Book review: Booked by Kwame Alexander

Early in the school year I promoted The Crossover by Kwame Alexander as one of my daily book talks on the school's morning news program. I read a few paragraphs, adding "This book has rap, and basketball, and family drama. If you like the first two and understand the third, you will love this book." My one copy was checked out an hour later and immediately had a waiting list. I ordered two more copies for the library; those also have a waiting list. Ordering two copies of Alexander's new soccer novel, Booked, as it was released was an easy choice. Unfortunately I had to wait until summer vacation for the time to read it myself; like its award-winning predecessor, it is a fantastic read.

Nick Hall is an eighth grader, an avid soccer player, and the son of a linguistics professor who makes him read the dictionary. Nick has a lengthy vocabulary but is not as fond of this trait as he might be. Too bad no one taught him one of my favorite tricks, which I have passed along to many students over the years: learn as many large words (or words in foreign languages) as possible, and as a joke, use them around people who have no idea what you're saying. But Nick impresses people with his vocabulary despite his own dispassion for reading the dictionary. 

 As someone who tries to be athletic but has a body that responds often with "You want me run how fast?', I have an affinity for books about characters who push themselves in sports. One that comes to mind is Deadline by Chris Crutcher, in which a high school student plays football through leukemia; Nick pushing himself through a soccer game with a ruptured appendix is another. 

 "The river is always turning and bending. You never know where it's going to go and where you'll wind up." This line was one of the best, and runs through the whole book--Nick's adolescent changes, his parents' relationship. And the line is from my favorite character, the rapping librarian who names his cars. "The Mac" can attract an audience with his rapping and get students hooked on books. Nick's resolution to the problem of the bullying twins was particularly satisfying, as is the story of his relationship with April. The fact that she got him into her book club full of girls was a fantastic bonus.  Based on April's recommendation, I now want to read All the Broken Pieces.