When the Wind Changes

The Crossover

Kwame Alexander

Have you ever had a year when everything went wrong? A year in which your world was reduced to rubble and everything you thought you knew was undone? Josh Bell, a 12-year-old basketball king is about to have one. Josh recounts his year on the basketball team with his twin brother, Jordan, during which their fabulous parents coach them in both education and sports. Their dad was once a pro ball player, and their mum is the vice-principal of their school. Things are going well, until the wind changes. This is a story of resilience in the face of adversity, of leaning into the wind and standing strong while the storm rages around you.

Written partly in rhyme, partly in prose, the author sprinkles definitions of new words throughout the tale, echoing the vocabulary tests the boys take at school. The mix of styles and definitions might have made it choppy, but in fact, it blends beautifully. Every word is carefully placed, counted, measured; yet it never feels stilted or artificial.

This book is the winner of the 2015 Newbery Medal and is also a Coretta Scott King Award Honor book. It is a wonderful story for readers of any age, but would appeal primarily to teens. This would be a great choice for a student who has to do a book report and really can’t find anything they like (no more vampires, please!). It flows like a river, sings like a song and makes you feel a plethora of emotions right alongside the boys during this very difficult year.

Note:

Plethora - (noun) A large or excessive amount of something, as in “a plethora of emotions”, as in “a plethora of well chosen words”.