Swing is an excellent book for middle grade readers. Kwame's books appeal to readers by allowing readers to see themselves in his characters. This come of age book does not disappoint and has a music focus.

Kwame Alexander simply has a way with words, and Swing is no exception.. Fans of The Crossover and Booked will love this novel in verse. The story highlights the bond between friends. Walt and Noah are typical teens, navigating life trying to look cool while impressing a love interest. More deeply, the story touches on prejudices and the decision to confront them. Perfect for those who struggle to find their voice, this story of love and friendship will touch your heart.

Alexander has done it again! This book is full of the uplifting hope of real friendship and the young adult's fun and rocky love of self and others. While baseball makes is appearance, this is not a sports book, and it won't leave the non-baseball crowd out. 

Full of youth, laughter, and hope, heartbreak hides in the wings. 

A must-read for anyone youthful or by whom youth are loved.

Kwame Alexander continues to spin incredible free verse poetry into pulse-pounding arrows sent straight to the heart of teen readers. My eighth grade students devoir Alexander's books. No matter how many copies I buy for the classroom library, his books are hard to keep on the shelf. Swing brings the reader into the friendship of three teens, but the story twists and turns and digs deep into the soul of the reader. Free verse is the perfect medium. While the book is thick, students stay engaged, often reading the book in one or two sittings. A wonderful read!

All I can say is that Kwame and Mary make an amazing writing team. I would love to be a fly on the wall during their writing process. I was given the opportunity to be a part of the launch team, and therefore had the chance to read the book on Net Galley. I didn’t love the format as when I opened it on my kindle app, it did odd things, making it hard to know when a new chapter started and the verse layout wasn’t completely clear. I will enjoy seeing a print version when it publishes.

The story of Walt and Noah is a fabulously heartbreaking look at the ups and downs of high school students as they navigate friends, love, unrequited love, making the team, and all the pressures that come during these years. It’s a beautiful book that is relevant, important, and will be loved by Kwame fans everywhere. Recommend for a YA audience.

I was on the prereleadse team for this book and helped its launch through social media. My reviews were active at that time. However I'm not sure why they weren't linked here on Netgalley. Kwame Alexander is a genius and I particularly love selling his books to librarians and teachers. Reading aloud any random page is truly all it takes to get nearly anyone interested in this book.

Kwame Alexander does it again. This book does a great job of creating character that don't fit into a stereotype and are full of depth. I enjoyed the story and it has enough surprises in it that I believe readers will want to keep reading.

In another amazing collaboration from Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess, we follow Noah and best friend, Walt through the ups and downs of high school life. Noah and Walt are NOT on the school baseball team, but Walt hits the batting cages with fierce commitment and passion, channeling his love of jazz to help him find his SWING. Noah is a faithful friend and follower, while working on his own passions, especially his love for Sam, a beautiful BFF he’s known since”forever” ago. Sam has a boyfriend, though—none other than the buff baseball star of the team, Cruz.

When Noah finds a birthday gift for his mom at a local thrift store, he also finds his courage in the box — the words of old love letters that were left inside. Noah copies the words for his love, longing to live the life that Cruz now has. When Walt delivers one of the letters to Sam, however, the three friends’ relationships start to change.

Meanwhile, the neighborhood is dealing with bigger issues — there’s life and love, and then there’s allegiance and angst. Patriotic duty vs. empathetic obligation towards our fellow man. Kwame and Mary SWING the readers thinking around, fluctuating with hard-hitting emotion that leaves one breathless, wondering about our own lives in the midst of all that is good and evil. Our own little lives — up against the global society.

What I loved about Swing: I loved ALL the characters in Swing, right down to the grandma who is supposed to be keeping an eye on Noah while his parents are away, and Floyd, Walt’s “love doctor” cousin. Swing will remind adults of their high school days, and help current students find ways to deal with their feelings, all while helping us think about our place on this earth.

Why you should read Swing: You will laugh with, and long for, the characters. You’ll reminisce, and maybe even renew your friendships from high school. You’ll cry. You’ll think. You’ll want to be a better person after reading Swing.

I really enjoyed Kwame Alexander's Solo a few summers ago, so I was excited to be able to review Swing. Although I enjoyed most of the story, it fell flat in the end.  The friendship between the two young men in the story seemed to be the focus of the book.  The ending ( I won't give it away for anyone who may read this) seemed totally out of place and somewhat gratuitous. It didn't fit the rest of the story.

I am a big fan of Kwame Alexander and so are my students. Kwame cowrote Swing with Mary Rand Hess and I loved Swing as much as I did their last project Solo.

