![]() ![]() Stories need not contain a car chase or a gun going off to draw readers in or keep them reading. Or emotionally quiet but nonetheless impactful like in Ann Packer’s The Dive From Clausen’s Pier. What’s at stake can be subtle-yet still powerful-like in Alice McDermott’s masterpiece Someone. What I have been known to harp on in the writing classes I teach, is to build story worlds where something is at risk for well-developed, authentic characters. I don’t necessarily recommend that writers set out to write a novel with appeal to adult and young adult readers. And regardless of when you came to experience it, who among us isn’t still fascinated by the timeless Lewis Carroll novel written for children, Alice in Wonderland? When I was coming into my own as a young adult reader, I loved (and still do) The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, both novels written for adults. Many classic stories can be described as having crossed over either way. Two things about book discoverability are indisputable: readers are always on the look out for good stories and writers are increasingly desperate to find their people. Others-mostly in the fields of public relations and marketing-consider a novel “crossover” when it is written for adults but young adults read and spread the word about it. Some within publishing deem a novel “crossover” when it is written for children or young adults but attracts a healthy adult audience. ![]() While the definition of crossover fiction within the industry is debatable-on this readers, writers, agents, editors, and publishers can agree-everyone wins when a novel has ageless appeal. The original novel’s success mingling accessible poetry with basketball, middle-school dynam¬ics, and Black boyhood is reinforced by Anyabwile’s impressive visual interpreta¬tion.The magic pixie dust for how to reach lots and lots of readers may be elusive, but two things about book discoverability are indisputable: readers are always on the look out for good stories and writers are increasingly desperate to find their people. Yet the same goes for the story’s more tender social interactions (“and just like that JB and the new girl are sipping sweet tea together”), moments of familial intimacy, and later scenes of heartbreak surrounding the boys’ father. FOUL” comes alive in the motion-filled art. Every mid-game scuffle, fast break, and “KERPLUNK / TO THE FLOOR. 7/18, and the graphic novel version of Walter Dean Myers’s Monster) angular, comics-style illustrations in shades of black and white-and, appropriately for a basketball story, orange-dynamically share space on the pages with the hand-lettered-looking text. Anyabwile’s (of Alexan¬der’s Rebound, rev. 5/14), about African American twins and middle-school b-ballers Josh and JB Bell, is an ideal choice for graphic-novel adaptation, with its on-court action, swagger¬ing narrative voice, and poignant emotional pitches. With lively poems that use basketball as a metaphor for life, this mix of free verse, hip-hop, and powerful artwork will resonate with fans of the original book and inspire a new audience of nascent players, artists, and poets.Īlexander’s Newbery Medal–winning verse novel of the same name (rev. ![]() The text is thoughtfully positioned and sized, moving the narrative quickly along and complementing the energetic artwork, which is rendered in grayscale with burnt orange accents. In this graphic novel/prose hybrid, characters are sympathetically drawn and distinct. But the heart of the story is the joy and heartbreak of family love. Basketball is important to the novel, with the brothers’ rivalry and game action fueling many of the poems. But everything changes, and the boys and their family find themselves on the brink of a crisis. With the support of their loving parents, they’re on track for an amazing season, hoping to claim the championship trophy for their junior high. Josh and Jordan Bell are 12-year-old twins who have each other’s backs, on and off the basketball court. A fresh look at the Newbery Medal–winning book, still told in verse but now stunningly illustrated by Anyabwile. ![]()
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