Kwame Alexander
1) Booked
Author
Series
Lexile measure
660L
Language
English
Description
Twelve-year-old Nick loves soccer and hates books, but soon learns the power of words as he wrestles with problems at home, stands up to a bully, and tries to impress the girl of his dreams.
Twelve-year-old Nick learns the power of words as he wrestles with problems at home, stands up to a bully, and tries to impress the girl of his dreams. Helping him along are his best friend and sometimes teammate Coby, and The Mac, a rapping librarian who gives...
3) Rebound
Author
Series
Lexile measure
780L
Language
English
Description
In the summer of 1988, twelve-year-old Chuck Bell is sent to stay with his grandparents, where he discovers jazz and basketball and learns more about his family's past.
4) Swing
Author
Publisher
Blink
Lexile measure
HL 610L
Language
English
Formats
Description
"When America is not so beautiful, or right, or just, it can be hard to know what to do. Best friends Walt and Noah decide to use their voices to grow more good in the world, but first they've got to find cool. Walt is convinced junior year is their year, and he has a plan to help them woo the girls of their dreams and become amazing athletes. Never mind that he and Noah failed to make the high school baseball team yet again, and Noah's love interest...
Author
Publisher
Versify, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pub. Date
[2019]
Physical Desc
1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 28 x 29 cm
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
"The Newbery Award-winning author of The Crossover pens an ode to black American triumph and tribulation, with art from a two-time Caldecott Honoree. Originally performed for ESPN's The Undefeated, this poem is a love letter to black life in the United States. It highlights the unspeakable trauma of slavery, the faith and fire of the civil rights movement, and the grit, passion, and perseverance of some of the world's greatest heroes. The text is...
Author
Publisher
Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Pub. Date
[2019]
Edition
First edition.
Lexile measure
AD 770L
Physical Desc
32 unnumbered pages : color illustrations ; 27 cm
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
Suggests a method of reading that begins with planting oneself beneath a tree and leads to a book party one hopes will never end.
8) Solo
Author
Publisher
Blink
Pub. Date
[2017]
Lexile measure
HL 640L
Physical Desc
458 pages ; 22 cm
Language
English
Description
Seventeen-year-old Blade endeavors to resolve painful issues from his past and navigate the challenges of his former rockstar father's addictions, scathing tabloid rumors, and a protected secret that threatens his own identity.
Author
Publisher
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pub. Date
[2017]
Lexile measure
970L
Physical Desc
169 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
Language
English
Description
"You gotta know the rules to play the game. Ball is life. Take it to the hoop. Soar. What can we imagine for our lives? What if we were the star players, moving and grooving through the game of life? What if we had our own rules of the game to help us get what we want, what we aspire to, what will enrich our lives? Illustrated with photographs by Thai Neave, The Playbook is intended to provide inspiration on the court of life. Each rule containswisdom...
Author
Publisher
Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Pub. Date
[2023]
Edition
First edition.
Physical Desc
1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 27 cm
Language
English
Description
"From this first stanza, readers are invited to pay attention--and to see that paying attention itself is poetry. Kwame Alexander and Deanna Nikaido's playful text and Melissa Sweet's dynamic, inventive artwork are paired together to encourage readers to listen, feel, and discover the words that dance in the world around them--poems just waiting to be written down"--
Author
Publisher
Sleeping Bear Press
Pub. Date
[2011]
Physical Desc
1 online resource (32 pages) : color illustrations
Language
English
Description
When a jazz-loving rooster sets his sights on winning a barnyard talent show, he realizes he can't do it as a solo act. He's up against the talents of Mules Davis's cool duo and Ella Finchgerald's singing group. Acoustic Rooster calls on friends like pianist Duck Ellington, singer Bee Holiday, and percussionist piggy Pepe Ernesto Cruz. Together, the foursome makes beautiful music as they rock the barnyard. And while they may not win first prize, Acoustic...
Author
Publisher
Little, Brown & Company, Hachette Book Group
Pub. Date
2023.
Edition
First edition.
Physical Desc
228 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Language
English
Description
Kwame Alexander shares snapshots of a man learning how to love. He takes us through stories of his parents: from being awkward newlyweds in the sticky Chicago summer of 1967, to the sometimes-confusing ways they showed their love to each other, and for him. Alexander attempts to deal with the unraveling of his marriage and the grief of his mother's recent passing while sharing the solace he found in learning how to perfect her famous fried chicken...
Author
Series
Becoming Ali volume 1
Publisher
Jimmy Patterson Books, Little, Brown and Company
Lexile measure
1010L
Language
English
Description
A biographical novel tells the story of Cassius Clay, the determined boy who would one day become Muhammad Ali, one of the greatest boxers of all time.
Before he was a household name, Cassius Clay was a kid with struggles like any other. Kwame Alexander and James Patterson join forces to vividly depict his life up to age seventeen in both prose and verse, including his childhood friends, struggles in school, the racism he faced, and his discovery...
Author
Publisher
Candlewick Press
Pub. Date
2017.
Edition
First edition.
Physical Desc
40 pages : color illustrations ; 30 cm
Language
English
Description
Presents a collection of twenty poems written in tribute to well-known poets from around the world. Includes short biographies about the celebrated poets, including Maya Angelou, Bashō, Gwendolyn Brooks, Sandra Cisneros, Billy Collins, e.e. Cummings, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Chief Dan George, Nikki Giovanni, Terrance Hayes, Langston Hughes, Walter Dean Myers, Pablo Neruda, Naomi Shihab Nye, Mary Oliver, Okot p'Bitek, Rumi, William Carlos Williams...
Author
Publisher
Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
Pub. Date
[2013]
Edition
First edition.
Lexile measure
HL 660L
Physical Desc
330 pages ; 22 cm
Language
English
Description
"When a popular football 'playa' and ladies man and the smartest girl in school lead a school protest, sparks fly as their social media-aided revolution grows"--
Author
Publisher
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Pub. Date
2020.
Physical Desc
1 volume (unpaged) : illustrations ; 18 cm
Language
English
Description
"From NPR correspondent and author, Kwame Alexander, comes a powerful and provocative collection of poems that cut to the heart of the entrenched racism and oppression in America and eloquently explores ongoing events. A book in the tradition of James Baldwin's "A Report from Occupied Territory," Light for the World to See is a rap session on race. A lyrical response to the struggles of Black lives in our world . . . to America's crisis of conscience...
19) Surf's up
Author
Publisher
North-South Books
Pub. Date
[2015]
Lexile measure
AD 310L
Physical Desc
1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 23 x 29 cm
Language
English
Description
"Bro and Dude have very different ideas about how to spend a day at the beach. But as Bro continues to gasp and cheer while he reads his book (Moby Dick), Dude can't help getting pulled in--literally. Before you can shout 'Surf's up!' both frogs are sharing the same adventure--that is, until they get to the beach." -- From dust jacket.
Author
Publisher
National Geographic
Pub. Date
[2017]
Physical Desc
1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 27 cm
Language
English
Description
"A howling wolf, a stalking tiger, a playful panda, a dancing bird--pairing the stunning photography of National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore with the delicate poetry of Newbery award-winning author Kwame Alexander, this lush picture book celebrates the beauty, diversity, and fragility of the animal world. Featuring more than 40 unique animal portraits, the pages invite kids to explore each creature's markings, textures, and attributes in...