Analysis of Crossover by Kwame Alexander. Literary Essay Example.

The crossover is a very interesting book written by Kwame Alexander in 2014. The book talks about a young adult, who has a love for a basketball game. The author of this story expresses his opinion in verses rather than in prose to make his points more clear. The whole story talks about two brothers whose love for basketball makes them have unending conflicts immediately they entered junior high school. The main characters of this book include Josh Bell who is the main character and the narrator of the story. JB is the twin brother while their father is Chuck who was a former basketball player in Euroleague. He is a famous player who has played his final game on the court. These two twins were wishing to be a great basketball player as their father. Josh is more devoted to the game than his brother JB that the nature of reward he could get from it. Josh is not worried about other things in life and he only changed when his brother JB gets a girlfriend and starts to be with her for the better part of his life away from the family. From then Josh develops a feeling of isolation and jealous about the action of his brother JB. The difference between them made JB to cut his dreadlock which forced Josh to shave. The conflict between these two brothers widens to the point where Josh goes to court to sue his twin brother resulting in a suspension from playing basketball when Josh throws a solid pass to him which breaks his nose.

From this story, it is easy to depict the theme of conflict and family. These themes are well explained in the story. From the story, one can easily know that Josh and JB are twin brothers and they had a father and a mother. The two brothers want to be like their father who was a great basketball player in Euroleague. The author of this story properly explains the relationship between these brothers and their passion. The theme of conflict and revenge is also revealed properly by the author when the two brothers Josh and JB fight each other caused by jealousy and isolation. The author used interesting illustrations and explanation on how Josh hit the nose of his brother when he cut his dreadlocks accidentally. The author also portrays the theme of revenge clearly by emphasizing on the way JB sued his brother in the court so that he can be punished.

Furthermore, the author of this book also illustrated the traits of different characters by showing their reactions when confronted with issues. From the story, it is easy to depict that Josh is jealous and angry when his brother JB got married and decides to be close to his girlfriend and isolated himself from the family. He gets angry and cuts his dreadlock to discipline him. He is also not happy with the brother for having got a girlfriend before him. In the contrary, JB is vengeful because when his brother cut his dreadlock he hit the nose of his brother. The author of this book is very careful and uses simple and short sentences which can easily be understood by different readers. This is because from the book readers can easily identify themes, character traits of different characters and other styles which the author has used to make the book interesting.

The author of this book uses the first person to tell his story. The whole story is told from the Josh point of view because it is the story which is narrated directly from Josh. It is also the story which Josh was using to tell his story when he became of age. From my point of view, all the story and experiences that the book is focused on are about the personal life of Josh. They are not mainly about other characters such as the brother mother and father. From this, it is easy for the reader to understand the feeling and attitude of Josh towards other members of his family which other characters in the book have never known. In the same novel, there is the availability of limited omniscient which is seen as a sense of suspense and realism. This is because it is not possible for a boy with only 12 years to know everything going on in the whole World. It is not possible for Josh to understand how the mind of JB is working and from that point, it is easy to tell that the reader and Josh all are learning at the same time.

After reading the whole book, it easily denotes that the book is about challenges and relationships which the characters of this book and the way the cope up with the family challenges. From my point of view, Josh and JB are good players of their school basketball team. They are also good students in their school because their mother loves education. These brothers love basketball the passion they derived from their father.