Whitehurst Balls Out on the Red Carpet

Bright lights shining, cameras flashing and an unrolled orange carpet, Lower School Librarian Mrs. Lucinda Whitehurst would have never thought that she would be attending a Hollywood premiere. Mrs. Whitehurst, a member of the Newbery Award Selection Committee, was invited to attend the Disney Plus premier of Kwame Alexander’s new series, The Crossover, based on his widely acclaimed namesake novel for young readers. Alexander, a New York Times-Bestselling Author, has visited the Lower School before and grew his own roots close by in Chesapeake, Virginia.

The story of The Crossover follows basketball-loving twins Josh & Jordan Bell as they navigate the challenges of life and adolescence. Stylistically, the story is very unique, as it is presented in poetry with a great volume of pace changes and slang language. The book is presented frequently to Lower School students, who, after overcoming an initial hesitancy to read poetry over prose, adapt to love the new style. Admittedly, the substitution of white space for words also provides motivation for students to try something new. Mrs. Whitehurst said, “I think sometimes if you ask guys, if they want to read poetry, they may not pick that first, but then The Crossover, even though it is written in poetry, it's just telling a great story and people start reading the poems. And it's almost like they forget they're reading poems because the narrative voice coming through is really strong.”

For Mrs. Whitehurst, the entirety of the experience was surreal. She attended the event last April, and was delighted upon receiving news of an invitation. While describing the event she noted the inclusion of countless little details that pulled everything together, including the likes of a historic gymnasium/theater setting for the premier, an attire of warm-up suits for Disney Plus executives, and, as previously mentioned, an orange carpet to fit the basketball theme. Mrs. Whitehurst was invited the night before to a dinner with Alexander and his family/close friends, the following day watching him speak in front of a great crowd, which included the likes of his fellow collaborators, actors, his biggest supporters and Mrs. Whitehurst.