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'I'm Really Just Being Me': Kwame Alexander on His Latest Book, 'Rebound'

kwamealexander.com

Kwame Alexander never doubted that there was an audience for his children’s books - sports books written in verse - even though publishers said girls won’t read books about sports and boys wouldn’t read poems.  But eventually, the first of those books, The Crossover, hit the shelves featuring both basketball and poetry.  And it was a smash hit, winning the 2015 Newbery Medal. A soccer book followed, then a book of guiding principles for young lives.

READ: Author Kwame Alexander Explores Complex Issues Through Sports Poetry

Credit courtesy Kwame Alexander
Lake Effect's Mitch Teich speaks with author Kwame Alexander (center) and musician Randy Preston (left) aboard their tour bus, parked on a Milwaukee street.

Alexander returned to poetry and basketball for his latest book called Rebound - a prequel of sorts to The Crossover, which depicts a challenging 1980's summer in the life of young Chuck Bell, the dad to the protagonists in his first book. 

Alexander notes that while he felt a sense of pressure writing a book connected to one of his most successful stories, he was also confident in what he was adding to it. Whether it hits the mark is up to the readers to decide, Alexander says.

"I'm really just being me with Rebound. I'm writing what I know, I'm writing what I love, I'm writing the story I want to tell, I'm creating the characters. So either you're really going to really like it, or you may not - and I'm ok with that," he explains.

Alexander jokes that he is a "25 year overnight success," but doesn't ever want to lose the sense of amazement he feels when meeting people impacted by his work. "Generally, I still love the job and I'm genuinely startled when people show up...I'll continue to be amazed."

"Ultimately I think that poems, because they can talk about such powerful things, are palatable for us. And this is a lofty sort of assumption and goal, but I believe that poetry can ultimately make us become more human," he adds.

alexander_and_preston_-_web_extra.mp3
Author Kwame Alexander and musician Randy Preston perform an excerpt from "Rebound."