The Crossover
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40 free The Crossover trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Kwame Alexander's The Crossover follows twin brothers Josh and JB Bell through one basketball season that changes their family. It is a quick read that leaves plenty to remember: nicknames, bets, vocabulary words, big games and a father the boys idolize. This quiz covers the whole story, from the Warm-Up and First Quarter through the Fourth Quarter and Overtime. Expect questions on the Bell family, the new girl who comes between the brothers, the warning signs about their dad's health and the championship game. A few questions look at the author, the prizes the novel collected and its TV adaptation. It is written for students reading the novel in class, teachers who want a quick comprehension check, and anyone revisiting the story. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so the quiz works for review before a test as well as for fun.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In The Crossover, which nickname does Josh Bell take from a jazz tune his dad dedicates to him?
Filthy McNasty
Filthy McNasty was a name Josh disliked at first, until his dad began screaming it in praise whenever he scored.
Q 02Kwame Alexander's The Crossover tells Josh Bell's whole basketball story in which literary form?
Verse
Verse lets the type itself play: during Josh's play-by-plays the words grow, shrink and slide diagonally across the page.
Q 03In The Crossover, what job does the mother of twins Josh and JB hold at their own middle school?
Assistant principal
Assistant principal is her job, so Josh lands in his own mother's office when a teacher catches him passing a note during a test.
Q 04In The Crossover, which NBA legend is on JB's bedsheets, cups, sunglasses and even his toothbrush?
Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan is JB's not-so-secret hero: he owns twelve pairs of the star's sneakers and spent $50 won in a bet on that toothbrush.
Q 05In The Crossover, what nickname does Josh give Alexis, the new girl who becomes JB's girlfriend?
Miss Sweet Tea
Miss Sweet Tea is all Josh calls her until the last pages, when she phones after his dad's funeral and he finally uses her real name.
Q 06In The Crossover, which inherited condition leads Josh's mom to take the salt off the dinner table?
Hypertension
Hypertension is one of the words Josh defines for himself, noting that it runs in families and that too much salt can cause it.
Q 07In The Crossover, which keepsake of their late dad's does JB hand to Josh in the closing scene?
His championship ring
His championship ring was something Dad had said Josh could wear only once he had earned his father's old nickname.
Q 08In The Crossover, where does Chuck Bell take his sons for doughnuts that their mother has banned?
Krispy Kreme
Krispy Kreme is where he eats three doughnuts, insists Mom will never know, and retells his favorite story of teaching the twins to play.
Q 09In The Crossover, which feat can Josh alone among his middle school teammates pull off on court?
A slam dunk
A slam dunk is beyond JB, who tries and fails at the end of warm-ups while Josh, nearly six feet tall at twelve, shows him how.
Q 10In The Crossover, how does Josh's mom punish him for hurling a ball into JB's face?
A suspension from the team
A suspension from the team keeps Josh off the court for weeks, and his mom warns him that boys without self-control end up in jail.
Q 11In The Crossover, which college, attended by Alexis's sister, does Josh dream of playing for?
Duke University
Duke University is Josh's goal, while his twin JB has his heart set on playing for the University of North Carolina.
Q 12In The Crossover, which nickname did Chuck Bell earn as a professional basketball player overseas?
Da Man
Da Man, he tells Josh, came from never losing, having the best moves and being popular with the ladies.
Q 13In The Crossover, which gym class lesson does Josh put to use when his dad collapses on court?
CPR compressions
CPR compressions were a lesson Josh barely followed, too busy watching JB and Alexis pass notes, yet his dad later says they saved him.
Q 21Which jazz pianist recorded the tune that gives Josh Bell his nickname in The Crossover?
Horace Silver
Horace Silver, a pioneer of hard bop, is a favorite of Josh's dad, who dedicated the tune to his unimpressed son.
Q 22In The Crossover, which homework vocabulary word does Josh use when asked his opinion of Alexis?
Pulchritudinous
Pulchritudinous, meaning strikingly beautiful, returns weeks later when JB says it at dinner, his first friendly signal to Josh in fifteen days.
Q 23In The Crossover, which knee injury ended Chuck Bell's playing career after he refused surgery?
Patellar tendinitis
Q 14At the end of The Crossover, what is Josh shooting as he chases his dad's record of fifty in a row?
Free throws
Free throws close the story: one short of fifty, Josh hands the ball to JB so that his twin can take the final shot.
Q 15In The Crossover, on which day does Chuck Bell wake from his coma and high-five JB?
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve brings him back, and the next day relatives from five different states crowd into his room to celebrate.
Q 16In The Crossover, Josh grows locks after an old clip shows his dad's own looking like what?
Wings
Wings is how they looked as his dad rose toward the rim, and Josh decided he needed a pair of his own so that he could fly too.
Q 17Which American Library Association award for children's literature did The Crossover win in 2015?
Newbery Medal
Newbery Medal winners are picked by a fifteen-person committee, and the prize is named for an 18th-century English publisher of children's books.
Q 18Which streaming service released a 2023 drama series based on the novel The Crossover?
Disney+
Disney+ put every episode up at once on April 5, 2023, nine years after the novel first reached bookshops.
Q 19In The Crossover, why does Coach bench Josh for the first half of the game in which he hurts JB?
He arrived late
He arrived late because police pulled his dad over on the drive to the gym, an excuse Coach refused to hear.
Q 20In The Crossover, which vocabulary word does Josh's mom use after JB cuts five locks instead of one?
Calamity
Calamity is her verdict on the bald patch, and she sends Josh to the barber to have every remaining lock cut off as well.
Patellar tendinitis, better known as jumper's knee, comes to light when the twins open a box of keepsakes in their parents' closet.
Q 24In The Crossover, which NBA team's tryout invitation do the twins find hidden in their dad's closet?
The Lakers
The Lakers stayed his favorite team, and a second letter in the same hiding place warned that without knee surgery he might never play again.
Q 25In The Crossover, by what team name are Josh, JB and their Reggie Lewis teammates known?
Wildcats
Wildcats is the name, and the team reels off ten wins in a row on its way to a first county championship.
Q 26In The Crossover, which Lois Lowry novel is Josh fetching when he sees JB kissing Alexis?
The Giver
The Giver is the subject of a report Josh has to write, and he needs the library's copy only because JB has taken his.
Q 27In The Crossover, which honor does the Daily News give Josh in an article about a win led by JB?
Most Valuable Player
Most Valuable Player delights most of his classmates, but Alexis tells Josh he does not deserve it after what he did to JB.
Q 28In The Crossover, which medical term does a doctor use for what puts Chuck Bell in a coma?
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction means blood flow to part of the heart is blocked, and JB reacts by saying he now hates basketball.
Q 29In The Crossover, which line dance do Josh, JB and Vondie do at halftime to Coach's favorite music?
The Cha-Cha Slide
The Cha-Cha Slide breaks out with the team trailing by seven points and Coach not worried in the least.
Q 30In The Crossover, which classic book does Coach read aloud from to open a team practice?
The Art of War
The Art of War supplies the day's lesson: a winning strategy is about responding quickly, not about planning.