With yells and screeches that would be more common at an athletic pep rally than an author visit, Newbery and Emmy-Award winner Kwame Alexander charged through his community presentation at the cafeteria of Greenbelt Middle School (GMS) on March 18. About 180 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders, as well as some community members, gathered for a festive evening. The GMS step team performed, warming up the crowd. Then Alexander started speaking, and the audience stayed with him every step of the way ‒ laughing at his jokes, answering his call and response and filling in rhymes when he made up verse on the spot.
“I wrote my first poem in middle school,” Alexander said, adding, “it wasn’t very good.” But it gave him a taste for the energy of words. When he went to college at Virginia Tech, he studied poetry under Nikki Giovanni. Poetry became part of his life. Poetry became part of his strength. Poetry became what he did. He met a woman he was interested in and he wrote her poems. The one he recited to the GMS audience included the refrain “I’ve dated a lot of girls in my life/ You one day are going to be my wife.” She said yes.
The power of poetry kept growing as Alexander told about his debut novel, Crossover, a book in verse about twin brothers who play basketball. One rejection led to a rewrite, which lead to another rejection, which lead to another rewrite, and so forth, until, after sending it to 18 publishers, Alexander was getting ready to self-publish. Then he received an acceptance letter; it was published in 2014. The next year, he got a call from the Newbery committee ‒ the group of librarians who choose the best children’s book of the year. And here Alexander paused the narrative to tell everyone what he was thinking about at that very moment. “Would I be getting this call if I had given up after the third rejection?” “No!” the students yelled back. Crossover won the Newbery Medal and was eventually made into a Disney television series. Alexander wrote the series and co-produced it with LeBron James (a fact that got one of biggest screams of the evening). Eventually, Alexander took home an Emmy for best teen series. He now has 44 books out, with more in the works.
That was his story, but the students had questions. Among other things, he answered queries about how to write better (read more), how to get rid of writer’s block (trade off projects), and what is Alexander’s favorite fruit (cotton candy grapes). Eventually, Principal Marcellus Clement took the mic to announce that the event was over. “If you think you might want a free copy of Rebound ‒ the sequel to Crossover …” Students leapt up and rushed to the table before he finished the sentence. “Don’t run,” Clement added belatedly. Books were handed out. Alexander signed them. Reading commenced immediately. In short, Elise Stack, the Reading department chair who spearheaded the event, was thrilled. She had worked on this project for a year. Coordinating with other reading teachers, she made sure many students read either Crossover or Booked, both part of the school curriculum. She secured community involvement and got funding from BCAUSEICAN, a local nonprofit. Then she had to reschedule due to snow. The headaches were worth the effort. “Kwame Alexander was truly everything we had hoped for – it was an engaging, energizing and inspirational experience for the students. We were able to welcome parents into our building, and the whole community seemed inspired upon the conclusion of the evening.”
