The Crossover

I picked this one up because all the youths I interact with are reading this one. I wanted to figure out what it was about so we could talk about it and so I can help recommend other books. 

Man, what a book. I did listen to this one and the narrator did a fantastic job. 

Josh is written so, so well and so believable. He's in between being a kid and being a teen who is dealing with some pretty heavy stuff. His twin is dating the girl he likes, his father is having health issues, and he has to cut his dreads off which were a huge part of his positive identity. This book touches on family matters, anger, loneliness, and change.

This book is heavy at times and, yeah, I might have cried a bit for Josh, but I will say I'm not a huge fan of how the heavy stuff is handled. At times it felt like Josh was using basketball as a way to ignore the other things going on in his life. I had hoped we'd see him tackle those issues in a healthy way. I see the appeal though. I see how it is realistic and shows that life, no matter what, is going to keep moving on. 

So, I'd give it 4 stars, but adding an extra .5 because of how much my youths like it (I swear I haven't seen this book back on my shelf in at least 2 months now).