Rebound

A wonderful prequel to the award winning young adult novel, The Crossover. Written entirely in verse, Rebound follows Chuck Bell, the summer after his father's unexpected death when he is sent to stay with his grandparents. Angry and disinterested in everything except comics he is resigned to hate the whole summer but he soon discovers that he loves hanging with his father's family and to his surprise he's actually really good at basketball, a sport he always kind of avoided. The summer is filled with the Harlem Globetrotters, The Boys and Girls Club, comics, lawn mowing, and family. Chuck Bell has no idea how impactful this summer will be on the rest of his life. A slam dunk.

Long Way Down

Easily one of the best books I've read so far this year! Utterly compelling, impossible to put down, and packs one hell of a punch. This teen novel in verse discusses gun violence in such a way that leaves no room for argument, it demands to be heard and felt. Will's older brother Shawn has been shot and killed and it falls on Will to exact vengeance. He has to he has no choice. It's part of the rules.
1. No crying
2. No snitching
3. Get revenge no matter what
It's what his brother would have done. So he takes his dead brother's gun and heads to the elevator to leave the building and take out his brother's killer. But it's a long way down and he must pass seven floors. On each floor, a victim of gun violence enters on the elevator. Sixty seconds. Seven floors, Three rules. One gun.
AMAZING! Seriously can't stop thinking about this book. It's giving me the chills.