Sports Stories: Go for the Gold

Bennett, Cherie. Girls in Love; 1996. (Y-P-BEN Romance)

A collection of short stories featuring characters from earlier books by Chris Crutcher.

When overweight Elvin is sent to camp at St. Paul’s Seminary Retreat Center, he and his best friends are forced to try out various sports in order to find out where they belong.

A collection of short stories and poems written by and about young women in sports.

Tired of having her own accomplismhments ignored, Casey, sister of the town’s racing champ, becomes the local track’s first female driver and learns about winning.

When Kyle reluctantly succumbs to pressure and replaces his injured brother in the family racecar, he struggles to keep up with his trumpet playing and his music dreams.

Kennin is drawn into the dangerous world of racing cars in Las Vegas.

Kennin’s gaining popularity with the gearheads, but he realizes he needs to give up the illegal tsuisos in order to go legit and if he chooses wrong he could be in trouble.

In a small town, the much-anticipated weekly dirt-track race at the speedway becomes an important life-changing event for all the participants on and off the track.

Trace knows he is fortunate to have a chance at being a paid race driver when he is still in school, but he regrets he must leave his friends and home track and wonders if his sponsor is legitimate.

Bildner, Phil. Playing the Field; 2006. (Y-Bildner)

A black boy with a talent for basketball and an emotionally troubled white boy, who is great on the baseball field, in North Caroline form a precarious friendship.

When a baseball player catches mononucleosis, he discovers that keeping a journal and experimenting with poetry helps fill the time and sort through some problems.

Kevin Boland, poet and first baseman, is torn between his cute girlfriend Mira and Amy, who is funny, plays Chopin, and is also a poet. Sequel to Shakespeare Bats Cleanup.

Mike lives for baseball and hopes to follow his idol in to the major leagues, but he is distracted by a new player who might take his place in center field, and ankle injury, problems at home, and a growing awareness that something bad is happening at school.

When Hutch feels threatened by a new teammate named Darryl, he tries to work through his insecurities about both Darryl and his remote and father, a once-great ballplayer.

Pitching prodigy, Michael is on the run from social services after being banned from playing baseball because rival coaches doubt his age an he has no parents to offer proof.

Even though his mom feels baseball ruined her marriage, she allows Brian to become a batboy for the Detroit Tigers, who just drafted his favorite player back onto the team.

After fighting his way past memories of being molested, Josh gets help in coping with his molestor’s release from prison when he finally tells his best friends the whole truth.

Richard befriends Napoleon, a newcomer to his Catholic high school, hoping that Napoleon will learn to love baseball an win acceptance in the racially polarized school

Roy Hobbs is a natural with the bat an dreams of playing in the big leagues, but his they must be put on hold after a youthful indiscretion.

Toby, a prematurely gray-haired baseball fan and baseball card collector, tries to cope with his brother’s drug abuse, his father’s absence, and his mother’s new boyfriend.

The Malloy girls and the Hatford boys continue to get in trouble as they try to outdo each other in bottle racing, spelling, and baseball.

Dean, a former baseball star whose future has been ruined by a batting slump and a bad arm, is offered a baseball scholarship finds himself uncertain about whether to take it.

For 22 years since a fateful baseball game against a rival town, it has rained in Moundville, so when it finally stops, Roy, his friends, and foster brother dare to face the curse and form a team.

Miserable because his friend moved a way and he again caused his team to lose the big game, Ryan’s life changes when he finds Dodger, a blue chimp that only he can see.

Varsity Baseball player Scott Latimer struggles with his own prejudices an those of others when his best friend reveals that he is gay.

A rising high school baseball star faces his most difficult challenge when is father is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Since the death of his older brother, Billy has had a distant relationship with his ad, but life on their farm begins to change when he starts to play baseball.

With his dad in jail and his mom working full-time, Billy finds himself in charge of running the family farm and having to give up the thing he loves most … baseball.

Billy has to figure out how to get along with the rival in his love life and on the baseball diamond, and both boys must learn how to deal with the unfair expectations of their dads.

Hank, Nathan, Jeremy, and Anabel face the realities of basketball including family pressure, a series of coaches with different agendas, and what it means to be a team

Sonny, a freshman and star basketball player, finds the pressures of college life, NCAA competition, and an unsettling relationship with his cousin bring up painful memories.

A black boy with a talent for basketball and an emotionally troubled white boy, who is great on the baseball field, in North Caroline form a precarious friendship.

Jack has more to worry about than being kicked off the basketball team when he uncovers suspicious circumstances surrounding the car crash that injured his mother.

