And it helped him learn how to express himself as he grew into adulthood. He devoured the 400-page autobiography in one night and became fascinated with reading again, finding something new and interesting every time he went into that garage piled high with books.Īfter that experience, he decided to read about what interested him,which was mostly sports.Īlexander says this is what brought him back to a love of literature. One day, while cleaning his family’s garage, Alexander found Muhammad Ali’s book, The Greatest, and something clicked.

So, I hated books by the time I was in middle school.” His dislike of books was more about being forced to read specific books, instead of choosing his own.įortunately, fate intervened. “What 12-year-old wants to read that? I wanted to be playing basketball,” said Alexander. He loved the books she read by Ernest Gregg, Langston Hughes and Nikki Giovanni.Īnd his father-an academic-would make his 12-year-old son read dissertations and heavy philosophical books like Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Books were everywhere in their home and lined the walls of his bedroom. His mother-a folklorist and English teacher, who told vividstories at bedtime and during meals-would read to him and his siblings. Their influence is clear in his writing approach, which uses fun, relatable and rhythmic poetic verses to get kids to develop or retain their love of reading and appreciate more complex literature context.

“Reading was like breathing in our house. His mother loved poetry and storytelling and his father was a book publisher, writer and professor. When you’re in his presence, it is clear that Alexander’s upbringing and life experiences have shaped his writing and continues to guide his path. This is surprising, considering that the charismatic and innovative author of 25 books- Rebound, the prequel to Alexander’s Newbery Medalwinning novel The Crossover-has built his writing career on helping middle schoolers bridge the gap from children’s books to reading more mature literature. If you asked poet and New York Times bestselling author Kwame Alexander how he developed a love of reading, he would laugh and tell you a story about a 12-year-old boy who hated books.

The rebound kwame alexander