The Crossover: First Quarter

by Kwame Alexander
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, First Quarter, Second Quarter,
Third Quarter, Fourth Quarter–Overtime

Here are links to our lists for other books by Kwame Alexander: Booked, Solo, Rebound, Swing
15 words 12592 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. flaunt
    display proudly
    I want to go to Duke, he flaunts Carolina Blue.
  2. phenomenal
    exceedingly or unbelievably great
    JB’s the second most phenomenal baller on our team.
  3. impersonation
    mimicking the mannerisms of someone else
    Coach calls us in,
    does his Phil Jackson impersonation.
  4. taunt
    harass with persistent criticism or carping
    JB likes to taunt and trash talk during games like Dad used to do when he played.
  5. enshrine
    enclose in a place of worship
    If my hair were a tree I’d climb it.
    I’d kneel down beneath and enshrine it.
    I’d treat it like gold and then mine it.
  6. legendary
    so celebrated as to having taken on the nature of a myth
    Even though I used to be one of those nerdy sixth-graders, even though I love my hair the way Dad loves Krispy Kreme, even though I don’t want us to lose the game, odds are this is one of JB’s legendary bets I’ll win
  7. cackle
    emit a loud, unpleasant kind of laughing
    In the locker room
    after the game,
    JB cackles like a crow.
  8. calamity
    an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
    He opens the scissors, grabs my hair to slash a strand.
    I don’t hear my golden lock hit the floor, but I do hear the sound of calamity when Vondie hollers,
    OH, SNAP!
  9. seldom
    not often
    I am not
    a mathematician— a + b seldom equals c.
  10. strategy
    an elaborate and systematic plan of action
    Coach reads to us from The Art of War:
    A winning strategy is not about planning, he says.
    It’s about quick responses to changing conditions.
  11. frantically
    in an uncontrolled manner
    Dad takes us to the Rec to practice shooting free throws with one hand while he stands two feet in front of us,
    waving frantically in our faces.
  12. amateur
    someone who pursues a study or sport as a pastime
    I challenge them:
    It won’t be so funny when we shut you amateurs down, will it?
  13. expectation
    belief about the future
    Others’ expectations of you are determined by their limitations of life.
  14. camaraderie
    the quality of affording easy familiarity and sociability
    In this moment I forget about the test and the note
    until JB hits me in the head with his No. 2.
    Somewhere between camaraderie and imbecile I tap her beige bare shoulder with the note.
  15. torso
    the body excluding the head and neck and limbs
    He’s standing in front of the class, a dummy laid out on the floor,
    plastic, faceless, torso cut in half.
Created on Wed Mar 23 19:50:14 EDT 2016 (updated Mon Aug 11 12:02:27 EDT 2025)

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