Booked (The Crossover Series)

BOOKED is a book that will make you laugh and cheer! It’s the story of a 12-year-old boy whose parents are breaking up and whose dad makes him read the dictionary to improve his vocabulary which HE does and IT does and it so impresses a girl he likes that she becomes his girlfriend despite her dad’s being a cop and she bringing her entire book club to his house for a date and he likes it and his mom taking them horseback riding which the girl likes even though it’s her first time in a saddle. Then he learns enough Taekwando to get back at the bullies who stole his bike and beat him up and of course this is after he gets out of the hospital for another matter and can’t go to New York or Dalles to play soccer with his team and his best friend and he has to see a psychologist for being so sad he couldn’t go and he names him Dr. Fraud then gets his friend the school librarian’s “Freedom” box because the guy is going down a different bend in his river and when he opens it, I mean wow! The boy loves words and rap, and I really loved him and his story and that K. A. wrote it so well and that it’s the second book in the series. Share this

Bought a class set for my students.

Such an amazing book! Kwame Alexander is a very talented writer that can intertwine poetry, the complexities of family life, and can reach YA readers. I teach 6th grade, and so many of my boys this year were obsessed with Kwame Alexander's books. They were asking each other to borrow the book after the current reader was done. For 11-12 year old boys to create their own waitlist for a book is a huge win!

This is a good depiction of middle school life. The soccer poems are awesome, but I wish there were more of them to really show how much Nick loves the game. I felt for him as he struggled with fear and regret throughout the story—it’s something so many kids can relate to. That said, it’s a little hard to buy that a kid who knows so many big words and writes so well is only just starting to enjoy reading novels in 8th grade. Even with that, it’s a great book with a lot of heart, and it leaves you rooting for Nick the whole way through.

My son read this book multiple times and enjoyed that story. I would recommend to kids interested in sports.

I was astonished and thrilled when my fifteen year old son chose Kwame Alexander's first basketball book, Crossover. Poetry? Really? You want to read poetry? Non only did he want to read it (over and over and over) he started to write poetry after reading this book. Poetry about what it's like to play basketball, poetry about winning. Poetry about trying. Poetry about being a good leader. This is a kid who, prior to reading Kwame Alexander, NEVER wrote a poem, ever. When he was younger, he read Shel Silverstein and loved it. In school he was exposed to Kipling's poem "If" and loved that. The Art of Manliness book included several poems that my son was astonished to find inspiring. Then, he chose Kwame Alexander's book, Crossover, one day at Barnes and Noble and all of a sudden my athlete kid is WRITING poetry. I LOVE this author. Love him. I bought "Booked" as a Christmas present for my kid, hoping he'll love it as much as he loved "Crossover".

As a middle school teacher, I’m always looking for new books that will pique my students interests. This book is an absolute gem and I’m so glad I picked it up! I definitely think the main character will resonate with my students. There were also so many unique vocabulary words introduced in such a unique way, (with footnotes at the bottom of the page). It even had me looking up words like “callipygous” and had me chuckling at the meaning. Overall highly recommend!

My grandson (age 11) started reading this at his school library and then asked me to buy it for him. He's a good reader, but is more interested in technology than books. But he loved this book and read it in about a week. For any kids who love basketball - or sports, in general - this is great because the game and practice descriptions are very realistic and exciting. But the personal relationships are just as good. AND it's written entirely as poetry. My grandson didn't even realize it, although he said, "It's part poetry and part story." GREAT BOOK. We bought the soccer book, too.

A superbly written verse novel, with much for adults as well as young readers to appreciate. So many life lessons layered in the succinct and apposite prose. Thoroughly enjoyable and a great example of how verse can create flow atmosphere in a narrative.

A little boring

This book and Author was recommended for my son to try to get him back in the habit of reading. He was able to get through this book with ease and seemed to enjoy the story and how the story was laid out. Not too many words per page, the story was written using a poetry format. A few words per line to tell the overall story. He loved it. I bought him another book for Christmas.

This is an absolutely amazing book! My son (age 11) and I couldn't put it down. He is a competitive soccer player so all the game and pro player references were really appreciated. It is beautifully writen and very touching. This is a must read!!

Enjoyed by my teenage nephew