Booked
Kwame Alexander
Reading Level: Y
I became an instant Kwame Alexander fan after reading The Crossover. Booked just added to my admiration of his craft. Alexander has created a relevant book that all readers will enjoy -- he mixes sports, poetry, teenage problems and a message in a completely relatable way. Nick is an 8th-grade soccer player whose best friend plays on a competing team. In addition to navigating the soccer field, he has to stand up to bullies and see if he has enough nerve to ask a girl out. At home, things are even more complex as his father demands Nick memorize vocabulary words and Nick witnesses his parents' marriage unravel. Nick discovers that the power of words can influence everything he does.
What I love the most about this book is how Alexander uses words to conveys so many different meanings. As a book written in verse, word choice is extremely important. As I tell my students who are reading books in verse, they need to go back and re-read the passages so they can dive deeper and deeper into the multiple meanings. Take for example the title. Booked has so many different meanings and interpretations within the novel. 1. Yes, it is a book. 2. Booked is also a foul in soccer. 3. Nick's father makes him read words out of their own special book. 4. The action of memorizing these words according to Nick is like a "Shawshank" or being booked in prison. 5. Nick's mother has left the family or "booked out." 6. Nick is trying to get up enough nerve to "book a date" with April. 7. Nick's favorite teacher is the librarian - the guardian of books. I love all the double plays with words. I think it is really fun!
The Winnetka connection I made, seen in the photograph above, is on the soccer playing field with the New Trier High School library in the background. The confluence of sports and academics is so prevalent in Winnetka. However, I often wonder about the incredible pressures placed on young people today - to excel at levels in everything they do while managing to navigate the highs and lows of being a teenager.
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