The Teen Place

 

Sports Fiction

 

Both recent and older titles.

Bloor, Edward. Tangerine. Twelve-year-old Paul, who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother Erik, fights for the right to play soccer despite  his near blindness and slowly begins to remember the incident that damaged his eyesight

Brooks, Bruce.  Moves Make the Man. Jerome Foxworthy, the Jayfox to his friends, likes to think he can can handle anything, especially a basketball.  Then  Jerome meets  Bix Rivers - mysterious and moody, but a  great athlete.  So Jerome  decides to teach Bix his
game. He can tell that Bix has the talent. All he's got to do is learn the right moves...

Cadnum, Michael. Heat. Once a championship diver who would leap from a platform higher than a third story balcony, Bonnie has had an accident. Now she has  to decide if she wants to come back and if she’s strong enough to do it.

Carter, Alder. Bull Catcher. In his diary, high-school baseball player Neil "Bull" Larsen re-evaluates his friendships, takes a close look at his family and girlfriend, and wonders--is there any more to life than baseball?

Crutcher, Chris.  Ironman. (and others) Bo Brewster has been at war with his father for as long as he can  remember. After angry  outbursts at his football coach and  English  teacher that have cost him his spot on the football team, he turns to the only adult he believes will listen--Larry King.

Deuker, Carl.  Night Hoops. (and others)  While trying to prove that he is good enough to play on his high  school's varsity basketball team, Nick must also deal with his  parents' divorce and the erractic behavior of a troubled classmate who lives across the street.

Duder, Tessa.  In Lane Three, Alex Archer. Fifteen-year-old Alex struggles to overcome personal trauma and hardship as she competes with her arch rival for a place on the New Zealand swimming team participating in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.

Dygard, Thomas.  Running Wild. When Coach Wilson and Officer Stowell encourage him to  join the high school football team,  Pete no longer believes  that "nobody does anything for nothing."

Klass, David.  Danger Zone. When he joins a predominantly black "Teen Dream Team" that will be representing the United States in an international basketball tournament in Rome, Jimmy Doyle makes some unexpected discoveries about prejudice, racism, and politics

Gallo Donald.  Ultimate Sports: Short Stories by Outstanding Writers for Young Adults. The authors include Chris Crutcher, Carl Deuker, Norma Fox Mazer, Harry Mazer, Chris Lynch, and Virginia Euwer Wolff.

Hewett, Lorri.  Dancer Sixteen-year-old Stephanie struggles to perfect her ballet dancing as her classes are complicated by the introduction of a new male dancer.

Lee, Marie.  Necessary Roughness. Sixteen-year-old Korean American Chan moves from Los Angeles to a small town in Minnesota, where he must cope not only with  racism on the football team but also with the tensions in his relationship with his strict father.

Lewin, Michael.  Cutting Loose. A girl, who dresses like a boy in order to play professional  baseball during the late nineteenth century, tracks the murderer  of her best friend to London where she encounters the killer of her father.

Lipsyte, Robert.  The Contender. (and others) A Harlem high school dropout escapes from a gang into a boxing gym.

Lynch, Chris.  Iceman. Fourteen-year-old Eric, a ruthless hockey player prone to violence on the ice, tries to reconcile his own needs with those of his parents.

Ritter, John H.  Over the Wall. Thirteen-year-old Tyler, who has trouble controlling his anger, spends a summer with hiscousins in New York City,  playing  baseball and sorting out how he feels about violence  and war, including the Vietnamese conflict that took his grandfather's life.

Spinelli, Jerry. There's a Girl in My Hammerlock. Thirteen-year-old Maisie joins her school's formerly all-male wrestling team and tries to last  through the season, despite opposition from other students, her best friend, and her own teammates.

Sweeney, Joyce. Players. Eighteen-year-old Corey sees a threat to his dream of winning the basketball championship when he discovers that the new player on his team is a girl-stealing, friend-framing, team-destroying force of evil.

Watson, Katy. Juice. Jenna, known as Juice, is a sprinter hoping to compete in the Olympics one day. But there are plenty of things that seem to be getting in her way, including competition from a friend and her relationship with her training partner.

 

Return to the Teen Place