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In this YA novel in verse from bestselling authors Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess (Solo), which Kirkus called "lively, moving, and heartfelt" in a starred review, Noah and Walt just want to leave their geek days behind and find "cool," but in the process discover a lot about first loves, friendship, and embracing life … as well as why Black Lives Matter is so important for all.
Best friends Noah and Walt are far from popular, but Walt is convinced junior year is their year, and he has a plan that includes wooing the girls of their dreams and becoming amazing athletes. Never mind he and Noah failed to make their baseball team yet again, and Noah's crush since third grade, Sam, has him firmly in the friend zone. While Walt focuses on his program of jazz, podcasts, batting cages, and a "Hug Life" mentality, Noah feels stuck in status quo … until he stumbles on a stash of old love letters. Each one contains words Noah's always wanted to say to Sam, and he begins secretly creating artwork using the lines that speak his heart. But when his art becomes public, Noah has a decision to make: continue his life in the dugout and possibly lose the girl forever, or take a swing and finally speak out.
At the same time, American flags are being left around town. While some think it's a harmless prank and others see it as a form of protest, Noah can't shake the feeling something bigger is happening to his community. Especially after he witnesses events that hint divides and prejudices run deeper than he realized.
As the personal and social tensions increase around them, Noah and Walt must decide what is really important when it comes to love, friendship, sacrifice, and fate.
"Alexander and Hess embrace the malleability of free verse, heightening emotions with shifting styles and rhythms, and though Swing's voice steals the show, the bantering friendship he and Noah share also shines. Interspersed throughout, the discovered letters and Noah's art poetry highlight the power of physical artifacts to inspire action and provide a tie to flags' symbolic meaning." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Noah is the narrator, but it is Swing, with his humor, irresistible charm, and optimism, who steals the spotlight. All the secondary characters are distinctive and add texture to the narrative. Swing is African-American, while Noah is white. Despite the easy flow of verse, there is a density to this story with its multiple elements. Lively, moving, and heartfelt." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Readers will fall in love with scene-stealer Swing. Jazz music fans will enjoy this focus and its intersections with art, history, baseball, and literature. This important and recommended contemporary YA will inspire young people to find their own voices and take a swing at life. A must-have." - School Library Journal (starred review)
"[T]his novel packs a punch into its shocking and extremely powerful ending straight from today's headlines." - Booklist
This information about Swing was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, and the New York Times bestselling author of 28 books, including Swing, Solo, and Rebound, the follow-up to his Newbery Medal-winning middle grade novel, The Crossover. The 2018 NEA Read Across America Ambassador, Kwame is also the host and producer of the literary variety/talk show, Bookish, which airs on Facebook Watch, and the Founding Editor of Versify, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers.
Mary Rand Hess is a poet, mixed-media artist, screenwriter, and New York Times bestselling author of Solo and Animal Ark: Celebrating Our Wild World in Poetry and Pictures, both coauthored with Kwame Alexander.
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