Some of our favorite stories about sports for school-age children.
Older Elementary
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, thirteen-year-old Tetsu and his family are sent to the Gila River Relocation Center in Arizona where a fellow prisoner starts a baseball team, but when Tetsu's sister becomes ill and he feels responsible, he stops playing.
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.
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.
Twelve-year-old Ari Fish is sure that the rare trading card he found has changed his luck and that of his soccer team, but after the card is stolen he comes to know that we make our own luck, and that heroes can be fallible.
In 1936, three children meet at the Mercy Home for Negro Orphans in New York State, and while not all three are orphans, they are all dealing with grief and loss which together, along with the help of a sympathetic staff member and the boxing matches of Joe Louis, they manage to overcome. Includes author's notes.
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.
Comeback Kids: book 1
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.
Thirteen-year-old Tatum's dream of competing in the grueling 1,049-mile Iditerod Trail Sled Dog Race may be at an end when she becomes lost in a freak snowstorm during a training run on Alaska's remote Santa Ysabel Island.
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.
Each member of the South Orange River seventh-grade soccer team has qualities of excellence, but not on the soccer field.
Baseball card adventure: book 4
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.
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.
"Slam" Harris is counting on his noteworthy basketball talents to get him out of the inner city.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ten-year-old Jackson lives for baseball, but becomes distracted by the approach of middle school, his mother's latest boyfriend, and the presence of a girl--his good friend's sister--on his team. (First in the 4 For 4 series.)
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.
Using an "Everyman" player as his narrator, Kadir Nelson tells the story of Negro League baseball from its beginnings in the 1920s through the decline after Jackie Robinson crossed over to the majors in 1947. Illustrations from oil paintings by artist Kadir Nelson.
Good sports: book 2
Profiles five female athletes through history that overcame adversity and discrimination to become prominent players in their sports, including historic swimmer Trudy Ederle and NASCAR's Danica Patrick. (Part of the Good Sports series.)
Younger Elementary
Gym shorts: book 6
Wanting to win the doubles tennis trophy, Henry helps his partner Rocky train for the match while also working on his history project, which may be a bit more work than Henry can handle. Part of the Gym Shorts series.
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.
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.
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.
Sam's cousin from Mexico comes for an extended visit and teaches Sam and all the second graders to play soccer.
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.
A boy and his psychic dog are able to steal plays from the opposing football team.