Crossover

by Jeff Rud

Fifteen-year-old Kyle Evans has been a jock for years―a triple-threat basketball player who can dribble, pass or shoot with considerable skill. But once he decides to try out for the school musical production at Sainsbury High, Kyle finds there is much more to life than hightops and hookshots. Conflicting priorities cause problems between Kyle and his coaches, teachers, teammates and friends. And when his buddy Lukas becomes the target of homophobic hatred, Kyle is left with some difficult choices to make.

Genres: Sports, LGBT, Young Adult, Fiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Jeff Rud has authored eight books, including three young adult fiction titles for Orca in the South Side Sports series. A sportswriter, columnist, and sports editor for newspapers in Western Canada over a 20-year period, he is now a reporter for the Victoria Times Colonist, covering provincial politics in the British Columbia legislature.

His non-fiction works include Canucks Legends: Vancouver's Hockey Heroes (Raincoast, 2006) and Steve Nash: The Making of an MVP (Penguin, 2007.) Born in Red Deer, Alberta, Jeff now lives in Victoria, B.C., with his wife, Lana, a middle school teacher, and their two children.

Reviews

[Noah Rucks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personal response:
I read the book Crossover. This book was one of the best books I’ve read. It had a lot of meaning to it. I liked this book because it was related to basketball which I did in middle school.

Plot:
Kyle Evens is in his a starter as a sophomore in high school and a starter for there high school basketball team,but saw that his school is going to have a school play called (Oliver). One of the players, Ben Stillman he is a bully to Kyle friend Lukas. Lukas convinces Kyle to try out for the school musical, and Kyle lands one of the leading roles. He is surprised to discover that he is a pretty good performer, and what is more that he really enjoys it. However, his teammates and coach do not appreciate his new role. When the theater scenery and Lukas’ locker are vandalized, Kyle knows how it is, but does not need due to the police. They caught Ben and two of his friends. They got kicked off the team and Kyle was a better basketball player because of that and the coach was not so hard on him.

Characterization:
Kyle Evens is 15 year old and goes Sainsbury High School. He was a jock in the beginning of this book but realizes his friend has been bullied and understands more and sides with he's friend.

Recommendation:
I would suggest this book to 7-12 graders, boys and girls who mostly like to read about sports. I thought this book was really good I enjoyed reading it.

[Rilind Musliu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The novel takes place in a small high school Sainsbury High. Also takes place in the present day. This novel is about a high school student that is having a hard time with another student. From my understanding this book was wrote to show that you can do a variety of activities and have a lot of different friends for example Basketball. The main charterers are Kyle Evens and Ben Stiltman. I liked this book because it was about basketball but i didn't care for all the drama in the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a short read.

[Grant Ugolini · Rating 5 out of 5]

ithough iwas really good because it took place in sandsberry high school and kyle evans meet new friends and he joined a play and played bassketball and he meets jenna his grilfriend he won some basketball games i really enjoyed this book alot and i loved lerning about basketball and kyle was really exited being in the play oliver and he was so fuuny i really liked it very munch in the book.

[Dylan Hossain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crossover is a short novel from Jeff Rud published by Orca Book Publishers in 2008 (170 pages). As a novel consisting of a sophomore juggling his two worlds as a basketball player and being a key role in the school play, Crossover was a mediocre read due to the predictable outcomes of key events.



Main protagonist Kyle Evans has been a jock for years as a basketball player. However, after landing a key role in the school play called Oliver, Kyle begins to change for the better. Nevertheless, antagonist Ben Stillman as the star player of the basketball team disapproves of Kyle’s change from a “cool” jock. In addition to constantly rebuking Kyle, Ben “secretly” vandalizes the props from Oliver and the locker of Kyle’s best friend to express his disapproval of his change. Eventually, Ben is caught from his vandalism by the police and is suspended.



