Sunday, January 22, 2017

Booked - Kwame Alexander

Kwame Alexander
has done it again.
He brings a heartfelt story
written in prose.

Twelve-year old Nick
is a book-hating,
soccer loving boy.
He has an immense
vocabulary;
Thanks to his dad's requirement
that he read the dictionary,
from A-Z. 

While soccer may be his life,
Nick does attend
Etiquette classes. 
Here the focus is on
good manners,
proper etiquette
and dancing. 
And it allows Nick to get closer
to his crush.

But things are not always rosey.
He has a difficult teacher.
He has an annoying classmate.
And his bike gets stolen
by bullies!
And then...
Mom moves to Kentucky
to take a job as a horse trainer.
And Nick has feelings
of abandonment
he must face.

Soon Nick discovers
that language can help him
charm a teacher,
impress a girl,
deal with menacing bullies
and help him express his emotions
when his parents' marriage
falls apart. 

"The poems 
were cool.

The best ones were
like bombs,
and when all the right words

came together
it was like an explosion."










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