Rebound

By Kwame Alexander

From the New York Times bestselling author Kwame Alexander comes Rebound, the dynamic prequel to his Newbery Award–winning novel in verse, The Crossover.

Before Josh and Jordan Bell were streaking up and down the court, their father was learning his own moves. Chuck Bell takes center stage as readers get a glimpse of his childhood and how he became the jazz music worshiping, basketball star his sons look up to.

A novel in verse with all the impact and rhythm readers have come to expect from Kwame Alexander, Rebound goes back in time to visit the childhood of Chuck "Da Man" Bell during one pivotal summer when young Charlie is sent to stay with his grandparents where he discovers basketball and learns more about his family's past.

This prequel to the Newbery Medal- and Coretta Scott King Award-winning The Crossover scores.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Apr 2, 2018
• ISBN: 9781328476630

Kwame Alexander

Kwame Alexander is a poet, an educator, and the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty-five books, including his Newbery Medal–winning middle grade novel The Crossover. Some of his other works include Booked, which was longlisted for the National Book Award; The Playbook: 52 Rules to Aim, Shoot, and Score in This Game Called Life; Swing; the picture books How to Read a Book and How to Write a Poem (coauthored with Deanna Nikaido), both illustrated by Melissa Sweet; and The Undefeated, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, which was longlisted for the National Book Award and won the Caldecott Medal, a Newbery Honor, and the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award. He is a regular contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition, currently serving as their poet ambassador. He lives in Virginia with his family. Visit his website at kwamealexander.com. 

Book preview

title page

Contents

---

Title Page

Contents

Dedication

Copyright

Looking Back

1988

May 28, 1988

I used to play H.O.R.S.E.

Sometimes, I wish

So Fly!

Skinny picks

Home

Black Hole

Conversation

In the Morning

Ten Reasons Why I Hate Sirens

Today

There’s an old house

Sanctuary

Flipper McGhees

Me and Skinny

Conversation with Skinny

Thought

Who’s Bad?

Hooky

Memory

I skipped school today

After dinner

Oops!

Conversation (that ends badly)

Overheard

Things I Think About Before I Fall Asleep

Lunch

In preschool

Things I Think About in Gym Class

Unlucky

Lucky

Chills

Yo, Charlie, you all right?

Queasy

After School

After not eating

Conversation (at my front door)

Ivan

On our way to Quik-Mart

But, before I can say

The Loot

Interruption

I drift off

Alarm

Interrogation

Trouble

The Truth

Dead Man Walking

The sky looks

She makes me knock

A very big dog

Thought

Great Dane

Consequence (Part One)

Things I Think About on the Walk Home

Bomb

You want to go to jail, Charlie

Blame

The Last Straw

School

When I get home

Why I Don’t Like Dogs

Walking Woodrow

Unleashed

The Last Day of School

I tell them

The dog

She named her Abraham Lincoln?

Friday

Saturday

Consequence (Part Two)

I almost drop my

Three-Way Conversation

Reprieve

Renaming

Me and CJ

On Friday

Farewell

The Rink

The Big Move

I’m sorry, guys

Skating with CJ

Doomsday

Conversation with Skinny

Steaming

68 Minutes Later

116 Minutes

132 Minutes

158 Minutes

Questions

Answers

Thought

The Arrival

Lord Have Mercy

Dread

Fried Chicken

Small Talk at Dinner

After

Hustle and Grind

Thought

He watches me

Conversation with Mom

I wake up

Why are all these lights on

Break of Dawn

The Walk

Kerplunk

Conversation with Granddaddy

Breakfast

My cousin Roxie

Conversation (One-sided)

She Got Game

HEY, CHARLIE, COME PLAY A GAME WITH US

Four Hours Later

Jazz

It’s a metaphor, he says

Mom calls

Saturday Morning

Your grandmother

Them’s my apples

Grabbing

Monday Morning

Grandma and Granddad talk

Work

Escape to the Arcade

Three-on-Three

On the Spot

The Score

10–9

Get in the Game

Huddle

Awry

After Roxie checks

Amen

Hallelujah

On the way home

Practice

Phone Message

Phone Message From CJ

Mockery

When we walk into

Coach Roxie

Scorched

Good Night

Friday

Saturday

My Dad’s Comic Books

At 2:45 a.m.

Three hours later

Conversation with Grandma

Why

Sometimes, I wish

But for now

Later

Practice

Surprise

Roxie got all As

Say Cheese

Nosebleed

If watching

Halftime

When the announcer reads

Sweet Georgia Brown

What are the chances?

C.U.R.L.Y.

After all the halftime excitement

On the train ride home

YO, CHARLIE BELL!

