2 Kwame Alexander first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Crossover (2014) to The Undefeated (2019) across 2 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Kwame Alexander title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.

Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a Kwame Alexander copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.

The Crossover — 2014 · Houghton Mifflin HarcourtFirst edition published 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Boston). First printing has a full number line ending in 1; copyright 2014. Publisher's pictorial boards; first-issue jacket without the Newbery Medal seal. A novel in verse. ISBN 9780544107717. US true first edition. Awarded the Newbery Medal in 2015. A number line not ending in 1 indicates a later printing. Book-club editions typically lack a jacket price, and jackets bearing the Newbery seal postdate the 2015 award.
The Undefeated — 2019 · Versify / Houghton Mifflin HarcourtFirst printing has a number line ending in 1; Versify imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Kadir Nelson paintings; true-first jacket carries NO award seals because the Caldecott Medal, Newbery Honor, and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor were all awarded in 2020, after first publication. The US Versify/HMH 2019 hardcover is the true first. It won the 2020 Caldecott Medal, a 2020 Newbery Honor, and a 2020 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor; the genuine first-printing jacket predates those seals. Later printings add the medal seals to the jacket. Board-book and paperback formats are not the first edition.

More Children's & YA shelves: L. Frank Baum, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler), Lloyd Alexander, Lois Lowry, Ludwig Bemelmans.

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