The Crossover

Title: The Crossover

Author: Kwame Alexander

Pages: 240

Genre: Poetry, Young Adult, Newbery Award

Grade: A

Synopsis: 12-year-old Josh Bell and his twin brother Jordan have mad skills in basketball that they got from their father who had played professionally when he was younger.  The story is mostly told in a poetic verse and a series of poems describing Josh and Jordan's playing on the court, about their crushes and about some of the struggles that they are facing at home.

My Review: We listened to this book on a road trip this last summer and it was a hit in the car. The book is in a similar style to the musical Hamilton, where the story is told almost through a rap-like verse.  Extremely clever and well done.

Paradise Lost

Title: Paradise Lost

Author: John Milton

Pages: 3 discs

Genre: Epic Poem

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Paradise Lost is an epic poem written in the 17th century by the English poet, John Milton.  The poem is about the Biblical story of the Fall of Man, including the temptation of Adam and Even by the fallen angel Satan and their being driven from the Garden of Eden after they had partaken of the forbidden fruit.

My Review:  I was familiar with Paradise Lost, but I didn't know it was a poem, I didn't know it was an epic (in the style of Homer and Virgil) and I was not aware the the poem was about Adam and Eve and the Fall of Man.  Aside from it being difficult to follow the 17th century prose at some points, I thought that the epic was well written and had a good flow to it.  I also felt that Milton did a decent job expounding on the doctrine of the Fall based on what Christians believed in the 1600's.

A strange coincidence was the graffiti that I cam across in an alley in Salt Lake City (between 900 and 1000 S, & West Temple and Main St) of Paradise Lost:

Leaves of Grass

Title: Leaves of Grass

Author: Walt Whitman

Pages: 14 discs

Genre: Poetry

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Leaves of Grass is a collection of poems by Walt Whitman. Whitman is known as one of the great American poets and his poems are often a reflection of his thoughts on American politics, nature or industry.

My Review: The difficulty in reviewing this type of book is that I really enjoyed some of the poems and I didn't really care for many of the others. Whitman's style is unique and stream-of-consciousness, but often seems to ramble on and on. I mainly listened to this book in the car while I commuted to and from work, but I also got a full copy of the text from the library to follow along when I could. I found that my opinion of the poem was often formed depending on who read the poem and how they read the poem. Poetry is all about the reading and recitation. I loved listening to the poems and following along with them in the book.

You can read the full text of Leaves of Grass online at Google Books. A few of my favorite poems (Among many, many):

I Hear America Singing

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it
should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank
or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work,
or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his
boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat
deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the
hatter singing as he stands,
The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his
way in the morning, or at noon intermission
or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the
young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or
washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to
none else,
The day what belongs to the day — at night the
party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious
songs.

O Captain! My Captain

O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up - for you the flag is flung - for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths - for you the shores
a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

Miracles

1. What shall I give? and which are my miracles?

2. Realism is mine--my miracles--Take freely,
Take without end--I offer them to you wherever your feet can carry you or your eyes reach.

3. Why! who makes much of a miracle?
As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach, just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love--or sleep in the bed at night with any
one I love,
Or sit at the table at dinner with my mother,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive, of a summer forenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds--or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sundown--or of stars shining so quiet and bright,
Or the exquisite, delicate, thin curve of the new moon in spring;
Or whether I go among those I like best, and that like me best--mechanics, boatmen, farmers,
Or among the savans--or to the _soiree_--or to the opera.
Or stand a long while looking at the movements of machinery,
Or behold children at their sports,
Or the admirable sight of the perfect old man, or the perfect old woman,
Or the sick in hospitals, or the dead carried to burial,
Or my own eyes and figure in the glass;
These, with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring--yet each distinct and in its place.

4. To me, every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,
Every cubic foot of the interior swarms with the same;
Every spear of grass--the frames, limbs, organs, of men and women, and all that concerns them,
All these to me are unspeakably perfect miracles.
To me the sea is a continual miracle;
The fishes that swim--the rocks--the motion of the waves--the ships, with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?