![]() The visual aspects of Rebound are central to the power of the text. At the same time, CJ’s ability to effortlessly talk to Charlie nonstop shows true friendship. The monosyllabic conversations between Charlie and Mom demonstrate how they can’t find a way through their collective grief. The corny rhymes and home truths of Granddaddy and the calming words of Grandma together with her fried chicken and peach pie nurture Charlie’s soul. At different moments different voices take centre stage. This verse novel is like a finely crafted piece of music. ‘ Why can’t/ my mother/ understand/ that the shoes/ are not just/ for my feet/ but my heart,/ too?’ Yet his yearning for Air Jordans leads him astray. There he eventually finds himself under the influence of his cousin Roxie, his straight-talking Granddaddy and basketball. When he is not entirely truthful, his mum sends him away to his grandparents. ![]() Unable to talk about his sorrow, Charlie Bell retreats into his comics, stays close to his two school friends and freezes at the sound of a siren. Rebound is a verse novel about a long, hot American summer and the grief of a young man who has suddenly lost his father – ‘ my star exploded/ and everything/ froze‘. ![]()
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