Sports Fiction for Teens

Blue Star Rapture
Bennett, James (YA BENNETT)
All T.J. wants from summer camp is to help his friend cozy up to the college recruiters. But he soon finds out there are some games that just shouldn’t be played.

Tangerine
Bloor, Edward (YA BLOOR)
Paul may be blind, but that doesn’t stop him from playing on a tough soccer team or seeing through his family’s lies.

The Moves Make the Man
Brooks, Bruce (YA BROOKS)
Reverse spin, triple pump, reverse dribble, stutter into jumper, blind pass. These are me. The moves make me.

Bull Catcher
Carter, Alden (YA CARTER)
Bull lives for baseball, but does he want to make it his whole life?

Born in Sin
Coleman, Evelyn (YA COLEMAN)
“I’ve seen you swim, girl. You’re the best. And whenever you’re ready you can win. Or, you can give up.”

Athletic Shorts
Crutcher, Chris (YA CRUTCHER)
Six stories of love & death, bigotry & heroism, of real people doing their best, even when that best isn't very good.

Whale Talk
Crutcher, Chris (YA CRUTCHER)
There's bad & good news about the CHS swim team. The bad: they have no pool. The good: only one of them can swim.

High Heat
Deuker, Carl (YA DEUKER)
One mistake means Shane’s life of privilege is stripped away. Now he’s trying to get his life together, but just like in baseball—anything can happen on a given night.

Painting the Black
Deuker, Carl (YA DEUKER)
Ryan loves baseball, but he must make a heartbreaking choice between the game and his integrity.

Bend It Like Beckham
Dhami, Narinder (YA DHAMI)
Jess dreams of playing professional soccer, but her traditional Indian parents have other ideas.

Tears of a Tiger
Draper, Sharon (YA DRAPER)
In one horrifying night, Andy’s life changed forever. Now he finds he’s losing the most precious thing of all—his ability to face the future.

River Danger
Dygard, Thomas (YA DYGARD)
Eric’s canoe trip with his little brother turns deadly when they stumble upon a car-theft ring.

Offsides
Esckilsen, Erik (YA ESCKILSEN)
What should Tom do: Play the sport he loves & betray his heritage or abandon soccer & stand up for his values?

Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery
Feinstein, John (YA FEINSTEIN)
Winning a trip to the Final Four is a dream come true, until Danny overhears talk of blackmail...and a thrown game.

Screwball
Ferrell, David (YA FERRELL)
FINALLY, the Red Sox have a chance for a winning season—but then a little murder gets in the way.

Bleachers
Grisham, John (FIC GRISHAM)
“When you’re famous at 18, you spend the rest of your life fading away.” In this Texas town, football isn’t just a game—it’s a religion.

Downriver
Hobbs, Will (YA HOBBS)
No adults, no permit, no river map. Just some "borrowed" gear Jessie & her new “troubled” companions have just swiped.

Life at These Speeds
Jackson, Jeremy (FIC JACKSON)
A terrible accident turns Kevin into a broken boy on the inside & a track phenomenon on the outside. Which side will prevail?

Damage
Jenkins, A. M. (YA JENKINS)
“What you really want to do is give up trying. Lay your head down… & quit breathing, quit trying. The problem is, you can't.”

Safe at Second
Johnson, Scott (YA JOHNSON)
Todd has it all & is headed for the majors until one unfortunate line-drive changes his life forever.

Never So Green
Johnston, Tim (YA JOHNSTON)
Even his deformed hand doesn’t stop Tex from having a great summer of baseball—until he learns about a “dirty little secret.”

The Boxer
Karr, Kathleen (YA KARR)
Johnny enters the boxing life to fight his battle against poverty, the legal system, & his own overpowering desire to win.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
King, Stephen (YA KING)
A girl. Lost in the woods, with nothing to save her but her wits & her baseball hero.

Danger Zone
Klass, David (YA KLASS)
Jimmy’s first taste of international basketball stardom becomes a nightmare of hate & racism.

Home of the Braves
Klass, David (YA KLASS)
It’s just sports. There’s nothing to get worked up about, right? Then why is the town in an uproar & Joe struggling with a decision that could affect his entire future?

Last Days of Summer
Kluger, Steve (YA KLUGER)
“Dear Mr. Banks: I am a 12-year-old boy and I am dying from malaria. Please hit a home run for me because I don’t think I will be around much longer.”

Crooked Little Heart
Lamott, Anne (FIC LAMOTT)
Rosie turns to cheating to win more games, but even worse problems are the stalker & alcoholic mother who haunt her.

Necessary Roughness
Lee, Marie (YA LEE)
“In Korea, grown men would not waste their time fighting each other over a tiny ball.”

The Contender
Lipsyte, Robert (YA LIPSYTE)
“It’s the climbing that makes the man. Getting to the top is an extra reward.” Will Alfred keep climbing, or give up?

Slot Machine
Lynch, Chris (YA LYNCH)
Sometimes real strength comes from breaking the rules, rather than playing the game.

The Natural
Malamud, Bernard (FIC MALAMUD)
Roy was on his way to being the best there ever was. Can he make it there again?

Waiting for Teddy Williams
Mosher, Howard (FIC MOSHER)
There are two things E.A. wants: to play baseball & to find his father.

Slam!
Myers, Walter Dean (YA MYERS)
On the court, Slam dunks! So why is his off-court life out of control?

Three Clams & an Oyster
Powell, Randy (YA POWELL)
Who are you going to pick to be the new guy for your team: the stoner, the girl, or the guy with the roadkill hairdo?

Rough Waters
Rottman, S.L. (YA ROTTMAN)
“All I could hear was the thunderous crashing of the rapid. It was angry, & we were in its grasp.”

Impact Zone
Take Off, Cut Back, Close Out
Strasser, Todd (YA STRASSER)
The only thing in Kai’s life in a new town that doesn’t suck is surfing. Trouble is, the other guys don’t want Kai near the waves.

Cruise Control
Trueman, Terry (YA TRUEMAN)
“How sick is this: I’m the major jock-stud in high school, but my brother has the brain of a badminton birdie & a body to match.”

The Runner
Voigt, Cynthia (YA VOIGT)
Bullet runs. It’s what he does best. But can he keep running away from his problems?

Losing Is Not An Option
Wallace, Rich (YA WALLACE)
Ron is a lot of things: a watcher, a hustler, a free-thrower, a poet, a rule breaker, & a ruthless competitor on the track.

Playing Without the Ball
Wallace, Rich (YA WALLACE)
Jay McLeod activities: Early-morning basketball; late-night hamburger chef; weekend basketball; background vocalist; playground basketball; voluntary orphan.

Grind
Walters, Eric (YA WALTERS)
It seems like an easy formula: the more wild the skateboarding stunts they do, the more money they make from their website. But the pursuit of money often has a deadly price.

Farm Team
Weaver, Will (YA WEAVER)
Will Billy have to give up baseball—the thing he loves most—to run the farm?