Kwame Alexander must be the master of teen novels in verse...over the past four years he’s written four novels in verse with another coming out in October!
Rebound is another basketball story and is the prequel to the book The Crossover. This book takes place in the summer of 1988, right after Charlie Bell’s father died from a heart disease (the same genetic heart disease he has in The Crossover). Charlie is not handling his grief well--he’s even pulled away from his two friends, Skinny and CJ--so his mother decides to send him to live with his grandparents in DC for the summer. There his gruff grandfather tries to teach him about hard work and being a part of a team while his cousin Roxie teaches him to play basketball. Charlie finds out that it’s okay to be sad, and it’s okay to use a little backboard for support.
I liked the story and the lessons it teaches, but I felt like this one was difficult to follow. Since it’s written in verse, when dialogue is used, it’s hard to follow who’s talking, especially when there are more than two speakers. Alexander has tried to differentiate the speakers by using italics for anyone who is not Charlie, but more separation is needed. I kept having to reread and reread parts to clarify, and if I have to do it, I know the students have to as well.
Sometimes books in verse just pull you in and you can’t put down the story...but this one was just a little flat compared to his other outstanding works.
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