Kwame’s Pulchritudinous Book

Three chapters of Crossover had convinced me that Kwame was a genius... a genius-wordsmith.  Look at this list of SAT words, or valuable vocabulary, embedded into the text of the first few pages:

Agitating

Dubious

Distinction

Evidence

Banished

Confrontational

Phenomenal

Trembles

Impersonation

Opponent

Decline

Legendary

Calamity

Undesirable

Injurious

Random

Pulchritudinous

There you go: Pulchritudinous.  So, even if we knew the others on the list, we probably haven’t used pulchritudinous in the last few days.  It was easy to decode from the context clues—simple in fact, and even defined on the following page.  Kudos to this hip-author writing basketball books, in captivating almost-rap-style modeling the value of articulation. 

It wasn’t vocabulary, which won him the Newbery award, however.  It was the weaving of words, to spin a yarn, which the reader could relate to. Who hasn’t been jealous of their sibling?  Who hasn’t lost a hero? Who hasn’t been proud of ability or upset by loss?  So, I take off my hat to a man who writes with distinction, articulates the difficulties of coming of age and overcoming adversity. He models hope to teens, encouraging them to triumph over life’s difficulties.

Hat's off to Kwame as he accepts his Newbery award this Sunday at the Gala in San Francisco for this pulchritudinous tale. (Yes. I know. I know. I've used this word out-of-context.)

Instructional EQ’s:

How does vocabulary reflect a command of the English language? 
How does literature reflect real life issues?

Pictures below of Susan Polos, librarians, Bedford Central Schools, NY with her visit from Kwame.  See this great article (click here) spotlighting getting "Fired UP for Reading" with Kwame pictured on the front, and featured story beginning on page 17. These two local programs highlighted in this article, spotlights the value of a strong reading program.  

Kwame Alexander and the Newbery Banquet held in Bedford Hills Elementary School 

Kwame Alexander, students, and Susan Polos, President-elect NYS Section of School Librarians