The underlying theme in Crossover is courage. Analytically speaking, author Jeff Rud depicts his view of courage as stepping up for others in need. Specifically, Jeff’s view of courage is evident when Kyle defends his best friend Lucas from being the victim of homophobic bullying. For instance, Kyle defends Lucas after one of his teammates make a homophobic insult against him. Nonetheless, Jeff’s use of courage as the theme is well suited against the bullying involved in the novel. However, I felt as if Jeff should have expanded off the theme of courage into more aspects. To illustrate, courage plays as a big factor in the high school basketball scene. Considering this, the novel would be more intriguing if Kyle had to interpret acts of courage in his basketball games. For example, Kyle agreeing to take a game-winning shot in one of his basketball games after being asked by his coach.



I disliked the story of Crossover due to the obvious outcomes of key events. Events such as an “unidentifiable man” vandalizing Lucas’s locker and the props from Oliver obviously ended with only one student responsible, Ben Stillman. Considering Ben had been introduced as the school’s main jock/bully from the beginning, it was predictable Ben committed the vandalism. Despite the predictable outcomes of key events losing my interest in the story, Crossover had captivating moments. Portions of the book like Kyle’s season-opening game against the rivalry Davidson Dukes varsity team had me on the edge of my seat. As a basketball player myself, I could feel the connection to Kyle as Jeff summarized in amazing accuracy the intensity and excitement in a high school basketball game. However, the ultimate performance of Kyle playing as the leading role in Oliver was my least favorite portion of the book. To rationalize, Kyle’s performance was too generic as it followed a stale structure of: Being nervous/pessimistic prior to performance, a great performance, and a standing ovation from the audience. Despite the story containing predictable outcomes causing Crossover to be a mediocre read, Crossover had captivating basketball moments worth reading. From the basketball moments itself, I would recommend Crossover to anyone in need of a basketball book with accurate depictions. However, I would not recommend Crossover to anyone searching for an intriguing story.

[Landon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. East read and quick read.

[Eric · Rating 1 out of 5]

High school musical but less interesting or fun. Quick and easy read fit for a caveman.

[Xavier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever played on a basketball team and then wanted to be in something else like in the school talent show? If you did then you're just like Kyle. this book is realistic fiction because It's based on real events but isn't a true story that happened. I think this is a really good book because It's a book about basketball and I like basketball a lot like Kyle.
When Kyle wakes up for his first basketball Practice he's late. when he arrives at school for practice his coach yells at him and says "Why are you late?". when Kyle try's to explain Why coach interrupted him. after practice Kyle goes home and eats. after he's done eating he does his homework and goes to bed when he's done.
when Kyle wakes up in the morning he gets ready for school so he won't be late and tells his mom bye and leaves. when Kyle gets home he eats dinner while eating dinner Kyle gets a phone call his dad hands him the phone and it was Jenna Kyle's girlfriend.she came back from England . they stayed on the phone talking for a long time. when they're done Jenna asked if he can go over and Kyle said yeah sure. she said okay and they both said"bye."
In the morning Kyle picks up Jenna and they both walk to school. when they get to school Jenna joins the school talent show Oliver . Jenna tells Kyle "you should join too Kyle" Kyle thinks about it and then says "okay." after school they go to rehearsal and first up is Jenna. after Jenna It's Kyle and Ms. Lawson loved his voice.
The next day Kyle wakes up early so he won't be late for practice. when he arrived he told coach Williams that he had joined the school talent show. coach Williams looked up and said "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Kyle was trying to talk but coach interrupted him and said "It's to later now Evans". Kyle knew when he got called by his last name coach was angry. then coach said "go change first practice hurry."
This book takes place in Kyle's house and his school. the time period is at night and morning. Kyle is a nice boy Who really likes sports. Jenna is a nice girl Who has a lot of friends and is Kyle's girlfriend. Kyle's mom is nice and Kyle's dad is too. Kyle's dad is a newspaper guy. I don't understand Why Kyle wants to do both basketball and the talent show. I agree with Kyle that he's a really good person for the play. I like the way the author explains Why Kyle is a good person for the talent show and Why Ms. Lawson wants him in it. I'm angry about Why coach yelled at Kyle for trying out for the talent show. I'm surprised that Kyle wanted to try out for the talent show because usually boys won't want to.
This book is a real good book! I really like basketball books like this one. I give this book 10 because It's a real good book. I recommend people Who like basketball should read this book. this is one of my favorite books. this will always be my favorite book.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kyle Evans, a high school varsity basketball starter, is very focused on making this year his best basketball season yet. When an old friend of Kyle’s tried to push him to audition for the school play, he’s not sure if he can balance both drama and basketball. In the end, he decides to do it and he got a lead role. Neither his coach nor his teammates are a fan of Kyle's new hobby. As the sets for Oliver! were being finalized, three basketball players of Sainsbury High School vandalized them. Plus, Evans’ friend, Lukas Conner, had been a victim of a substance that was put in his locker by those same kids. Could this put the basketball team in danger?

