Quote by Kwame Alexander: “Words can be wings, if you let them.”

Language has the power to lift you out of where you are — to let you imagine, travel, and become something you couldn't access any other way. But it only works if you open yourself up to it. The capacity for transformation is there; the willingness is yours to give.

Alexander published The Crossover in 2014, the same year that data showed a significant decline in reading among American young people, particularly boys. His verse novel was designed to speak directly to young readers who found traditional prose fiction alienating, and it became a catalyst for a new wave of verse novels in children's literature.

American poet, educator, and bestselling author who won the Newbery Medal in 2015 for his verse novel The Crossover. He has been a prominent advocate for poetry in schools and his books have introduced a generation of young readers to the power of verse as a literary form.