with kwame alexander. Kwame alexander, the amazing author of booked, rebound and the crossover, reads an extract from booked. Kwame alexanders nyt bestseller and newbery medal winning the crossover is. Booked crossover, book 2 by kwame alexander fantastic fiction. Alexanders sizzling second freeverse book, booked, was the perfect fit. The sneaky and hilarious way author kwame alexander introduces weird yet cool vocabulary words is a delightful part of this realistic look into middle school life. As i said above, this is very similar to the crossover. Apr 05, 2016 alexanders highly anticipated followup to newberywinning the crossover is a reflective narrative, with little of the first books explosive energy.
Order in the next 39 hours 14 minutes and get it by wednesday. Booked by kwame alexander 2016 flashlight chronicles. Booked the crossover series by kwame alexander march 5, 2019. May god continue to bless you and your writing, mr. Kwame alexander is a poet, educator, and new york times bestselling author of 21 books, including booked, surfs up, and the crossover, which received the 2015 john newbery medal, the ncte charlotte huck honor, the paterson poetry prize, the lee bennett hopkins poetry award, and the coretta scott king author award honor. Of course, i figured out quickly that this was a completely new story about a new guy nick who has different problems. Most material is present tense, with the exception of remembered material, which is in past tense.
Booked by kwame alexander cumberland regional hs media. Nicholas hall nick is the books central character, its protagonist and narrator. Kwame alexander books list of books by author kwame. He lives with his wife and two daughters in the washington, d. A play on words and the game of soccer in kwame alexander. All students should be able to write their stories and share them with the world duration.
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