Skinny in DC

Surprise

Dear Charlie

Dear Charlie (cont’d)

I read

Practice

More Practice

Pickup Game

I don’t score

Guess Who

Envy

When I get home

Conversation at Roxie’s Front Door

Solo

The two old men

She pulls out

Percival Bell, Age 22

Jordan Bell, Age 23

Joshua Bell, Age 37

Family History

Phone Message

When Granddaddy hollers

Phone Call with CJ

Memory

The Big Game

Wink brings the ball

Playing by Twos

But wait

Down by One

Showcase

The Last Shot

Game Over

Resolve

Surprise

July 2

New Sneakers

The Fourth

Basketball Rule

Let’s Ball

The Plan

I get off the train

Waiting in Line

Fight

Inside

C’MON, CHARLIE, RUN!

Déjà Vu

SIRENS

The Crime

Arrested

Locked Up

Things I Think About While I’m in Jail

The Black Panther

Consequence (Part Three)

Freedom

There’s a Hole In my Soul

Rebound

Homecoming

After I hug Grandma

Conversation with Mom

6:00 a.m.

Peaches and Hope

Bet

One-on-One

Goodbyes

Conversation with Granddadddy

2018 (Thirty Years Later)

June 14, 2018

Conversation

Air Ball

Graduation Gift

She hands me

Dear boys

Later that summer

Conversation with Your Mother

Educator’s Guide

Sample Chapters from THE CROSSOVER

Buy the Book

Sample Chapters from BOOKED

Buy the Book

Read More from Kwame Alexander

About the Author

Connect with HMH on Social Media

Footnotes

For Mommy

Copyright © 2018 by Kwame Alexander

Illustrations copyright © 2018 by Dawud Anyabwile

Educator resources additional content © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to [e-mail] or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

hmhbooks.com

Cover photo © by John Huet

Cover design by Lisa Vega and Sammy Yuen

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

Names: Alexander, Kwame, author. | Anyabwile, Dawud, 1965– illustrator.

Title: Rebound / by Kwame Alexander ; illustrations by Dawud Anyabwile.

Description: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, [2018] | Prequel to: The crossover. | Summary: In the summer of 1988, twelve-year-old Chuck Bell is sent to stay with his grandparents, where he discovers jazz and basketball and learns more about his family’s past.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018006630 (print) | LCCN 2017061480 (ebook)

Subjects: | CYAC: Novels in verse. | Basketball—Fiction. | Families—Fiction. | African Americans—Fiction. | Washington (D.C.)—History—20th century—Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Family / Multigenerational.| JUVENILE FICTION / Sports & Recreation / General. | JUVENILE FICTION / People & Places / United States / African American. | JUVENILE FICTION / Historical / United States / 20th Century. | JUVENILE FICTION / Boys & Men.

Classification: LCC PZ7.5.A44 (print) | LCC PZ7.5.A44 Re 2018 (ebook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018006630

ISBN: 978-0-544-86813-7 hardcover

ISBN: 978-0-358-49483-6 paperback

eISBN 978-1-328-47663-0

v3.0421

Looking Back

It was the summer

when Now and Laters

cost a nickel

and The Fantastic Four,

a buck.

When I met

Harriet Tubman

and the Harlem Globetrotters.

It was the hottest summer

after the coldest winter ever,

when a storm shattered

my home

into a million little pieces

and soaring above

the sorrow and grief

seemed impossible.

It was the summer of 1988,

when basketball gave me wings

and I had to learn

how to rebound

on the court.

And off.

1988

May 28, 1988

The game is on

at the park.

The stars are out.

It’s close to dark.

Hoop Kings

SOARing

in the SKY

so high

so fly

like they Got Wings

(it’s like the blacktop

is a boxSPRING)

Hey, Charlie, you see what he did with that THING!

my best friend, Skinny, yells

T

   W

       I

          R

              L

                  I

                     N

                         G and WHIRLING the ball

so sweet

it’s like a bee s t i n g

(Ouch!)

He just Swished

in your Face.

Stung you like

a can of mace

These boys so fly

they’re outta SPACE!

C’mon, Charlie, I got next. Let’s hoop, Skinny says,

jumping up from the sidewalk.

Nah, I gotta get home for dinner, I lie.

I used to play H.O.R.S.E.

against my father, and sometimes I

won, but when I tried playing on

a team, I’d get too nervous

to shoot, too scared of the

ball (like the time I

missed a pass and

got hit up-

side the

head).

Sometimes, I wish

I was a superhero,

superfly

like Quicksilver

speed-racing

down the court

sleek as a sports car

faster than NASCAR,

leaving all my sadness

in the dust—far,

far away

from now.