Crossover is a realistic fiction book with a couple flashbacks and a couple lessons. The biggest theme in this book is courage. After the two acts of vandalism occurred, Kyle stuck up for Lukas even though it may have brought him down in the social class. When Kyle’s friends from the drama department teach him a lesson, he realizes Ben Stillman, a basketball jock and the school bully, is not a good person to be around. I recommend to read this book if you are a grade 5-7 reader. Crossover is not part of a series. This book only took me about 3 days to read. However, I sat and read this book for 45 minutes to an hour each of those days. As I read this book, I just wanted to keep reading because each paragraph had something to look forward to. Every time I picked up Crossover, it was so hard to put it back down. I was always left on the edge of my seat. Other times, the book was extremely predictable and annoying to read. Jeff Rud did an outstanding job allowing me to visualize the plot vividly. He also had a great use of word choice. Nothing was bland nor left me with a misunderstanding of what was happening. But, I feel as if this book was a copy of High School Musical. Overall Crossover was okay, it definitely was not taken to the fullest.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book the Crossover by Jeff Rud is about how this fifteen year old boy name Kyle who has to choose between basketball and being in the play Oliver. The problem in this book is that when Kyle tells his basketball coach that he had got a part in the school play, is coach is not to happy with and is blaming him on almost everything that has happened scene he has started doing the play. The coach and his jerky teammate had made fun of him and his old friend and Kyle has had enough if his teammate making fun of his old friend and went off on him. He has this choice to make, but you have to read to find out what happens. The bad part that about this book that I didn't like was when people don't know when to stop making fun of people or telling them that they can't do something because they don't think they can. What i do like about this book is that people think that they can handle more than one other people think they can. I would recommend this book to people who like to read sports books, and to people who like to read basketball books.

[Esty · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can see the full review on my blog here.
Crossover is basically a High School Musical story, just with more serious undertones. Kyle is a popular basketball player who scorns the theater kids and basically anyone different. In the book he reconnects with 2 old friends who rekindle his love for performing he hasn't acted on in years.

Very sweet and fun, you'll enjoy the short read with a nice message. Because of the easy level, you could give it to a younger kid too.

[HERBERT]

This is a book about a boy trying to stay loyal to his friend even though all of his peers make fun of his friend. he makes a promise to be in the school play even throughout the busy basketball season. all of his team-mates make fun of the the school drama club.

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically High School Musical but less corny and with a more serious story.

[Roger Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This i a book about a teenage high schooler how enjoys playing basketball. All of the high school team members talks him into joining the team.

[Alexis]

Read for research purposes

[Isaiahsprague · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a pretty awesome book even though it's a fiction sports book.

[Star Tyson]

Good book. Great lessons for athletes in High School.

[BryGHS2020 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main character, Kyle Evans, is one of the popular kids in his school. He is a very good basketball player and he is a great shooter. Kyle wants to try out for the school musical and he has a lot of problems on the way with his coaches, friends, teachers, and his basketball teammates. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy sports and high school conflict.