What To Read If You Like Sports Books

Title: A Sporting Chance: How Ludwig Guttmann Created the Paralympic Games
By: Lori Alexander
Published: 2020

Telling the inspiring human story behind the creation of the Paralympics, this chapter book biography artfully combines archival photos, full-color illustrations, and a riveting narrative to honor the life of Ludwig Guttmann, whose work profoundly changed so many lives.

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Ages 8 - 12.

Title: One Last Shot
By: John David Anderson
Published: 2020

For as long as he can remember, Malcolm has never felt like he was good enough. Not for his parents, who have always seemed at odds with each other, with Malcolm caught in between. And especially not for his dad, whose competitive drive and love for sports Malcolm has never shared. That is, until Malcolm discovers miniature golf, the one sport he actually enjoys...and best of all, it's a sport his dad can't possibly obsess over. Or so Malcolm thinks.

J Ander.J
Ages 8 - 12.

Title: Double Foul
By: Craig Battle
Published: 2020

For the first time, the Camp Average is open to girls, including Mack's friend Nicole. Plus, kids can actually choose if they want to play sports competitively or not. Which means Mack can enjoy the waterfront, while his nemesis, Winston, the camp director, chases trophies. Not that Camp Average has won any. The season is more than half over, and they've got nothing to show for it.

J Battl.C
Ages 8 - 12.

Title: Dough Boys
By: Paula Chase
Published: 2019

Told in two voices, thirteen-year-old best friends Simp and Rollie play on a basketball team in their housing project, but Rollie dreams of being a drummer and Simp, to impress the gang leader, Coach Tez.

J Chase.P
Ages 8 - 12.

Title: Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams
By: Lesa Cline-Ransome
Published: 2018

Shares the story of the sisters and tennis stars, including their special relationship as sisters and best friends, their constant training as children, and their incredible success in professional tennis.

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Ages 4 - 8.

Title: Goodnight Soccer
By: Michael Dahl
Published: 2018

The perfect bedtime book for young soccer fans. From the opening kickoff to the final goal, a young girl says goodnight to her most beloved sport: soccer.

JPicture Dahl.M
Ages 4 - 7.

Title: The Fifth Quarter
By: Mike Dawson
Published: 2021

With athletic promise and a dogged determination to keep improving, Lori pursues her passion while navigating awkward social dynamics, her own expectations and her first overnight away from home. Can she find her confidence in school, at home, and on the court?

JGraphic Dawso.M
Ages 8 - 12.

Title: Ten: A Soccer Story
By: Shamini Flint
Published: 2017

In 1986 Malaysia, as she worries about her parents' constant fighting, ardent soccer fan Maya, age eleven, trains herself and pulls together a team at her girls' school, despite soccer being a "boys' game."

J Flint.S
Ages 10 - 12.

Title: Rivals
By: Tom Greenwald
Published: 2021

In basketball-crazed Walthorne, rival middle school stars Austin Chambers and Carter Haswell are both feeling the pressure when school sports reporter Alfie Jenks reveals scandals that jeopardize the whole season. Told through flashbacks, newspaper reports, social media posts, and interviews.

J Green.T
Ages 10 - 14.

Title: Lupe Wong Won't Dance
By: Donna Barba Higuera
Published: 2020

Lupe Wong needs an A in all her classes in order to meet her favorite baseball pitcher, Fu Li Hernandez, but her plan goes awry when she has to learn square dancing in gym class.

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Ages 8-12.

Title: Who Was Babe Ruth?
By: Joan Holub
Published: 2012

Tells Babe Ruth's story, from his boyhood learning to play baseball to his days playing for the Yankees.

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Ages 3 - 4.

Title: Roller Girl
By: Victoria Jamieson
Published: 2015

A graphic novel adventure about a girl who discovers roller derby right as she and her best friend are growing apart.

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Ages 9 - 12.

Title: Strike Zone
By: Derek Jeter
Published: 2020

Derek's season is not off to a good start, with two good friends on a different team and his father unable to coach, and having a girl on his team only complicates things more.

J Jeter.D
Ages 8 - 12.

Title: Dream Big: Michael Jordan and the Pursuit of Olympic Gold
By: Deloris Jordan
Published: 2012

From the age of nine years Michael dreams of playing basketball for the United States in the Olympics, and with hard work and his mother's encouragement, he realizes his dream.

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Ages 4 - 8.

Title: Get A Grip, Vivy Cohen!
By: Sarah Kapit
Published: 2020

Eleven-year-old knuckleball pitcher Vivy Cohen, who has autism, becomes pen pals with her favorite Major League baseball player after writing a letter to him as an assignment for her social skills class.

J Kapit.S
Ages 8 - 12.

Title: Zayd Saleem, Chasing The Dream
By: Hena Khan
Published: 2020

Collects three stories, previously published separately, about Zayd, who gains the support of his family and friends to pursue his dream of becoming a star player on his middle school basketball team.

