Rebound by Kwame Alexander (Module 1; Book 3)

Rebound Review by Elaine Alexander

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alexander, Kwame. Rebound. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2018. ISBN 9780544868137

PLOT SUMMARY
This novel-in-verse tells the story of Charlie Bell as he struggles with the sudden passing of his father. Angry and withdrawn, Charlie is ‘benched’ from life, spending his days reading comics and avoiding basketball. Exasperated and unable to connect, his mother decides to send Charlie to spend the summer with his grandparents. Slowly, his grandfather and cousin pull Charlie into the game—basketball and life—giving him an opportunity to rebound, both on and off the court.

ANALYSIS
This novel-in-verse is written by Kwame Alexander, an author and poet with numerous prestigious awards, such as the Newbery Medal, the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award and the Coretta Scott King Award. Rebound is infused with imagery that will draw in sports fans, but will also appeal to those that can empathize with a boy trying express his loss over his father. The poems strike a cord, demonstrating this loss as Charlie describes his life "trapped in...[a]...Black Hole (Alexander 14-15). He's frozen between a time where he knew how his life would play out and this new life, stuck on the sidelines. In fact, it is poems like “Black Hole” that make the strongest emotional impact. It is clear that Charlie had idealized his father and his passing is akin to a cosmic explosion. The blunt lines hit hard and truthful. Charlie is drifting, avoiding participating in life so he “won’t have to pretend ... the center of [his] universe didn’t collapse” (Alexander 26).

The rhythm of the poems mimic the sounds of basketball. The poems are short, active in measure and always draw the reader back to the sport. While the poems in this novel are primarily chronological, carving out the story of Charlie dealing with his loss, avoiding his mother, and acting out because of his grief. Yet, there are poems that slip back, slowly unfolding what happened the day his father died. The progression of the poems show us a boy who likes superheroes, hides in the comics he likes to read and fantasizes about greatness -- all universal themes that any teen could relate to. The occasional cartoon is scattered throughout the collection, moving the narrative on and inserting a bit more of Charlie's personality into the story. There are also conversations with his mother in the beginning of the novel, sparsely written, but effectively inserted to show the breach in their relationship as they both deal with their grief in different ways.

The layout changes as Charlie's story is forced to spend the summer with his grandparents, strict disciplinarians who value hard work. As Charlie's grandfather passes on life wisdom, the more conversations are inserted and the poems begin to change, including livelier words, sports imagery and hope. As Charlie begins to play ball, he learns that even though he may not always win or make every shot, he can keep trying or rely on others –his backboard—to take that shot.


Use & Highlight Poem

The spotlight poem in this book is Rebound. It is an amazing moment that fuses the language and rhythm of the sport with a life analogy that anyone could relate to. In addition, this is the moment where Charlie begins to really understand that he has a backboard -- his family -- that he doesn't need superpowers or fancy moves to deal with what life's challenges because he can rely on those around him to give him the support he needs.

One great classroom activity could be to use the example poem, Rebound to try to create original poems in a measured rhythm. Another idea might be to compare and contrast the poems in one of the other books in the series, Crossover or Booked to compare the poems.

Rebound

We lean
against the hood

of his car
watch

a few planes
land, a

few more
take off.

He puts
his arms

around
me, pulls my

sobbing head
close to him.

You know, Chuck,
he says.
You're not always gonna swish.

...

You gonna miss some.
Heck, you gonna miss a lot.


That's the way the real world works.
But you gotta grab the ball and

keep shooting. You understand?
Yessir.

I'll tell you what, though,
you'll make a lot more


than you miss if
you're not always going for

the flash
and flair.

Try using
the backboard, son.

You got me.
You got your grandmother.
You got Roxie.
You got your mother.

You got all of us,
remember that!


Okay.
Now let's get on home.

'cause your momma
and Alice

probably worried
to death.

I'm sorry, Granddaddy.
Yeah me too, son. Me too.