Wish I could soar

score

throw down

a monster dunk

like I was Thor.

Wish I could elevate

my name

with game so good

it’s hall of fame!

Wish I could forget

all the pain.

Yeah, that’s what I wish . . .

First panel: Charlie ties his shoes. Word art says 'So Fly!' He says 'If I had the right shoes, Charlie Bell would never lose. Air Jordan Threes would be my muse. And these zips would be old news. Wearing a cape, Charlie dribbles the ball around another player. Second panel: Charlie makes a slam dunk. He narrates 'I’d skate the sky, and you couldn’t keep up so don’t even try. Why? ’Cause my feet got wings like a butterfly.First panel: Charlie steals the ball away from another crying player. He narrates 'I’d steal the ball and make you cry. Second panel: A cop takes notes from the player on the ground while Charlie dribbles away. He narrates 'My game’s so criminal, I’d need an alibi. Third panel: Charlie jumps to shoot. He narrates 'It’s a bird. It’s a plane.' Fourth panel: A basketball hits Charlie on the head. He narrates 'No, it’s Charlie Bell. Man, He’s so fly?'

Skinny picks

some other boy

to be on his team,

which is cool with me,

’cause I’d much rather be

at home

lying across

my bed

reading comics.

See you tomorrow, Skinny,

I yell,

but he’s already

on the court

running a game

and his mouth.

Home

The Fantastic Four

chase

Galactus

through the universe

on a time sled

when they get sucked into

a black hole

that nearly burns them

to holy hand grenades.

But Thor’s hammer

KABOOMS them

outta impending doom,

right smack in the middle

of an intergalactic civil war

between armed battleships

that makes Star Wars

look like a playground fight.

Before they get shot up,

Reed

a.k.a. Stretch

a.k.a. Mister Fantastic

uses THE TIME DILATION EFFECT

to freeze EVERYTHING

and move them back

in time.

I wish

I could do

the same thing

and get outta

this black hole

I’m trapped in . . .

Black Hole

My dad was a star

in our neighborhood.

Everybody knew him.

He taught

adults to read

in the mornings,

and taught

night school

to kids

with problems

who got kicked

out of regular school.

Each summer

just me and him

would pack up

his pickup truck

and road trip

to as many state capitals

as we could

in the two weeks

he had for vacation.

My least favorite

was Dover, Delaware,

’cause the major tourist attraction

was a mortuary

that processed

the remains

of over 50,000 soldiers.

This year,

I turned twelve

and he promised

to take me

to the Appalachians,

Charleston,

Knoxville,

Louisville,

to hike,

and he promised

to get me

some fresh sneakers

and let me

taste beer,

as long as

You don’t tell

your mother, Charlie.

But none of that ever happened

because at 9:01 p.m.

on the ninth of March

my star exploded

and everything

froze.

Conversation

Why aren’t you doing your homework?

Mom, can’t you knock first.

It’s

Reviews for Rebound

[stephmward · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I had no idea what to expect when I opened the cover of Rebound. It took about 10 pages for me to get used to the format -- this book is written in verse, in technical terms "a metrical line in a poetic composition", in other words, it's poetry. In addition, it weaves in a sort of comic strip/graphic novel element as the main character, Charlie Bell, imagines himself as a star basketball player. And it is an absolute pleasure to read.

This is the story of how Charlie Bell gets into trouble and goes to live with his grandparents after the death of his father. Reeling from the loss of his beloved dad, Charlie learns how to be a good friend, a good son and a good person. He doesn't always see eye-to-eye with his stern grandfather or his talented cousin, but he cherishes his time with his family and his best (girl) friend CJ. He learns to see that sometimes friends can be wrong, can do the wrong thing and that surrounding yourself with good people and good influences isn't just a good idea, it's your responsibility.

Rebound is a coming-of-age novel that is so well written, so keenly observed, so complex and yet simple at the same time, it is an absolutely absorbing and beautiful book to read.

[ecataldi-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A wonderful prequel to the award winning young adult novel, The Crossover. Written entirely in verse, Rebound follows Chuck Bell, the summer after his father's unexpected death when he is sent to stay with his grandparents. Angry and disinterested in everything except comics he is resigned to hate the whole summer but he soon discovers that he loves hanging with his father's family and to his surprise he's actually really good at basketball, a sport he always kind of avoided. The summer is filled with the Harlem Globetrotters, The Boys and Girls Club, comics, lawn mowing, and family. Chuck Bell has no idea how impactful this summer will be on the rest of his life. A slam dunk.

[lindamamak · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

prequel to The Crossover, the life of Chuck Bell father to the twins in the Crossover.