Review: Alexander, K. (2018). Rebound.

Alexander, K. (2018). Rebound. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

In the year 1988, twelve year-old Charlie Bell undergoes a transformation to become Chuck Bell, the basketball-loving, family man he will ultimately be.  Trying to work through the painful loss of his father right before his eyes, he questions his mother’s intentions, and why she won’t buy him the all-important pair of Jordans he needs to fit in and become a baller--the pair he is sure his father would have gotten him.  His refusal to open up, as well as his poor choices to skip school and then steal, lead Mom to send Charlie to stay with his grandparents over the summer. Away from home and his closest friends Skinny and C.J., he spends time working with Grandpa, eating with Grandma, practicing his basketball skills with cousin Roxie, and becoming Chuck--a man who will value the principles learned that summer: “Love your family.  Work hard. And eat well” (201).

Like his father before him, Chuck loves reading comics, and interspersed among the verse of the text, graphic illustrations show both his dreams and realities.  The graphics, as well as the rhythm of the verse, are very successful in representing Chuck’s alternating emotions. This coming-of-age novel is beautiful alone, but may be even more welcomed by fans of the award-winning Crossover, to which this is a prequel.

Listen to Kwame Alexander expound on his novel-in-verse HERE .