NZ Intermediate School Librarians discussion

Kwame Alexander writes his books in a kind of rapping style, with a quick pace and probably only a third of the number of words per page compared to a normal novel. This makes them appealing to the reluctant reader and I am having real success with sporty boys, especially considering basketball is the main background theme of this particular book. Rebound is a follow up prequel, and Booked which I will read next is about football. A marginal amount of bad language and mentions of drugs and smoking make this suitable for year 6+ and I think, with the right teacher, a great read aloud for 7/8s. Deals with loss of a parent.

We have both Booked and The Crossover and they have proved popular with our Year 7/8 boys especially - they like the quick read aspect of them and as you say the rapping type of presentation. I read The Crossover and enjoyed it far more than I thought I would!