While I loved Booked and Crossover I am not a huge sports person so large parts of the book was lost on me since I was unfamiliar with sports vocabulary. The sport in Swing is baseball so I was worried I would be in unfamiliar territory again. I wasn't. 

Swing is about two high school boys who want to be on the baseball team; Walt who wants to be called Swing and Noah. They are in high school and Noah has feelings for a girl who has been his friend since 3rd grade. The story is filled with so much emotion I couldn't put it down. This will definitely be another huge hit with my students.

This much-anticipated book did not disappoint. In a similar format to Solo, Alexander and Hess weave a story amongst a musical backdrop. With Solo, it was rock and roll, this time it is jazz. This compelling novel in verse takes you on a journey of two friends trying to find their way amongst the social circles of high school. There is also a backdrop of baseball and one character's failed attempt to make the team again and again. There are subtle references to social justice issues and the ending packs a punch that I didn't see coming. I am still trying to process it all. I highly recommend this book and know that it will spark lots of great discussion that will hopefully be followed by some action.

I usually don't like Kwame Alexander books all that much, and this one was not an exception. "Elsa, then w h y did you pick this up?" Good question, someone I definitely do not know. I picked it up because I thought I was actually going to like this one. Yeah, bad idea past-Elsa, very bad idea. 

It was not all that bad, I guess. I just expected a bit more. The only thing about it that I liked were the extremely well developed characters. I also liked the great number of issues that were brought up. And that was also a big problem because I felt like the authors wanted to include them all into one book, and it just did not work for me.

2.5/5 stars

Swing was the 5th book I’ve read by Kwame Alexander. I teach Crossover as a class novel and my students absolutely adore him. I loved that this title was a little bit milder content-wise so that I could keep it on my mainstream shelf, whereas I require a parent signature for Solo (I teach 7th grade in a Catholic school). The characters in Swing were lovable and the addition of the Podcast made for a cool twist. My real problem with the book was the ending. I think this story had the potential to say something powerful about PTSD or racial violence, but not both. The ending felt random and forced, unless I missed out on some serious foreshadowing. The connections to sports, high school/middle school themes, and verse style made it extremely palatable though, and I think my students will continue to enjoy it!

Swing was a relevant and enjoyable read. I appreciated the relationship between Noah and Walt and found it to be very authentic. While the book covered many issues such as friendship, love, art, and so much more, the plot was slow in the beginning. Once it gained momentum, I felt a bit overwhelmed with the number of points being tackled in the story. The ending felt abrupt and somewhat of a last resort to an extent. I enjoyed the poetry and metaphors throughout the story though and felt that the intertwining of jazz and baseball were done well.The audiobook was the perfect way to read this because Kwame Alexander's narration never fails. 

3.5 stars

Kwame Alexander knocks it out of the park with his latest book, Swing. The characters come alive through his verse poetry so that the reader becomes completely invested in the lives of Walt, Noah, and Sam. Kwame's use of blackout poetry to woo Sam enhances the story and offers teachers a tool to engage students in creating poetry of their own. The surprising twist at the end broke my heart. This is a book that needs to be read by every middle school student in America. Many of my students have already read and fallen in love with this book - much like the rest of Kwame's books.

This book reminds me of Horrorstor. They are both funny and light with some tension around the edges. They both go from 0 to 100 with the turning of a page. However, I might need some time to get over this one.

3.5 Stars for the latest Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess book.  The positive is that there are so many great issues that are brought up in this book.  That is also the negative.  I thought that too many things were forced to come together in the book especially at the end.  That being said, I still look forward to a book from these two again in the future.

This book follows Walt and Noah in another beautiful written book by these two authors..  These two friends are trying to find their cool while also dealing with some big issues at school and in their neighborhood.  They get through it with each other, baseball, and art!  Another great book that my students will love and I can't wait to add it to my classroom!

This is a powerful book for middle grade and YA readers. It gives a glimpse into the daily lives of two average boys trapped in the middle of a war they shouldn't have to fight. I would highly recommend it.

I liked this book, but not as much as others by Alexander (for example, I LOVED the Crossover books). The verse is enjoyable and well-written. The plot is pretty standard teen love triangle and friendships-- not my cup of tea as an adult, but I think it would go over well with teens (especially younger teens) who are working through these issues on their own. I think the ending came out of left field a bit and therefore felt cheap (though to be fair, it was unfortunately realistic). 

Finally, I recommend reading this in print or audio, as my eBook formatting of the verse made it a bit hard to follow at times.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.