J Khan.H
Ages 7 - 12.

Title: Batting Order
By: Mike Lupica
Published: 2019

Mike Lupica is a sports fiction dynamo! In this book, twelve-year-old Matt Baker is the best all-rounder on his baseball team, but can he help Big Ben Roberson improve his hitting and stand up to his father?

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Ages 8-12.

Title: The Missing Baseball [Book 1 of the Zach & Zoe Mysteries]
By: Mike Lupica
Published: 2018

Eight-year-old twins Zach and Zoe follow clues to find Zach's missing baseball, signed by his favorite major league player, while competing in Spirit Week events at school.

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Ages 6 - 9.

Title: Catching Confidence
By: Jake Maddox
Published: 2018

Twelve-year-old Ana Flores has never really taken to sports, but when she observes the women's softball team practice at the college where her mother is going to teach, she is intrigued and decides to try out for a local team; unfortunately it is harder than it looks

JChapter Lupic.M
Ages 9 - 12.

Title: Max Explains Everything: Soccer Expert
By: Stacy McAnulty
Published: 2019

Nearly three weeks after starting to play soccer, Max shares his "expert" knowledge of clothing, warm-ups, cheering for his teammates--everything but actually kicking the ball.

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Ages 3 - 7.

Title: There's No Base Like Home
By: Jessica Mendoza
Published: 2018

Sophia Garcia, thirteen, wants to excel at softball like her older sister, Ellie, and make her family proud, but when she is chosen for a different team and position than Ellie, she must learn to succeed by being herself.

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Ages 9 - 12.

Title: Sugar and Ice
By: Kate Messner
Published: 2010

When Russian skating coach Andrei Grosheva offers twelve-year-old farm girl Claire a scholarship to train with the elite in Lake Placid, she encounters a world of mean girls on ice, where competition is everything.

J Messn.K
Ages 8 - 12.

Title: Out of Bounds
By: Andrea Montalbano
Published: 2017

Makena James absolutely loves soccer. She knows it's the best sport around and she feels lucky that the teammates on her super competitive and super skilled team, the Brookville Breakers, feel the same way. The girls always have and always will be Soccer Sisters.

J Monta.A
Ages 8 - 12.

Title: Dugout : The Zombie Steals Home
By: Scott Morse
Published: 2019

Twins Stacy and Gina Cavallaro are on rival little league teams, and when Gina accidentally unleashes a curse that wakes the dead, Stacy's misfit team gets coached by a baseball-playing zombie!

JGraphic Morse.S
Ages 8 - 12.

Title: Hockey In The Wild
By: Nicholas Oldland
Published: 2020

The bear, the moose and the beaver want nothing more this winter than to play hockey -- there's just one problem: the frozen lake they play on won't freeze!

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Ages 3 - 7.

Title: Gabby Garcia's Ultimate Playbook
By: Iva-Marie Palmer
Published: 2017

When her school is shut down due to an asbestos problem, all-star pitcher Gabby Garcia is sent to an upscale private school that already has a star pitcher, and to make matters worse, she has trouble making friends and finding her place.

J Palme.I
Ages 8 -12.

Title: Becoming Muhammad Ali
By: James Patterson
Published: 2020

Before he was a household name, Cassius Clay was a kid with struggles like any other. Kwame Alexander and James Patterson join forces to vividly depict his life up to age seventeen in both prose and verse, including his childhood friends, struggles in school, the racism he faced, and his discovery of boxing.

J Patte.J
Ages 8 - 12.

Title: The Field
By: Baptiste Paul
Published: 2018

Children form teams, build a pitch, and play a joyous game of soccer, in a book with English and Creole (as spoken in Saint Lucia) vocabulary words.

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Ages 4 - 8.

Title: Patina
By: Jason Reynolds
Published: 2017

A newbie to the track team, Patina "Patty" Jones must learn to rely on her family and teammates as she tries to outrun her personal demons.

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Ages 10 and up.

Title: Swish! : the slam-dunking, alley-ooping, high-flying Harlem Globetrotters
By: Suzanne Slade
Published: 2020

In this book you will find one-finger ball-spinning, rapid-fire mini-dribbling, and a ricochet head shot! You will find skilled athletes, expert players, and electrifying performers -- all rolled into one! You will find nonstop, give-it-all-you've-got, out-to-win-it, sky's-the-limit BASKETBALL! You will find THE HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS, who played the most groundbreaking, breathtaking ball the world had ever seen.

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Ages 4 - 8.

Title: Millicent Min, Girl Genius
By: Lisa Yee
Published: 2003

In a series of journal entries, eleven-year-old child prodigy Millicent Min records her struggles to learn to play volleyball, tutor her enemy, deal with her grandmother's departure, and make friends over the course of a tumultuous summer.

J Yee.L
Ages 8 - 12,

Title: Read About MORE Great Sports Books Here!
By: Evanston Public Library
Published: 2020

Going for the Gold: Books About Summer Olympics Sports