Sticky lives to play basketball at school and at the Lincoln Rec Center and is headed for the pros, but he is unaware of the dangers, including his past, that threaten his dream.

Struggling with this feelings of inadequacy and his failure to make the basketball team at his new school, Joe finds himself willing to trade his soul for one perfect season.

While trying to prove he is good enough to be on the varsity basketball team, Nick must also deal with his parents’ divorce and erratic behavior of a troubled classmate.

After winning a basketball reporting contest, Stevie and Susan Carol are sent to cover the Final Four tournament, where they discover that a talented player is being blackmailed.

Passionate about basketball, troubled teen Jackson O’Connell chronicles the ways the game colors the events of his senior year in high school.

Tells the story of a high school basketball team’s season through a series of poems reflecting the feelings of students, their families, teachers, and coaches.

When he joins a predominately black team to represent the US at an international basketball tournament, Jimmy makes some unexpected discoveries about prejudice, racism, and politics.

After he is cut from his travel team, the one his father once led to national prominence, Danny forms his own team of cast-offs that might have a shot at victory.

Thirteen-year-old Danny must prove himself all over again for disapproving coach and against new rivals at a summer basketball camp. Sequel to Travel Team.

After her mother’s death, twelve-year-old Molly learns that her father is a basketball star for the Boston Celtics

Thirteen-year-old Savvy’s dream of starting for her elite basketball team are in danger when she is accused of taking steroids.

Two star high school basketball players, one black and one white, experience the justice system differently after committing a crime together and getting caught.

While playing basketball on a court where his best friend was murdered, Mackey tries to come to terms with his part in the murder and whether to tell what really happened.

Feelign abandoned by his parents, who went their separate ways, Jay finds hope for the future in a church-sponsored basketball team and a female friend

Brouwer, Sigmund. Cobra Strike; 2007. (Y-P-BRO Hi/Lo)

A high school football player has to face his collapsing world brought on by his drinking problem.

Travis Cody prepares for the final game of his high school football career, a rematch with the school’s chief rival.

A high school football player has to face his collapsing world brought on by his drinking problem.

Miles barely recalls when football was fun after being sidelined by a new coach, constantly criticized by his father and his pressured by his friend to take performance-enhancing drugs.

Louie, a high school senior in a small Idaho town, learns about sportsmanship, love, and death as he matures into manhood.

Mick, with his father’s urging, earns a spot on the varsity team in his freshman year and holds onto his edge with steroids, despite the consequences to his health and social life.

Overweight, somewhat timid Mitch reluctantly agrees to be the sports reporter for the school paper because he is determined to be a writer but he senses a real story in Angel, a football player who refuses to standout on the field or discuss his past.

Fledgling sports reporters Susan and Stevie investigate suspicious activities at the Super Bowl after he gets fired from his co-anchor job on a ground-breaking teen sports show.

When Ty’s brother is recruited to play for the New York Jets, their uncle Gus uses Ty to get insider information for his gambling ring, landing them in trouble with the mafia.

Troy, with a gift for predicting footbally plays, attempts to use his ability to help his favorite team, the Atlanta Falcons, but he must prove himself to the coach and players.

Troy’s uncanny gift for predicting plays proves a powerful secret weapon for the Atlanta Falcons, but a seedy reporter with a vendetta suspects something is going on and sets out to shred the reputations of Troy and star linebacker Seth Halloway. Sequel to Football Genius.

In a future when people would rather be safe than free, Bo’s anger problems land him in a jail where he survives with the help of his running and an AI program named Bork.

Seventeen-year-old football hero Ausin, trying to understand the inexplicable depression that has drained his interest in life, thinks he has found relief in a girl who seems special.

Lonely after a midsummer move to a new town, quarterback Marcus befriends a retired professional linebacker who help with training, but his behavior gets Marcus in trouble.

Matt, co-captain of the football team, endures a traumatic season as he witnesses the rape of a rookie player by teammates and grapples with his own use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Star quarterback Nate’s family is feeling the stress of the economy, and Nate is frantic because his best friend is going blind, so when he gets a chance to win a million dollars if he can complete a pass during the halftime of a New England Patriot’s game, he is nearly overwhelmed by the pressure to succeed.

High school senior and football player Keir sets out to enjoy himself on graduation night, but when he attempts to comfort a friend who was stood up, things go terribly wrong.

After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school's rival, D.J. decides to go out for the sport herself, not anticipating the reaction.

Laura and her skating partner Patrick are a great team with a shot at a medal, but when Patrick is hurt in a training accident, Laura must decide whether to get another partner.

