sports fiction

"Nate plays soccer, but he doesn't love it. He plays because it's what his family expects. Then Lucas Cawley moves in across the street. Lucas isn't like any of Nate's sports friends--he's poor, his parents are mostly absent, and he's devoted to his sister, Megan, who has a learning disability. Lucas may be an outcast at school, but he and Nate find common ground in their fierce games of one-on-one basketball. It's not long before Nate realizes that basketball is his sport. But Nate has an ax to grind with star players Colin and Bo, who have disrespected him for years. Nate believes that outplaying those two is the most important thing . . . until he learns that life is about more than getting ready for the next game"--Amazon.

Twelve-year-old Valeria "Magic" Salom?n is a soccer prodigy, and she is the only girl on the elite boys' team her abuelo coaches. She's determined to make it to the Olympic Development Program, but when Magic gets her first period and embarrassingly bleeds through her white shorts in front of everyone during a State Cup match, she's cut from the team. Valeria talks her way onto a girls' soccer team, despite having missed the tryout, but her new teammates are less than thrilled as she's spent years ignoring them to compete with the boys. Valeria must learn how to play with a team, instead of just focusing on herself, and things get even more complicated when Valeria's cousin Max comes from Argentina to live with them, and he takes over Valeria's old position on the team.

Aliya Javaid's world is turned upside down when she and her family move from Florida to Wisconsin. The Islamic school is bigger, the city is colder, and the basketball team at her new school, Peace Academy, is terrible. Aliya joins the all-girls, hijab-wearing basketball team, and the girls set out to change things. As the season goes on, the team improves, but Aliya soon starts to struggles with doubts about her abilities and keeping up with her schoolwork.

"It's warm up time in this newest installment in the Brinkley Yearbook series. Will Alexandra make the cut and help the historically boys baseball team defend their 9-year championship title? Alexandra, also known as Al, has been playing baseball with her older brothers for as long as she can remember. But when she ages out of Little League, it seems like it's the end of the road for Al and the sport she loves. Until, that is, her friend Sammy suggests that Al try out for the middle school team -- a team that has always been boys-only. Al is prepared to fight for her right to try out, but to her surprise, the coach is delighted by her interest. When Al makes the team, it seems like everything is going to work out. But with a tenth consecutive championship on the line for Brinkley Middle School and a team that can't seem to get along, will their season ground out faster than Al can say "home run"?"--.

"The North Star soccer team is thrilled when Shane, the new boy at school, turns out to be a talented goalkeeper. But Shane has a temper that gets him in trouble and a demanding father who acts out on the sidelines at every game. Soon Shane's teammates start to worry that something is really wrong--and that Shane's not nearly as tough as he seems"--Provided by publisher.

"Seventh grader Derek Jeter, distracted with responsibilites of playing both basketball and baseball, finds himself on the bench with an injury and he must learn how to be a team player from the dugout and understand the importance of taking care of his body"--OCLC.

Desperate to keep her friend group together, Holly-Mei convinces them to compete as a team in an inter-school tournament across Hong Kong, but when she becomes obsessed with winning, she pushes them away.

"Tommy has dreamed of being a Bulldog forever. The Bulldogs eat, BREATHE, and fart sports. They're part of the elusive Super Sports Society in his hometown, and Tommy knows that if he makes the team, he'll be set up for life. Meanwhile, Pel would rather be at home gaming in the air-conditioning, but his mom decided that he has to 'be a role model' to his little siblings (ugh!), and now he's trying out for the Bulldogs too. At least that means the two BFFs won't be in competition for the spot . . . right? (Wrong.)"--Back cover.

Born and raised in a small town, twelve-year-old Leo K. Doyle has never seen the ocean or stepped foot on a plane. But Leo is a star soccer player with big dreams in life. . . While Leo longs to make the pros one day, he has no idea how to achieve this goal - until a professional scout pays a chance visit to one of Leo's games and extends an invitation to try out for the London Dragons youth squad, known as The Academy. Leo is stunned. The London Dragons isn't just any old soccer team. It's a world-famous English Premier League team. Soon Leo is off to a whole new country, embarking on the greatest adventure of his life. The downside? Only eleven players can make the team. Eleven out of two hundred of the very best twelve-year-old players on the planet. Along with the gruelling competition, Leo must also face a bully intent on torpedoing his summer, a roomie who doesn't know how to have fun, a terrifying camp director, and, most of all, Leo's own lack of formal training and the fear he'll never succeed. By the end of the summer, Leo will become a much better player and forever changed by his experience. But will he be good enough to make the Academy?.

Rosie loves surfing at her Aunt Hazel's surfing school in Byron Bay, Australia, but this summer she is tasked with teaching her cousin Flora to surf although the two have never liked each other--and Rosie is finding it difficult to overcome her dislike.