Author Spotlight: Kwame Alexander

Newbery Medalist and acclaimed poet, Kwame Alexander, is passionate about words. He wants kids to fall head over heels in love with language. And this passion is contagious. His award winning book, The Crossover, has resounded with readers of all ages and abilities across the country. It's a phenomenon that has been amazing to witness the past couple of years. Kids who claimed they had never before finished a book flew through The Crossover and wanted more.

Well, now there's finally more.

This week I was privileged to hear Kwame Alexander speak about his newest middle grade novel in verse, Booked. With topics that ranged from sports and poetry to diversity and divorce, Kwame shared not only his love of words, but his love of living as well.

Many people might assume that this all started with The Crossover. And as far as Kwame's career as a renowned children's literature author goes, that's not far from the truth. However, his love affair with words and his work as a poet began long before that. Kwame likened his writing career to a plane on the runway. For years, he explained, it was slowly gaining speed but never quite took off. He self-published his first 14 books and was rejected by publisher after publisher. And then the Newbery happened, "and I've been soaring ever since!" More people are willing to say yes now, he stated - hence, the release earlier this year of his first picture book, Surf's Up. However, it is obvious that winning such a prestigious award did nothing to change the man that Kwame is: down to earth, friendly, and extremely personable. Wearing a casual basketball shirt, jeans, and white rimmed glasses, Kwame approached each and every group in the audience before beginning his presentation, and his contagious laughter could be heard from across the room.

Although Booked is a fictional story, Kwame revealed that it is more autobiographical than anything else he has ever done. "This is the closest I've come to borrowing from my own life," he confessed. He explained that, like his character Nick, he was embarrassed by the fact that he was smart with words when he was growing up. As an author, Kwame's goal now is to "show kids in general - and boys in particular - that words can be cool." This statement spurred him to share awesome words with us like "codswallop" and "sweven", which promptly had the audience clapping and shouting their approval.

Kwame certainly knows how to make words sound cool. Whenever he read passages from Booked aloud, the crowd immediately reacted to his rhythmic reading and compelling voice. Looking around, I noticed people nodding emphatically, swaying in time, and expressing their appreciation as he shared different excerpts from his book. Although its format made it easy to share selected parts, a free verse novel can be very challenging to write; after all, Kwame explained, each poem must stand on its own while also building on the next one and making up a part of the story as a whole. And yet, he pulls this off brilliantly.

As made obvious by the gorgeously designed front covers, sports play a central role in both The Crossover and Booked. Interestingly enough, with the exception of tennis, Kwame claims he never had much success with sports growing up and he related some comical stories about his failed attempts at basketball and football. However, on a trip to Africa, Kwame was struck by the realization that sports have the powerful ability to unite people. "Music brings us together - whether we speak the same language or not," he said. "Sports do that for children." Indeed, there is no doubt that this element has attracted readers - boy readers especially - to pick up these books. Kwame says that so much of what sports requires of athletes is also a great metaphor for life. All of these messages simply shine through the stories of Josh and Nick.

With unification in mind, Kwame seeks to write for all readers; he wants them to be able to identify with his stories regardless of their background. He shared a story about an interviewer who told him that before they discussed anything else, she wanted to know the skin color of his characters. Kwame's answer: "Why do you want to know? Does it matter?" He then explained that adults have an unfortunate tendency to segregate books and limit kids. "We stifle them with questions like that," he said. "Children are open. Children get it."

Sports and strong, relatable characters are certainly characteristic of Kwame's two free verse novels. However, at the heart of his books lie real issues that all teenagers understand, and this may very well be the first and foremost reason that these novels are resonating so deeply with them. Both books explore self-discovery, school life, interests, familial relationships, and learning how to balance it all. Even death and divorce are tackled in each of the books, respectively. Kwame said that he writes for kids "who have dealt with or will deal with" these situations, and he shows how poetry in particular is a powerful tool to delve into and better understand them.

If Kwame Alexander's writing career is indeed an airplane, then the poet-turned-Newbery-Medalist has been on one wild ride these past few years. His books have changed the lives of so many young readers and he continues to have an impact on audiences all over the country through events like the one I was able to attend this week. His love of language, his passion for poetry, and his enthusiasm for living will continue to inspire the next generation of readers to become excited about education and proud of their individuality. The best part? Kwame says that there is a lot more to come!

#2016 #newbery #middlegrade #authorspotlight