Swing has issues with his future stepfather, meets and falls for slightly older thrift store employee Divya, and awaits the return of his older brother, Moses, from military action in Afghanistan. The love letters and Swing’s vast love for jazz music motivate Noah to repurpose the letters and make them his own. Noah gets his inspiration to woo Sam from love letters written during the 1960s, which he finds at a thrift store. Noah’s best friend, charismatic Walt Disney “Swing” Jones, has plans for them to get back onto the team and become the kings of cool. His secret crush on Samantha Worthington is unrequited. He got cut from the baseball team, again. Seventeen-year-old Noah Wallace is not having any luck. A must-have.–Donald Peebles, Brooklyn Public Library VERDICT This important and recommended contemporary YA will inspire young people to find their own voices and take a swing at life. Jazz music fans will enjoy this focus and its intersections with art, history, baseball, and literature. Readers will fall in love with scene-stealer Swing. Noah’s dialogue differs from the italicized dialogue of the other characters. It is a free verse poetic narrative fused with collage art and manga influences. Alexander and Hess strike gold with this fun, witty, and intellectual YA novel.

Noah and Swing’s party, an American flag mystery, and Moses’s return significantly alter their lives forever.

Swing by Kwame Alexander