Rebound by Kwame Alexander

1. Rebound by Kwame Alexander

2. Summary of Rebound This prequel to Alexander's Newbery Medal winner, The Crossover (2014), provides the backstory of twins Josh and Jordan Bell's father, Chuck "Da Man" Bell, a basketball star who died young. Set in 1988, the novel-in-verse follows Chuck, who is acting out as he mourns the premature death of his own father. His mother's solution is to send him to spend the summer at his paternal grandparents' home, where he endures his grandfather's tough love and his cousin Roxie's superior skills as a baller. Alexander's non-rhyming poetry has propulsive, hard-hitting rhythm. A few poems are cast in graphic novel-style panels, which serve as nice breaks among the poems and illustrate how Chuck, a comic book lover, imagines himself. Adults may get more of a kick out of the references to 1980s pop culture (Members Only jackets, Now and Later candy) than the target audience, but the multilayered coming-of-age story should resonate with young readers. While this companion novel works as a standalone, those who have read the first book will have a richer experience. (Publisher’s Weekly)

4. Saturday We sit inches from each other at the breakfast table but it feels like we’re in different countries, our treaty disappearing with each forkful of French toast and each spoonful of grits, our distance growing further and further with each wordless moment. The clink of the knife slicing bread is the only sound between us. I want to say something but the words get in the way. I take my last bite, mumble, “Thank you,” get up to go shower, then walk our twenty-eighth president. (Page 117-118 *The dog is named Woodrow Wilson)

5. Thought It doesn’t even feel real. Sometimes I find myself looking out my window watching for him to pull up after work. Sometimes I wear his too-big-for-me watch to school. I even packed some of my clothes in his suitcase ‘cause it makes me feel like a part of him is still here. The worst are the moments I forget that he’s gone and then remember. (Page 153-154)

6. Playing by Twos We’re up 18-16 with the ball and under two minutes left. The guy checking me is talking trash like I’m a garbage collector. Why you dribbling so much? Why your lips dribbling so much? Whatchu gonna do with that rock, chump? he says, winking at me. So I show him what I’m gonna do with that rock when I dribble to my right and he follows, then I cross like I practiced a million times and it works (IT WORKED) and he tries to follow, but he slips slides and almost COLLIDES with the hardwood

7. while I go right past him to the hoop for a lay-up, and just to make sure he knows my name I go to slap the backboard (and miss) but he’s not paying attention (Whew!) ‘cause yeah, he’s still on the ground. WHO’S. DA. CHUMP. NOW? I say. Roxie comes over and high-fives me. 20-16. But wait the ref blows the whistle on me? Unsportsmanlike conduct. They get two free throws and miss one. 20-17. (Page 326-328)

8. Extension 1. Identify the simile in the first stanza of “Saturday.” What do those two things have in common? 2. What is the effect of the author writing only two-line stanzas in “Thought?” 3. What is an example of rhyme in “Playing by Twos?” 4. What does the author do to build anticipation in the final poem? 5. Choose one of the four poems and write about a similar experience you’ve had.