Carli is a gymnastics genius, but can she find a way to balance her sport with helping her parents on the ranch and the time she needs to dedicate to her classes?

Seventeen-year-old Kime, feeling the pressure of maintaining an A average to stay on her college gymnastics team, becomes obsessed about her weight and develops anorexia.

When Hog Burnell goes to Russia to play in an all-star series, he learns money is more important than hockey to the promoter, forcing Hog to make some dangerous decisions.

Hockey star B.T. McPhee needs to figure out why his team is suddenly being victimized by a series of mysterious accidents which threaten their chances to win the playoffs.

Ray has spent his whole hockey career hiding something, and when he gets a new Russian roommate with his own secret, the latter secret might get them both killed.

With playoffs ahead and a chance to play a few games in the NHL, Josh hesitates to get involved when he finds more than a dozen dead cattle on his dad’s ranch.

When everyone tries to get Joanna off the boys hockey team, including her best friend Ben, Jo resolves to deal with the problems caused by her participation.

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.

Carolle Hansen and her horse Samson, Stevie Lake and her horse, Belle, and Lisa Atwood are competing to win the Colesford Horse Show.

When Sasha and her horse arrive at Canterwood Crest Academy, she knows she’s in trouble. Can she overcome the less than warm welcome and help the riding team win?

If the girls have learned anything, it is how to survive. The girls at Canterwood Crest Academy are in for a big shakeup that might just result in a new queen in the making. Sequel to Rival Revenge.

Sasha is in New York for break, but she hadn’t planned on staying with Heather in her Park Avenue penthouse or spending her time shopping, riding … and even having a good time. Sequel to Home Sweet Drama.

Sasha seems to have it all, but when a superstar rider from her hometown enrolls at Canterwood, she can’t help but wonder whether the new arrival will prove to be friend or foe. Sequel to Scandals, Rumors, Lies.

Sasha and company have moved on from Canterwood Crest, and it’s time for a new cast to take the reins. Lauren, an old friend of Sasha, comes to make her mark.

Georgia buys a figuring of a winged horse and finds it has powers to transport her back in time, where she finds danger, intrigue, and a chance to perfect her riding skills.

Billie and her beautiful gelding are a match made in heaven until Billie sees a terrible accident on the race course. What will she have to do to overcome her fears?

Five month after losing his mother, Gus runs away from an abusive father and gets a job working at a racetrack, surrounded by illegal immigrants that he and his father blame for her death.

Paul, who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother, fights for the right to play soccer despite his near blindness and remembers the incident that damaged his eyesight.

Izzy and Julia do not get along, but when someone starts sabotaging their soccer team’s chances in the playoffs, they work together to find the reason for the interference.

Amanda and her best friend Lena start high school looking forward to playing on the varsity soccer team, but when only Lena makes it, their friendship rapidly changes.

Tyra has moved to England from Florida and must deal with a new school, no friends, and an annoying little sister, but soccer might be a chance to change brighten things up.

Joe, captain of the soccer team, is dismayed when a hotshot player from Brazil threatens to take over the team and the girl he hopes to date.

In an interview with a journalist, World Cup hero El Gato describes his youth in the Brazilian rainforest and the events, experiences, and people that helped make him a star.

Paul, known as the best soccer journalist in the business, investigates the disappearance of a soccer prodigy known as “El Brujito.”

Leah’s chance to make the national soccer team does not seem so important when she learns that her father has cancer and may only have months to live.

Two feuding sisters from Malibu, California, take their rivalry to the soccer field when they both make the high school team.

Christopher, Matt. The Twenty-One-Mile Swim; 1979. (Y-Christopher)

Mia, a violinist, and Will, a tennis player, each relate their feelings about each other, school, friends, and family troubles as they strive to understand the opposite sex.

Sports reporters Susan and Stevie reunite at the U.S. Open tennis championships where they investigate the mysterious disappearance of a top Russian player.

Carries’ dad has been training her to be a superstar since she was little, but now she is tired of having to choose between her friends and tennis. Can a month at a top tennis school help out?

Crutcher, Chris. Ironman; 1995. (Y-P-CRU)

Connely, Neil O. St. Michael’s Scales; 2002. (Y-Connelly)

Dealing with family problems, girls, and their competitive natures, Ivan and Bobby face each other in the final match of the New Jersey State Wrestling Championship.

Stuck in a small town and forced to sit on the bench has his friend becomes state champ, Ben decides he can’t let his last wrestling season slip by without challenging his friend.

At the age of fifteen, Sam’s girlfriend gets pregnant and Sam’s life of skateboarding and daydreaming about Tony Hawk changes drastically.