reviews THE CROSSOVER
CHILDREN’S
A tale of two brothers REVIEW BY HEATHER SEGGEL
“Work smart / Live smarter / Play hard / Practice harder / Love, Dad” The Crossover is a novel-in-verse, with long flows of prose that spill out a tale of family, love, loss and basketball. Josh and his twin brother Jordan live for the game and plan to play at rival colleges. Their mother is tough but fair with the boys, but she tries in vain to persuade their father to make healthier choices. An ex-player whose pro dreams faded after an injury, he lives through the boys’ achievements while wolfing down Krispy Kremes. One crisis leads to another, and soon the family is mourning an irreplaceable loss. The Crossover will appeal to basketball fans, and it will likely grab reluctant readers with its quick wordplay, deft rhymes and kinetic, poetic take on the game. “The bass booms. / The crowd looms. / There’s music and mocking, / teasing nonstop, but / when the play begins / all the talk ceases.” Author Kwame Alexander has made a gift to teachers with this By Kwame Alexander book: References to classical and jazz music (Josh’s dad nicknamed him HMH, $16.99, 240 pages “Filthy McNasty” after a Horace Silver song), probability (Jordan places ISBN 9780544107717, eBook available bets on nearly everything) and the geometry of the game open up plenty Ages 9 to 12 of study topics without ever losing a step. Jordan’s fledgling romance MIDDLE GRADE and the strain it puts on the brothers’ relationship will draw sympathy from anyone who has ever felt deserted by a friend. The title refers to a move made on the court, but The Crossover is destined to reach—and touch—readers who never gave basketball or poetry a second thought until now. It’s tough, muscular writing about a tender, unguarded heart.
underground, where the water can’t getcha. You betcha.”) A big group of friendly folk ends up in a subway shelter, sharing a delivery boy’s pizza, listening to musicians play and generally meeting and greeting. A tall lady with a poodle gives her umbrella to a boy; two friends huddle together to stay dry; and a burly construction worker holds a tiny umbrella. Up above the platform, a girl, dressed to the nines, is “late for dancing” and runs through the rain. Illustrator G. Brian Karas places readers right in the center of the action. Combined with Bluemle’s immediate, first-person sentences, it’s as if we’re in danger of getting soaked ourselves. The collaged photos of city scenes—along with Karas’ gouache and pencil additions—make for intriguing textures and add concreteness to this warm-hearted story of community. In the end, everyone heads out for a “surprise in the sky.” It’s a rainbow, and folks pause in the hustle and bustle of their day to look up and savor it. The sky-blue endpapers are further hints that the storm has passed, though this is one storm readers will be pleased to participate in. —J U L I E D A N I E L S O N
MAGGI AND MILO By Juli Brenning
Illustrated by Priscilla Burris Dial $16.99, 32 pages ISBN 9780803737952 eBook available Ages 3 to 5
PICTURE BOOK
—J I L L R A T Z A N
TAP TAP BOOM BOOM By Elizabeth Bluemle
Illustrated by G. Brian Karas Candlewick $16.99, 32 pages ISBN 9780763656966 Ages 3 to 7
PICTURE BOOK
“Tap TAP, dark clouds. Tap TAP, damp air.” Better run for cover. There’s a storm coming, and author Elizabeth Bluemle brings it to us with style. Using short, rhyming sentences, we readers are right there in the burgeoning storm with a cast of characters about to get drenched. It’s an otherwise beautiful spring day when the raindrops and thunder-booms arrive. People are out and about or relaxing on park benches. We first follow a young girl in a bright yellow dress, who looks with alarm at the coming rain. She and the other people in her community are driven to shelter. (“You’d better go down
TOOLS RULE! By Aaron Meshon
Atheneum $16.99, 40 pages ISBN 9781442496019 eBook available Ages 4 to 8
PICTURE BOOK
In Aaron Meshon’s Tools Rule!, the tools in a very messy yard need to get organized, but how? By building a tool shed, of course! From the obscure awl to the ubiquitous drill, all the tools pitch in and, in turn, teach the reader about what they do. Find out what sounds a saw makes (vrip! ) and how a level works as they put a frame together. Watch the glue stick on roof tiles and the paintbrush slap on paint. Once the shed is finished, these tuckeredout tools can finally get some rest, as long as the screwdriver doesn’t snore. Reminiscent of many Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld
R E A D M O R E AT B O O K PA G E . C O M
No one can ever have too many picture books about smart girls who love science—or too many stories about big, loyal dogs. Still, a book with these elements needs other features to stand out, and Maggi and Milo delivers. When a package with froghunting supplies arrives from her grandmother, bespectacled Maggi and her large canine companion Milo head out beyond “the edge of the world” to a nearby pond where, after waiting “a million minutes,” their patience is finally rewarded. As they collect more and more specimens, Maggi even remembers to assign gender-fair names to
her newly found frogs. Finally, as evening approaches, the two friends share “a quiet, end-of-the-day kind of song” and look forward to more adventures to come. Maggi’s enthusiasm is reflected in the exuberant lines of Priscilla Burris’ digitally created illustrations, and Milo’s perpetually wagging tail and lolling tongue add to the delightful effect. As the day goes on, bold, bright colors give way to the murkier shades of dusk, while details in the illustrations, like Maggi’s frog slippers and Milo’s interest in a passing dragonfly, add even more visual interest. The occasional color-accented words (as when Maggi shouts, in big yellow and orange capital letters, “I am FROG HUNTER!”) provide helpful emphasis cues to guide read-alouds. Watch for more fun, scientifically literate tales from debut picture book writer Juli Brenning, and don’t be surprised if young naturalists start asking for a frog book and a pair of blue waterproof boots of their own.
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