Rebound

Charlie must face accountability for his actions when his mother announces plans to take him home. In evidence of his growth, he accepts this decision despite wanting to stay with his grandparents. He recognizes his own growth when he goes to say goodbye to Roxie, playing one final game of one-on-one with her and coming closer to winning. The moment resonates symbolically in addition to demonstrating Charlie’s improved skills; it gives Charlie the sense that he is “finding normal again” (392), signifying how hard work has given him purpose and contributed to his healing.

Percy imparts some final wisdom through his peach metaphor. He tells Charlie that the peaches that have fallen to the ground are “immature […] Weak. Scabs and stinkbugs / sucking the life out of ‘em […] But there’s a few good ones here. / There’s hope” (387). Percy is alluding in part to The Impact of Role Models in Adolescence, warning of what can result from negative influences, but he is also speaking more broadly about the ways in which life’s challenges (e.g., grief) can weaken a person. However, he tells Charlie there is hope, signifying that he believes in his grandson. In a symbolic gesture, Charlie’s grandmother gives him an entire peach pie before he leaves, illustrating his family’s faith that he will find his way to healing and contribute positively to the world. Percy also gives Charlie the record that has his father’s favorite jazz song on it, “Filthy McNasty.” In conjunction with Percy’s claim that jazz can take Charlie anywhere he wants to go in life, the gift serves as a bridge between Charlie’s past and his future; it implies that he will learn to use his memories of his father to shape a meaningful life for himself.

The Epilogue depicts Charlie and CJ’s twin sons playing basketball in the final days before they leave for college. CJ gives the boys Charlie’s journal from 1988 as a way of keeping his memory alive, mirroring Percy’s gift of the album; like his father, Charlie has apparently died young. This is not the only parallel between the book’s opening and closing pages. Chapters 246 and 247 repeat much language from the book’s early chapters verbatim, but with differences that underscore the character arc Charlie has experienced over the course of the work. For instance, the Prologue states:

[Charlie] had to learn

how to rebound

on the court.

And off (2).

The language here indicates a task that still needs to be completed, and the choice to make “And off” its own sentence underscores the daunting nature of that task. By contrast, the reprise emphasizes that Charlie has learned to rebound and credits his family with his growth:

[M]y cousin Roxie

and my grandparents

taught me

how to rebound,

on and off

the court (408).

The Epilogue also serves as a springboard to The Crossover and Booked. Although Josh and JB have clearly accepted their own father’s death in a way Charlie struggles to for most of the novel, commonalities like their love of basketball hint that their character arcs will not be entirely dissimilar to their father’s.