Swing

Swing by Kwame Alexander with Mary Rand Hess, 448 pages.
Noah and Walt have been friends for a long time. They are in high school, but, despite their best efforts, they are not cool. Both would play baseball if they could make the team, and each of them are feeling the pangs of unrequited love.
Noah is in love with his childhood friend Samantha, Sam. Walt falls for Divya, the slightly older woman who works at Out with the Old, the local thrift shop.
Divya shares Walt's taste in music, Sam and Noah share a fondness for poetry and art.

Part of the charm of Alexander's YA writing is the form he uses, the novel length free-verse poem. Many of his works are long, colorful, poems which illuminate the thoughts and feelings of the author's protagonists.

Alexander also uses his stories to subtly recommend his favorite books and music to his readers.
After reading Swing, I have put Dexter Gordon's Go on hold because of  the recommendation by Divya.

Also, I got the last signed copy of Swing for the Library at ALA. I saw the author sitting at a booth with a very short line (which should have been a warning that the line was closed). I got in line and then the three people in front of me and I were informed that the line was indeed closed. I asked if I could just stay in line and tell the author how much I admired his work, and was rewarded with the display copy.