The block-buster adaptation of Kwame Alexander’s Newbury-award winning verse novel, The Crossover, is now available on Disney+. All episodes are streaming on the platform following a premier on The Disney Channel in the US on April 4th.
The adaptation was ushered to the screen by Kwame Alexander himself, acting as show-runner and executive producer alongside LeBron James’ SpringHill Company production. The show is narrated by Hamilton star Daveed Diggs, with a brilliant cast of new talent bringing the book to life on screen.
Based on the critically-acclaimed best-selling novel in-verse by Kwame Alexander, The Crossover introduces teen brothers Josh and Jordan Bell, widely considered basketball phenoms. Through his lyrical poetry, an adult version of Josh, aka Filthy McNasty, narrates the story of he and his brother’s coming of age, on and off the court, as their former professional basketball player father adjusts to life after basketball, and their mother finally pursues lifelong dreams of her own. Watch a trailer for the show here.
Andersen Press first published the original verse novel in 2015 to critical acclaim, with a Graphic Novel illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile released in 2020. Since then Booked and Rebound completed the trilogy, with Rebound shortlisted for the 2019 Carnegie Medal.
2023 sees two incredible new works from Kwame Alexander published by Andersen Press; firstly, picture book Unspoken is a powerfully moving, poetic exploration of the story of slavery: from Africa to the tall ships, from back-breaking work in a strange land to resilience and eventual emancipation, Kwame Alexander tells the story that’s hard to hear. Told through the lens of a teacher speaking to their young pupils, and in multiple art styles from award-winning artist and sculptor Dare Coulter, the story of slavery becomes one that you can tell with the bravery to lift your voice.
And The Door of No Return is a return to verse novels for Kwame Alexander, and the first in a trilogy. Described beautifully by Lupita Nyong’o ‘At once vivid and simple, lyrical and surgical, expressive and exacting, comforting and cutting’
Eleven-year-old Kofi Offin has dreams of water, of its urgent whisper that beckons with promises and secrets. He has heard the call on the banks of Upper Kwanta, West Africa, where he lives. He loves these things above all else: his family, the fireside tales of his father’s father, a girl named Ama, and, of course, swimming. But when the unthinkable – a sudden death – occurs during a festival between rival villages, Kofi ends up in a fight for his life. What happens next will send him on a harrowing journey across land and sea, and away from everything he loves. Yet Kofi’s dreams may be the key to his freedom…
Listen to an interview with Kwame Alexander on both books here:
https://justimagine.co.uk/podcast/kwame-alexander-2/
For more information please contact Paul Black, PR and Brand Director Andersen Press
