 | Swing Author: Alexander, Kwame | |
| Price: $12.29 | ||
Summary:
Noah and his best friend Walt want to become cool, make the baseball team, and find love. With the help of old love letters, Noah feels he can finally woo Sam, the girl he's loved for years. But just as his love life and Walt's baseball career begin, outside factors alter everything.
| Added Entry - Personal Name: | Hess, Mary Rand |
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: UG Reading Level: 4.10 Points: 5.0 Quiz: 198316 | Reading Counts Information: Interest Level: 9-12 Reading Level: 4.40 Points: 11.0 Quiz: 76000 | |
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 10/01/2018 Alexander (Rebound?, 2018) and Hess (Animal Ark?, 2017) struck gold with their collaboration on Solo ? (2017), and this spiritual successor follows the same free-verse format. While quieter overall than Solo, the quality of the poems and distinct characterization is still there. High-school junior Noah explains, “My best friend / Walt Disney Jones / is obsessed with jazz, / baseball, / dead famous people, / and finding cool, / if it’s the last thing we ever do.” Walt (aka Swing) is Noah’s biggest cheerleader when it comes to winning over his lifelong crush, Sam. Unfortunately, she has Noah firmly in the friend zone. On a serendipitous trip to the thrift store, Noah finds inspirational love letters written by an enigmatic author named Corinthian. With some meddling from Walt, Noah crafts artistic found poems from the love letters and leaves them for Sam to find. Ultimately a nuanced examination of changing friendship dynamics and first loves, this novel packs a punch into its shocking and extremely powerful ending torn straight from today’s headlines. High-Demand Backstory: Alexander and Hess' first collaboration hit best-seller lists, and this second topical outing is sure to pull a crowd as well. - Copyright 2018 Booklist.
School Library Journal - 11/01/2018 Gr 8 Up–Seventeen-year-old Noah Wallace is not having any luck. He got cut from the baseball team, again. His secret crush on Samantha Worthington is unrequited. She is dating an oafish baseball rival. Noah's best friend, charismatic Walt Disney "Swing" Jones, has plans for them to get back onto the team and become the kings of cool. Noah gets his inspiration to woo Sam from love letters written during the 1960s, which he finds at a thrift store. The love letters and Swing's vast love for jazz music motivate Noah to repurpose the letters and make them his own. Swing has issues with his future stepfather, meets and falls for slightly older thrift store employee Divya, and awaits the return of his older brother, Moses, from military action in Afghanistan. Noah and Swing's party, an American flag mystery, and Moses's return significantly alter their lives forever. Alexander and Hess strike gold with this fun, witty, and intellectual YA novel. It is a free verse poetic narrative fused with collage art and manga influences. Noah's dialogue differs from the italicized dialogue of the other characters. Readers will fall in love with scene-stealer Swing. Jazz music fans will enjoy this focus and its intersections with art, history, baseball, and literature. VERDICT This important and recommended contemporary YA will inspire young people to find their own voices and take a swing at life. A must-have.—Donald Peebles, Brooklyn Public Library - Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
