Monday, January 30, 2017

The Playbook by Kwame Alexander - GIFT


Alexander, Kwame The Playbook : 52 Rules to Aim, Shoot, and Score in this Game Called Life, 169 pgs. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017. $14.99. Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: G; Violence: G.   

This book is a collection of 52 life rules, some inspirational life sketches and personal reflections on Kwame Alexander’s life.  Unlike his other novels in verse, this one is missing Alexander’s intense poetry.  

The book design is wonderful! The end papers are textured to feel like a basketball. However, 52 is a lot of rules.  The short biographies (Pele, the Williams sisters, LaBron James) give good insight to successful people, but they are hidden in a book that is more “words of wisdom” than text.  I supposed this would be a good gift (birthday? graduation?) but it would need some promotion in a middle school library.  It’s not like his other books.  

MS - GIFT Lisa Librarian

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