Every day teachers, librarians, parents, and Kwame Alexander face children eager for more books like The Crossover and Booked, books to spark their imagination, to be both windows and mirrors, more dragonfly boxes to open. Once these hungry minds and hearts have been awakened, you have to feed them. Once they start seeing books as “amusement parks for readers,” we need to get them to Splash Mountain, the Tilt-A-Whirl, the Teacups, the works. Connecting young readers with other forever books builds trust and community. It's the best feeling in the world as a librarian. I hope these suggestions help you connect readers in your life with powerful reading experiences.
But if you’re looking for Booked readalikes, you need look no further than Booked itself. Within the narrative of a boy who dislikes reading encountering the right books for him (Anyone else having a meta moment where you’d lend Nick The Crossover?) are the very tools to help young people like Nick. Kwame has created a collection of fantastic recommendations that are the perfect place for Booked readers to get going - and keep going.
The Way a Door Closes by Hope Anita Smith
From your window
you watch
love
and happiness
sink
like twins
in quicksand (75)
The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
What? Huh?
If only you were concentrating as much
on The Watsons Go to Birmingham (115)
Pelé Book
Did you finish that Pelé book yet?
You lie and say yeah,
‘cause the last thing
you need is he and Dad
ganging up on you
over a book (165-166)
I’m actually not sure which Pelé book this is. It could be Pelé: The Autobiography by Pelé or the DK Biography: Pelé by James Buckley, or Pelé (Sports Heroes and Legends) by Dax Riner, or an imagined Pelé book that is the epitome of informational texts. Either way, it made me eager to know more about him, as I imagine kids will feel the same. I especially appreciate The Mac’s thoughtful readers’ advisory, connecting this book to Nick’s passion for soccer.
All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg
and you’re left
wide awake, thinking of
all your broken pieces. (228)
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
when you get
to page 60
the monsoon comes
and the book is
unputdownable (237)Books You Find on Google (243)
Her older sister says
it’s hauntingly beautiful
and gut-wrenching
and it’s based
on a true story
about boy soldiers
in Sudan
and she gave it
five stars (250)
Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
Like Peace, Locomotion,
an epistolary novel, which
means a -
I KNOW WHAT EPISTOLARY MEANS, she shouts
still frowning, IT’S A BOOK WRITTEN IN LETTERS.
Great choice, April says, and winks
at you. (251)
Rhyme Schemer by K.A. Holt
Thanks. Rhyme Schemer’s a dope title, Mr. Mac.
Is this your autobiography?
It’s not, but you’re gonna dig it. (302)
Blackout Poetry books
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (51)
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (78)
How Lamar's Bad Prank won a Bubba-Sized Trophy by Crystal Allen (284)
Books Kwame has Recommended
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Keeping the Night Watch by Hope Anita Smith
Words with Wings by Nikki Grimes
Which books would you recommend to Booked fans?
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