I always end up enjoying Kwame Alexander’s books. I know I’ve seen his books listed as good reads for reluctant readers, but I wasn’t convinced myself until I began reading his books myself. This is the second book I’ve read of his and I loved it.

The book is written in a serious of prose, a form of poetry that doesn’t have a specific rhyme or meter to it. I thought that would make it difficult for students to read and understand, but on the contrary…it made it interesting and more exciting to read.

Written by a kid named Nick, this book would be a good read for kids at the younger end of the young adult spectrum. Nick is in eight grade. He writes down his story about his eight grade year with conversations with his best friend Coby, his love for soccer, his crush on April, his dreadful English teacher Ms. Hardwick and his “cooler” teacher Mr. Mac, his family drama and about the bullies (twin brothers) who are terrible to him. Through his writings, you can relate to what he’s going through. He likes a girl, but always too afraid to talk to her (and thanks to his mom and teachers, he finally gets to date her). His best friend also loves soccer but is more of a fanatic about it, which can be a little annoying at times. His parents still “love” each other but aren’t happy so they are deciding to divorce. He is set to play in a big tournament in Dallas, when he sprains his ankle AND has his appendix removed all at once, leaving him without soccer. That’s when he finally begins to enjoy reading…April basically gets him to join the reading club and he begins to love reading.

I liked seeing the footnotes throughout the book, they served as dictionary entries for certain words. What’s great about this is-it helps the reader widen their vocabulary, but also, his dad has created a dictionary of words because he’s obsessed with words, verbomania, and he also has included footnotes in his dictionary.

A unique read for boys and girls both! Truly a wonderful book!

Click on the image to visit the author’s Amazon page to find more books written by Kwame Alexander.

Alexander, Kwame (2016). Booked. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.