Kwame is the Founding Editor of Versify, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt that aims to Change the World One Word at a Time. Josh also has a strong relationship with his basketball coach and receives much guidance and support from him as well. 0000002088 00000 n Vermont Public's News CoverageGovernment & Politics | The Vermont Economy | Criminal Justice & Public Safety | Arts & Culture | Education | Health | Energy & Environment | Food & Agriculture | Series & Specials, Investigations | Brave Little State | Vermont Edition | New England News Collaborative (NENC) | VPR Archive. trailer <<35AB4B5BD4F54B6294CFA91B5522B120>]/Prev 252765>> startxref 0 %%EOF 61 0 obj <>stream Not affiliated with Harvard College. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Josh tells her hes busy, and she says she will see them at the rec center. are down by seven. Dad says he needs to get back on the courthe misses it too much. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. The Childrens Bookshow is a registered charity no. With six seconds to go, the Wildcats are up sixteen points. If you could take one poem out of The Crossover to represent one of the themes in the book, which one would it be and why? He has a book coming out in April about a soccer player who doesnt like to read. Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator and New York Times bestselling author, who has won numerous awards including the Newbery Medal for the most distinguished contribution to American Literature for children. Josh takes his problem to Dad and says that. VU- endstream endobj 17 0 obj <>>> endobj 18 0 obj <>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageC]/XObject<>>>/Rotate 0/TrimBox[0.0 0.0 612.0 792.0]/Type/Page>> endobj 19 0 obj <>stream "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." 0000038553 00000 n Family relationships are the epicenter of this novel. Oh my gosh! We see a strong marriage through the eyes of Josh; a relationship so strong he often alludes to the fact that he knows his parents are having sex; and though this appears to gross him out we can read between the lines to see his relief that all is good. "Dear Jordan" from The Crossover A cleave poem about twin brothers and basketball. Im still reacting to it. Its not memoir. Their mom is assistant principal at their school. As Josh and JB take over caring for their father, the tables turn and suddenly, they're thrown into adult roles. He and JB lock eyes; theres that seeing-a-ghost sensation again. Lets use rhyme, lets use free verse, lets use different types of poetry to sort of mimic and mirror that action on the court and do that on the page. Published by on October 25, 2020. Ruth Bishop said that poetry has a kind of magic and can help the reader see ordinary things in new ways. InThe Crossover,Alexander takes risks with his writing to authentically represent the culture of Josh, his family and friends. Josh wants a world outside of basketball, and he wants his relationship with JB to remain unchanged. He's survived by his wife (Mom) and his twin sons, Josh and, to look in the coffin. She runs past the boys' room and when, pull through and sends his love. The Crossoveris a wonderful mentor text for adolescent writers. She said she likes me a lot, I tell him.You mean she likes me a lot? She also asks where, where it's stuck, wedged between the rim and the backboard. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Design a site like this with WordPress.com, to seamlessly bring different poetry elements, forms of poetry and genres of writing together to help the reader. He founded a K-12 writing program called The Write Thing. This Book-in-a-Day writing and publishing program has created more than 3000 student authors. Matthew Goulette: Is this story based on your life or someone you know? I mean, because basketball is poetry in motion, and so I thought lets use verse. They will be able to relate to the topic, theme, setting and emotion conveyed in the story. 0000010816 00000 n 2016, pg 98). JB's choice to side with Miss Sweet Tea is an overt way to show Josh that he's still angry and not willing to make up. At the End of Warm-Ups, My Brother Tries to Dunk. As he meditates, Josh sees a picture of, Second-Person. He's nearly six feet tall and has a twin, JB. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. Josh chooses to give her the note for his brother and takes the rap for cheating. "Jordan" is thought by most critics to allude to the Jordan River that is important to the people of Israel in the Old and New Testaments. Mom texts a few times that she and Dad needed to leave because Dad did not feel wellhes fine, just tired. Tomorrow is the Last Day of School Before Christmas Vacation, Usually, Josh helps JB study, but JBs been studying alone lately. Kyle DelBianco: Why did you choose to write the book in poetry form? I am writing a prequel to The Crossover. can you help me heal, run with me, slash with me like we used to? Mom and Dad are silent and serious in the front. And when I was born he was a PhD. 1090 0 obj <>stream The two-column structure used in the Crossover's poem "Dear Jordan" stands for; The two-column structure used in Dear Jordan symbolizes the broken relationship between the two brothers Josh and JB. A reporter from the paper asks, I'm on Free Throw Number Twenty-Seven. LitCharts Teacher Editions. endstream endobj 1084 0 obj <>stream Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. Kwame Alexander: "Oh my gosh! Coach gives the team a pep talk. Because he's relying on physical communication and violence to express himself, he's less successful and therefore, more upset. The The Crossover quotes below are all either spoken by JB or refer to JB. Hi Abby, Once again you have given detailed examination of the authors use of language. Mom says its not about his grades: its about how he behaves going forward. On page 185, Coach shares with Josh that he got into a fight with his brother in high school and now they are estranged. Apology Poem and Epistolary Poem "Dear Jordan" (p. 159) Found Poems "Article #1 in the Daily News (December 14)" (p. 155) "Article #2 in the Daily News (January 14)" (p. 225-226) . Twelve year old Josh Bell is a basketball phenom just like his identical twin brother JB. Joshs Dad gives him the nickname Filthy McNasty. 0000003834 00000 n The realization that JB is masturbating in the shower again shows Josh that JB is developing much faster than he is, though the lack of judgment in Josh's tone suggests he's becoming more used to the idea of JB changing. Mom insists that Dad call Dr. Youngblood. His Dad has a heart attack and slips into a coma. Asked by jayionna m #1050276 on 9/23/2020 9:09 PM Last updated by jill d #170087 on 9/23/2020 9:41 PM 0000013846 00000 n 5m%4|#w gJVxx3@#vwd)}Dt9h'3S? Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, and theNew York Timesbestselling author. Josh struggles to answer and says he's sorry and didn't mean to hurt, Mom insists that's not acceptable and reminds Josh that he'll need to apologize to, doesn't understand how his behavior became so churlish. What thoughts and emotions does Josh express in "Dear Jordan"? 0000003226 00000 n Get up to speed on the news Vermont is talking about, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. JB echoes.And the word wenever soundedsweeter. / together" (159). together. Eighth grader Amy McGee's letter starts out this way: The apology poem that author Kwame Alexander wrote from Josh to JB in The Crossover is called "Dear Jordan." At 7:45, she asks about the score and how. Seventh grader Dylan DiPietro wonders how that feels. Its life changing. Josh is busy taking his vocabulary test when, Josh doesn't pay any attention to his teacher or the dummy and instead he watches, Conversation. How does he apologize to his twin brother for being churlish and almost breaking his nose? Osborne-Bartucca, Kristen. The Question and Answer section for The Crossover is a great Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. 0000002682 00000 n But Im not there. Its a novel-in-verse about identical twins Josh and Jordan who are basketball stars at their middle school. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Struggling with distance learning? While it's unclear if Coach is also a twin, his advice still shows that he understands the power of the sibling relationship to either move mountains or destroy everything. "Mom doesn't like us eating out" to "How Do You Spell Trouble? The racially segregated Navy base had dangerous and unfair working, For this month's Dorothy's List, seventh graders at Green Mountain Union in Chester have been reading the novel Unfriended by New York author Rachel, Subscribe To 'The Frequency,' Our Daily Morning Newsletter, Dorothy's List: 'The Scandalous Sisterhood Of Prickwillow Place'. 10. Generally, this type of poem focuses on personal moments or feelings or image laden scenes (Tunnell et al. As Josh continues to cast himself as the helper in the family, he begins to see that doing so will actually allow him to be more successful. %PDF-1.6 % They're the big kids at Beeman, In 1944, a disastrous explosion rocked a Naval base in California called Port Chicago. Though Josh never says so outright, this moment also suggests that he may have inherited or learned his love of English from Dad as well. Previously, in "Dear Edward" episode 7, we saw Edward get to know Mahira, Jordan's girlfriend. All Rights Reserved. Instant downloads of all 1699 LitChart PDFs The story is told from Joshs point of view. I believe this book is a strong representation of cultural authenticity. Dad is screaming, running down the stairs, and yelling at the ref. So, certainly there are some things from my life that have probably creeped into this book. Refine any search. In the next several poems, the . For Josh, however, his world is being turned upside down with Dad's poor health and JB's interest in Miss Sweet Tea, both of which leave Josh feeling alone, so this feels especially fraught for him. I think basketball and is father are reflections of each other. Its written in two columns and the author says it can actually be read several different ways: top to bottom, left to right or diagonally. Alexiss parents are estranged. 10. Josh writes his letter. The way the content is organized, LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in. Its fiction but certainly there are parts of my life that I remembered and drew from. JB is standing there and saying nothing; his eyes are looking past Josh. Now lets go get some doughnuts (pg 92). The sound of Jeopardy is in the background as Josh asks if Mom will let him in the playoffs, especially as his grades were good. 0000006505 00000 n In particular, it begins to align him with Dad, who is still highly regarded even though he's also not playing. 10. This is the beginning of a big change in Josh and JBs relationship. And, eventually after maybe a draft of it I knew that I wanted him to have a twin brother. instead, tells him that being early is always better than being a little bit late. Dad falls, his eyes roll, and Josh screams. (21) $1.99. Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop makes the point that in multicultural literature, a characters humanity should come through. Josh is extremely regretful for what he has done, never trying to defend himself, but JB naturally decides to keep his distance all the same. Shay was envious of Mahira because Edward was giving her way more attention than he had ever given to Shay. "Filthy McNasty" is described as being what mythical creature in the poem by the same name? Dylan DiPietro: How did you react when you learned that The Crossover won the 2015 Newbury Award? Need Help with this Assignment? My wife and I danced My daughter, whos seven-years-old, in second grade, she woke up and she came in the room and said, Whats all the commotion for? And we said, Daddy just won the Newbury Medal. And she said, Yay! His suggestion to write JB a letter again speaks to the power of words and communication. The fact that Miss Sweet Tea's sister attends Duke, the college that Josh wants to one day attend, suggests that Josh might actually like Miss Sweet Tea if he were willing to get to know her. We kept her home all day and just sort of got on the couch, lit the fire, smiled, laughed, danced and sort of basked in the joy of this wonderful honor. One night while on the way to a game, Joshs Dad gets pulled over for a broken taillight. Joshs Basketball Rules that appear throughout the book are a great way to get students to engage with the message of the book and think about how they could apply these lessons to their own lives. Josh gets a lot of accolades for being the Junior High MVP but Miss Sweet Tea tells him frankly that he is mean and did not deserve that award because of what he did to JB. One of the big changes in Joshs world is that his twin brother Jordan has started spending more time talking to girls and less time playing ball with him. Dad sighs that the boys are getting older and they will manage. As in: Dad's in a comabecause of a myocardial infarction,which is the same thingmy grandfather died of.So what does that mean for meand JB? Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. Fights between friends usually end in a cutting off of the relationship as opposed to engaging in healthy conflict to find a resolution. In other words, the loneliness is one thing, but feeling left behind in this regard is even more painful.