new poster here-
Thanks for the Jason Reynolds recommendation.
Based on this post I just bought "Long way down" on Amazon.

My son has loved Kwame Alexander.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a 9th grade teacher who reads a lot of YA lit. Kwame is okay but his characters are whiny and a lot of kids hate them. For this style of writing that is better and has characters kids actually like, do Jason Reynolds. The Ghost series is good, When I Was the Greatest, Long Way Down, All American Boys. All solid. Kwame is watered down and imitation Reynolds IMO.

My son read a lot of Kwame and also all of the above mentioned books- started at age 11 and is 13 now and LOVES the Jason Reynolds even more, though he has read Crossover several times.

I'm the teacher PP. I did Long Way Down with my students just this past month and they loved it. I bought the audiobook since Reynolds narrates it and projected the book on the board so they could see and read along as he read. Even kids who hate to read love this book. We then Tweeted him from class and he responded. By far the most impact I have ever seen a book have on an entire group of kids. I am a devotee of his work for life. Cannot recommend enough.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a 9th grade teacher who reads a lot of YA lit. Kwame is okay but his characters are whiny and a lot of kids hate them. For this style of writing that is better and has characters kids actually like, do Jason Reynolds. The Ghost series is good, When I Was the Greatest, Long Way Down, All American Boys. All solid. Kwame is watered down and imitation Reynolds IMO.

My son read a lot of Kwame and also all of the above mentioned books- started at age 11 and is 13 now and LOVES the Jason Reynolds even more, though he has read Crossover several times.

We love all of Kwame's books. He's also a dynamic speaker and wonderful in person. (Not his agent, just another mom of a sports-obsessed boy.)

pp 21:58. my son read the ghost series too and loved them. he also read long way down and all american boys, but ghost is about track so it is sports related. you can't go wrong with any of them. great books!!

I agree with the Jason Reynolds rec.

Ghost series involves track FWIW

I'm a 9th grade teacher who reads a lot of YA lit. Kwame is okay but his characters are whiny and a lot of kids hate them. For this style of writing that is better and has characters kids actually like, do Jason Reynolds. The Ghost series is good, When I Was the Greatest, Long Way Down, All American Boys. All solid. Kwame is watered down and imitation Reynolds IMO.

He's an excellent writer - great books.

Wonderful books!

booked rebound crossover etc. my 13 year old has read all of them

Need a book for a sports obsessed 13 year old. Would these be good. The kid series or the young adult one?