Booked
Age 12+
Family Break-Up Personal & Social Issues: Bullying, Separation, Sporting Stories Personal & Social Issues: Divorce, Violence & Abuse
Like lightning/you strike/fast and free/legs zoom/down field/eyes fixed/on the checkered ball/on the goal/ten yards to go/can’t nobody stop you/can’t nobody cop you…
Twelve-year-old Nick is a football-mad boy who absolutely hates books. In this follow-up to the Newbery-winning novel The Crossover, football, family, love, and friendship take centre stage as Nick tries to figure out how to navigate his parents’ break-up, stand up to bullies, and impress the girl of his dreams. These challenges – which seem even harder than scoring a tie-breaking, game-winning goal – change his life, as well as his best friend’s. This energetic novel-in-verse by the poet Kwame Alexander captures all the thrills and setbacks, the action and emotion of a World Cup match.
Creators
Kwame Alexander is a poet, children's book author, playwright, producer, public speaker, performer, and winner of the Newbery Medal for his novel-in-verse, The Crossover. He conducts creative writing workshops in middle and high schools, often reaching more than five hundred students monthly. He lives with his wife and two daughters in the Washington, D.C., area. Visit his website at www.kwamealexander.com.
Reviews
An obvious love of words, and the way they flow together and create their own rhythm, makes Alexander’s work somewhat irresistible. . . To pick up Booked is to find yourself turning page after page, swept along as Nick spills out his story.
New York Times
A satisfying, winning read
Kirkus, starred review
Eminently readable . . . readers will surely love Alexander’s joyous word play and celebration of reading
Booklist, starred review
Alexander scores again. Emotionally resonant and with a pace like a player on a breakaway.
Publishers Weekly, starred review
Warm and believable . . . Alexander understands reluctant readers deeply, and here hands them a protagonist who is a smart, reading-averse kid
Horn Book, starred review
A bold novel in verse about football, family, love and life, Booked fizzes with energy and life
WRD Magazine
Football, family, love and friendship told in exhilarating verse.
The Bookseller
A poignant and expertly crafted narrative in verse, showcasing a variety of poetic forms
Books for Keeps
Irresistible reading
Lovereading4Kids
This is a verse novel full of energy and emotion… Like Sarah Crossan, Alexander makes poetry fresh and relatable for young readers. A real kicker of a novel!
Inis, Children's Books Ireland
Worth recommending to anyone who has already enjoyed Sarah Crossan’s verse novels… Booked is destined to be a sure-fire hit.
The School Librarian
Incredibly readable, Booked is written in achievable poems, offering a very satisfying, well paced story for the most reluctant reader.
ReadingZone
Kwame Alexander’s word play is always fresh and exciting, and this novel doesn’t let the team down… reluctant readers will soak it up.
MinervaReads
It is astounding how so much can be conveyed through such sparse text… Alexander’s crafty intertextual inclusions, including class famous verse novels, is a clever way to encourage his readers to widen their reading and ultimately a celebration of reading.
Library Mice
