Showing titles in Sports Fiction

He wasn't born with the name Maniac Magee. He came into this world named Jeffrey Lionel Magee, but when his parents died and his life changed, so did his name. And Maniac Magee became a legend. Even today kids talk about how fast he could run; about how he hit an inside-the-park "frog" homer; about how no knot, no matter how snarled, would stay that way once he began to untie it. But the thing Maniac Magee is best known for is what he did for the kids from the East Side and those from the West Side.

In Arthur Makes the Team, Arthur is thrilled to make the Little League team but worries that he won't be able to play as well as all his friends. At practice, he acts like a klutz, nad Francine won't let him forget it. The first game creeps closer...will Arthur be able to show his teammates they can count on him?

Twelve-year-old Danny Walker may be the smallest kid on the basketball court, but don't tell him that. Because no one plays with more heart or court sense. But none of that matters when he is cut from his local travel team, the very same team his father led to national prominence as a boy. Danny's father knows Danny isn't the only kid who was cut for the wrong reason, and together, this washed-up former player and a bunch of never-say-die kids prove that the heart simply cannot be measured.

Danny Jordan is one of two lucky winners of the US Basketball Writer's Association's contest for aspiring journalists. His prize? A trip to New Orleans and a coveted press pass for the Final Four. It's a basketball junkie's dream come true! But the games going on behind the scenes between the coaches, the players, the media, the money-men, and the fans turn out to be even more fiercely competitive than those on the court.

Carolyn Haywood's Betsy series has become a timeless classic. She cleverly depicts amusing situations in which children develop lasting relationships including the fourth-grade adventures of Betsy and Billy. The boys decide to form a football team, but they have a big problem: no football! And, they have no money to buy one. They don't want any girls on the team, but Betsy has a plan for changing their minds. The team is pretty desperate, but Betsy saves the game.

Fans of the ingenious little monkey will not be disappointed as he embarks on a wild series of adventures in a traveling circus.

Twelve-year-old Michael Arroyo lives in the shadows of Yankee Stadium, home of his heroes, but a place that might as well be on a different continent since he can't afford to see the inside. He also lives in the shadows of his Bronx neighborhood, hiding from the bill collectors and the officials who would separate him from his 17-year-old brother if they knew the two boys were living on their own. Baseball is Michael's only salvation.

Pup Morgan is a radical surfer. His dad, Mad Dog Morgan, is a surfing legend. Pup plus school, and Dad plus his job, just don't add up to happy times. One day they break out, and it's six weeks of full-on surfing and the ultimate in surfaris.

Lennie's great-grandfather played for the Cheetahs. So did his grandfather. So did his dad. They're footy legends.

Specky comes face to face with a tough, talented player by the name of Derek "Screamer" Johnson. He was responsible for having Specky sent off during a game last season. The two boys become bitter rivals, and when a popular TV show runs a nationwide football contest, Specky is relieved when everyone except Screamer decides to enter.

With 128 athletes competing in dozens of matches for millions in prize money, you expect drama. You expect blistering serves, smashed returns, and sliced shots that kiss the line. You do not expect kidnapping.

Josh Cameron has it all: a World Championship ring with the Boston Celtics, an MVP award, a clean-cut image, and the adoration of millions. What he doesn't have is family -- until the day 12-year-old smart aleck Molly Parker confronts him in a parking lot and claims to be his daughter, the only daughter of Jen Parker, Josh's college sweetheart and the still the only girl he's ever loved. Trouble is, Jen Parker died last year, and now Molly has tracked down the father she never knew.

From his first day at boarding school, Toyo Shimada sees how upperclassmen make a sport out of terrorizing the first-years. Still, he's taken aback when the seniors keep him from trying out for the baseball team, especially after he sees their current shortstop. Toyo isn't afraid to prove himself; He's more troubled by his uncle's recent suicide. Although Uncle Koji's defiant death was supposedly heroic, it has made Toyo question many things about his family's samurai background.

Something strange is happening to Mr. Fetlock's well-trained racehorses! Suddenly his swiftest steeds are running slowly. Sometimes they just sit down. Nine-year-old Harriet Bean is just the right size to pose as a jockey and unravel this bizarre mystery. But as Harriet sits next to Black Lightning, she has second thoughts about riding such a terrifying beast and exposing the diabolical League of Cheats.

Griffith, Graham, and Ruby's father passed away in the war. And now they must join their mother and their father's wartime traveling baseball team, The Travelin' Nine, on a a tour of America to raise money. No one will tell the kids why the team needs money so badly. Their only clue is a baseball with a hole the size of an acorn in it that their Uncle Owen gave to them the night of their father's funeral. When all three kids hold the ball, strange things begin to happen.

Afternoon kindergarten is having a field day, and Junie B. Jones is team captain! Only, here's the problem: Room Eight keeps on winning too many events. And so how will Room Nine ever become the kindergarten champions? As Captain Field Day, will Junie B. find a way to lead her team to victory? Or will it be up to someone else to save the day?

It feels as if it's going to be a long season for Arthur as he struggles to sharpen his baseball skills. But before it's all over, he learns an important lesson about teamwork.

How many 14-year-old boys would turn down an offer of time travel to any baseball game in history? Certainly not die-hard New York Yankees fan Matt Collier. Accompanied by the Time Keeper, guardian of Time throughout the universe, Matt becomes the batboy for his beloved team and tries to change the outcome of the 1960 World Series, the first ever to end with a home run.

Eddie Rickenbacker was a World War I Flying Ace, a Medal of Honor winner, and even a racecar driver. But did you know that his first attempt at flying was to ride his bicycle off the roof of his house while holding an umbrella?

Life is looking up for D.J. Schwenk. She's in 11th grade, finally. After a rocky summer, she's reconnecting in a big way with her best friend, Amber. She's got kind of a thing going with Brian Nelson, who's cute and popular and smart but seems to like her anyway. And then there's the fact that she's starting for the Red Bend High School football team, as the first girl linebacker in northern Wisconsin, probably. Which just shows you can't predict the future.