Rebound
by Kwame Alexander
Interest age: 10 to 12
Reading age: 10+
Published by Andersen, 2018
About this book
It’s 1988 and Charlie Bell (later to become Chuck ‘Da Man’ Bell) is 12 years old and going through the hardest time in his life after his dad dies from a stroke. It seems like nothing can make him feel any joy in life now and that nothing ever will – not even his lovely best friends CJ (Crystal) and Skinny.
After he gets into a spot of trouble, his mum decides to send him to spend the summer with his paternal grandparents a few hours drive away. Here, his cousin Roxie introduces him to basketball, his grandad introduces him to hard work and jazz, and things begin to change.
This is the prequel to Kwame Alexander’s masterful and Newbery prize-winning basketball verse novel The Crossover (and it’s fine to read the two in either order).
Also written in verse, Rebound is funny, moving and full of great ideas on how to live your life – and almost impossible not to read in one sitting. The poetry grabs you and won’t let you go; the raw emotion and powerful storytelling pours out of the pages. When you finish it, you just want to read it again.
Rebound is perfect for anyone you know who thinks they don’t like reading (particularly any 12-year-old boys), and also everyone who does.
Watch our interview with Kwame Alexander
About the author
What to read next
We know that children can get hooked on a favourite book series or author and struggle to find something they love as much, but we’re here to help.
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Kwame Alexander is a prolific American author whose verse novels are well known for getting kids who say they hate reading into books. But which other books should your child turn to next?
More books like this
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Long Way Down
by Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Chris Priestley
12+ years
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Booked
by Kwame Alexander
12+ years
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The Door of No Return
by Kwame Alexander
12+ years
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Unspoken
by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Dare Coulter
9 to 12 years
Lists of recommended reads
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Books for a high interest age, low reading ability (high low), for 10+
Children can have a different reading ability to their interest age for a variety of reasons, such as dyslexia or having English as an additional language (EAL). Here is a selection of fiction that will grip the reader, and that has simpler syntax and/or an accessible layout.