Sports Stories

Younger Elementary

Christopher, Matt. The Dog that Stole Football Plays. (First Chapter Books Ch)
A boy and his psychic dog are able to steal plays from the opposing football team.

Greene, Stephanie. Owen Foote: Soccer Star. (First Chapter Books Gr)
When eight-year-old Owen and his best friend Joseph join a neighborhood soccer league, they not only face a test of their game skills but also of their friendship.

Hicks, Betty. Basketball Bats. (J First Chapter Books Hi)
Henry and his basketball teammates, the Bats, take on the Tigers, and Henry learns a lesson about working as a team. Part of the Gym Shorts series.

Kline, Suzy. Molly Gets Mad. (First Chapter Books Kl)
Third grader Molly is jealous of Florence's superior ice skating ability but makes an interesting discovery about teamwork when she joins the hockey team.

Marzollo, Jean. Soccer Sam. (J-ER Ma)
Sam's cousin from Mexico comes for an extended visit and teaches Sam and all the second graders to play soccer.

McCarthy, Meghan. Strong Man: The Story of Charles Atlas (921 Atl)
He could tear phone books in half, bend iron bars into giant Us, and pull a 145,000-pound train with his bare hands. But once upon a time, Atlas himself was a "97-pound weakling" who was picked on by neighborhood bullies.

Sachar, Louis. Marvin Redpost: Super Fast, Out of Control! (First Chapter Books Sa)
Afraid of his new mountain bike, third-grader Marvin finds himself in a desperate situation when he accepts a challenge to ride down Suicide Hill.

Older Elementary

Avi. S.O.R. Losers. (J Av)
Each member of the South Orange River seventh-grade soccer team has qualities of excellence, but not on the soccer field.

Bledsoe, Lucy Jane. Hoop Girlz. (J Bl)
When ten-year-old River, who is crazy about basketball, is not chosen to play in the tournament set up in the town of Azalea, Oregon, she decides to organize a team of her own and accepts the help of her older brother.

Chabon, Michael. Summerland. (J Ch)
Ethan Feld, the worst baseball player in the history of the game, finds himself recruited by a 100-year-old scout to help a band of fairies triumph over an ancient enemy.

Fitzgerald, Dawn. Soccer Chick Rules. (J Fi)
While trying to focus on a winning soccer season, thirteen-year-old Tess becomes involved in local politics when she learns that all sports programs at her school will be stopped unless a tax levy is passed.

Green, Tim. Baseball Great. (J Gr)
All twelve-year-old Josh wants to do is play baseball but when his father, a minor league pitcher, signs him up for a youth championship team, Josh finds himself embroiled in a situation with potentially illegal consequences.

Gutman, Dan. The Million Dollar Kick. (J Gu)
Thirteen-year-old Whisper, who hates sports, is torn when she gets a chance to win a million dollars by kicking a goal against a local soccer hero.

Gutman, Dan. Shoeless Joe and Me: A Baseball Card Adventure. (J Gu)
Joe Stoshack travels back to 1919, where he meets Shoeless Joe Jackson and tries to prevent the fixing of the World Series in which Jackson was wrongly implicated.

Harkrader, Lisa. Airball: My Life in briefs. (J Ha)
Uncoordinated Kansas seventh-grader Kirby Nickel braves his coach's ire and becomes captain of the basketball team in order to help him prove that NBA star Brett McGrew is the father he has never known.

Korman, Gordon. The Zucchini Warriors. (J Ko)
Roommates Bruno and Boots find obstacles in their way as they attempt to lead the Macdonald Hall Zucchini Warriors to a victorious football season and earn the reward of a new recreation center.

Lay-ups and Long Shots: An anthology of short stories. (J La)
A collection of nine short stories about middle-schoolers and sports. They range from a game of "H-O-R-S-E" to running, ping pong, dirt biking, surfing, place kicking, soccer, and basketball.

Lupica, Mike. Travel Team. (J Lu)
After he is cut from his travel basketball team--the very same team that his father once led to national prominence--twelve-year-old Danny Walker forms his own team of cast-offs that might have a shot at victory.

Lupica, Mike. Hot Hand. (J Lu)
In the wake of his parents' separation, ten-year-old Billy seems to have continual conflicts with his father, who is also his basketball coach, but his quiet, younger brother Ben, a piano prodigy, is having even more trouble adjusting, and only Billy seems to notice.

Mackel, Kathy. Madcat. (J Ma)
Fast-pitch softball catcher MadCat Campione's love for the sport--and her relationship with her best friends--is strained when her team competes on a national level.

Myers, Walter Dean. Slam! (J My)
"Slam" Harris is counting on his noteworthy basketball talents to get him out of the inner city.

Preller, James. Six Innings: A Game in the Life. (J Pr)
The heart stopping action of a little league baseball game frames a personal introduction to the players, the strategies, and twelve-year-old Sam, sidelined by cancer.

Ritter, John H. The Boy Who Saved Baseball. (J Ri)
The fate of a small California town rests on the outcome of one baseball game. Tom Gallagher hopes to lead his team to victory with the secrets of the now disgraced player, Dante Del Gato. Read the prequel: The Desperado Who Stole Baseball!

Soto, Gary. Taking Sides. (J So)
Fourteen-year-old Lincoln Mendoza, an aspiring basketball player, must come to terms with his divided loyalties when he moves from the Hispanic inner city to a white suburban neighborhood.

Spurr, Elizabeth. Surfer Dog. (J Sp)
After moving to a new California beach town, eleven-year-old Pete feels lonely until he meets a dog that shares his passion for surfing.

Updated by MCPL Children's Librarians, Summer 2009