"The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander, Third Quarter

Twin brothers Josh and Jordan Bell clash both on and off the basketball court. How high can you score on this list of words from Alexander's award-winning novel in verse?

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Warm Up–Second Quarter, Third Quarter–Overtime

Here are links to our lists for other books by Kwame Alexander: Booked, Solo, Rebound, Swing
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. brutal
    harsh
    On the short ride home from the hospital
    there is no jazz music or hoop talk, only brutal silence,
    the unspoken words volcanic and weighty.
  2. solemn
    dignified and somber in manner or character
    Dad and Mom,
    solemn and wounded.
  3. churlish
    rude and boorish
    Did your father and I raise you to be churlish?
  4. deranged
    driven insane
    So, what’s been wrong with you these past few weeks?
    Put that sandwich down and answer me.
    I guess I’ve been just—
    You’ve been just what? DERANGED?
  5. consequence
    the outcome of an event
    There are always consequences, Josh.
    Here it comes: Dishes for a week, no phone, or, worse, no Sundays at the Rec.
  6. annoyed
    aroused to impatience or anger
    As in: I don’t understand how I went from annoyed to grumpy to downright churlish.
  7. atone
    make amends for
    Try to atone day and night.
    Sit beside JB at dinner. He moves.
    Tell him a joke.
    He doesn’t even smile.
    Do his chores.
    He pays no attention.
  8. anticipate
    make a prediction about; tell in advance
    Basketball Rule 17
    Rebounding is the art of anticipating, of always being prepared to grab it.
  9. flagrant
    conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible
    Flagrant foul
  10. squall
    a loud and harsh cry
    I want to join in, offer my squall, but Mom shoots me a look
    that says, Stay out of the rain, son.
  11. onset
    the beginning or early stages
    Mom take a tissue from her purse to wipe her tears,
    and the sudden onset of blood from Dad’s nose.
  12. ironic
    humorously sarcastic or mocking
    Call Dr. Youngblood today
    The name’s ironic, I think.
  13. profusely
    in very large amounts or quantities; extremely
    Your brother has apologized profusely for his mistake
  14. rage
    a feeling of intense anger
    As in: Mom said Dad’s blood pressure was so high
    during the game that when he went into a rage it caused his nose
    to start bleeding profusely.
  15. faze
    disturb the composure of
    Playing without suspended phenom Josh Bell didn’t seem to faze Coach Hawkins’ undefeated ’Cats.
  16. melee
    a noisy riotous fight
    After a brief melee caused by a hard foul, Josh’s twin, Jordan, led the team, like GW crossing the Delaware, to victory, and to their second straight playoff appearance.
  17. quest
    the act of searching for something
    With a first-round bye, they begin their quest for the county trophy next week
  18. tension
    a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense
    I loooove Christmas.
    Can’t wait for your mother’s maple turkey, Dad says, trying
    to break the tension.
  19. reek
    smell badly and offensively
    It reeks of vomit. You threw up, Dad? I ask.
  20. mutter
    talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice
    Y’all ready to eat? he mutters.
  21. pulchritudinous
    having great physical beauty
    It was her first day at our school, and we just started talking about all kinds of stuff and she said she played basketball at her last school, and then Vondie was like, “JB, she’s hot, ’’and I was like, “Yeah, she is kinda pulchritudinous. ”
  22. eavesdrop
    listen without the speaker's knowledge
    Josh, you know I don’t like you eavesdropping.
  23. suffocate
    suppress the development, creativity, or imagination of
    He passes the ball to number twenty-nine
    on the right wing
    and tries to dribble out,
    but the defense is suffocating.
  24. incident
    a single distinct event
    Usually I help JB prepare for his tests, but since the incident he’s been studying alone, which has me a little scared because tomorrow is also the big vocabulary standards test.
  25. heirloom
    something that has been in a family for generations
    As in: Dad treats his championship ring like some kind of family heirloom that we can’t wear until one of us becomes Da Man.
  26. align
    bring into proper or desirable coordination correlation
    If my two stars
    aren't aligned,
    there’s no way
    the universe is kind to us.
  27. estranged
    caused to be unloved
    My brother and I
    got into a bad fight
    when we were in high school,
    and we’ve been estranged ever since.
  28. distraction
    drawing someone's attention away from something
    We don’t need any distractions on this journey.
  29. barely
    in a sparse or scanty way
    and now I understand why JB’s
    taking his second shower this morning
    when he barely takes ONE most school mornings.
  30. coma
    a state of deep and often prolonged unconsciousness
    Your husband’s stable, but he is in a coma.
  31. symptom
    a sensation associated with a particular disease
    As in: The doctor sees me Googling the symptoms — coughing, sweating, vomiting, nosebleeds — and he says,
    You know we can't be sure what causes a myocardial infarction.
  32. genetics
    the study of heredity and variation in organisms
    I say, What about doughnuts and fried chicken and genetics?
  33. dedicate
    address to or inscribe as a sign of honor or respect
    We dedicated the game ball to your pop.
  34. righteous
    morally justified
    Well, it wasn't the right behavior, but
    the intention was righteous.
  35. quiver
    shake with fast, tremulous movements
    The court is SIZZLING
    My sweat is DRIZZLING
    Stop all that quivering
    Cuz tonight I’m delivering
  36. massive
    imposing in scale or scope or degree or power
    After a complication,
    Bell died at St. Luke’s Hospital from a massive heart attack.
  37. hypertension
    a disorder in which blood pressure remains abnormally high
    According to reports,
    Bell suffered from hypertension and had three fainting spells in the four months before his collapse.
  38. autopsy
    an examination and dissection of a dead body
    Autopsy results found Bell had a large, extensively scarred heart.
  39. refuse
    show unwillingness towards
    Reports have surfaced
    that Bell refused to see a doctor.
  40. inevitable
    incapable of being avoided or prevented
    Basketball Rule #10
    A loss is inevitable,
    like snow in winter.
Created on Mon Aug 11 11:27:20 EDT 2025

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