Title

Author

Call #

Notes:

Rucker Park Setup

(basketball)

Volponi

FIC VOL

While playing in a crucial basketball game on the very court where his best friend was murdered, Mackey tries to come to terms with his own part in that murder and decide whether to maintain his silence or tell J.R.'s father and the police what really happened.

The Perfect Shot

(basketball)

Alphin

FIC ALP

Brian uses basketball to block out memories of his girlfriend and her family who were murdered; however, the upcoming trial and a high school history assignment forces him to face the past.

Box Out

(basketball)

Coy

FIC COY

High school sophomore Liam jeopardizes his new position on the varsity basketball team when he decides to take a stand against his coach who is leading prayers before games and enforcing teamwide participation.

Turk

(basketball)

Marlowe

FIC MAR

Turk Williams could be a pretty good college basketball player if he would only keep his mouth shut. His coach has heard enough and wants to shut his mouth for good.

Game

(basketball)

Myers

FIC MYE

Drew Lawson, counting on basketball to get him into college and out of Harlem, struggles to keep his cool when the coach brings in two white players and puts them in positions that clearly threaten Drew's game.

Hoops

(basketball)

Myers

FIC MYE

A teenage basketball player from Harlem is befriended by a former professional player who, after being forced to quit because of a point shaving scandal, hopes to prevent other young athletes from repeating his mistake.

The Outside Shot

(basketball)

Myers

FIC MYE

Recruited by a small midwestern college to play basketball, a Harlem boy has many new experiences, including working with a child who needs physical therapy and dealing with corruption in college sports.

Slam

(basketball)

Myers

FIC MYE

Sixteen-year-old "Slam" Harris is counting on his noteworthy basketball talents to get him out of the inner city and give him a chance to succeed in life, but his coach sees things differently.

Ball Don’t Lie

(basketball)

Pena

FIC PEN

Seventeen-year-old Sticky lives to play basketball at school and at Lincoln Rec Center in Los Angeles and is headed for the pros, but he is unaware of the many dangers--including his own past--that threaten his dream.

The Hoopster

(basketball)

Sitomer

FIC SIT

Andre Anderson, an African-American teenager enjoying a summer filled with pickup basketball, a new girlfriend, and an internship at a popular magazine, becomes the target of violent bigotry when he writes a powerful article on racism.

Players

(basketball)

Sweeney

FIC SWE

Eighteen-year-old Corey sees a threat to his dream of winning the basketball championship when he discovers that the new player on his team is a girl-stealing, friend-framing, team-destroying force of evil.

Black and White

(basketball)

Volponi

FIC VOL

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

Schooled

(basketball)

Langan

FIC LAN

Lionel Shephard dreams of joining the NBA, but while his father disapproves of his plans, his teachers are threatening to fail him--unaware of his poor reading abilities--and Lionel needs to decide how far he is willing to go for his dreams.

Night Hoops

(basketball)

Deuker

FIC DEU

While trying to prove that he is good enough to play on his high school's varsity basketball team, Nick must also deal with his parents' divorce and erratic behavior of a troubled classmate who lives across the street.

Payback Time

(football)

Deuker

FIC DEU

Overweight, somewhat timid Mitch reluctantly agrees to be the sports reporter for the Lincoln High newspaper because he is determined to be a writer, but he senses a real story in Angel, a talented football player who refuses to stand out on the field--or to discuss his past.

Crackback

(football)

Coy

FIC COY

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

Raiders Night

(football)

Lipsyte

FIC LIP

Matt Rydeck, co-captain of his high school 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.

Juice

(football – steroids)

Walters

FIC WAL

When Coach Reeves retired, he was replaced by Coach Barnes, whose own determination to obtain a college post rested on his ability to create a division one high school team; however, to do this involved the illegal distribution of steroids to the team.

Knights of the Hill Country

(football)

Tharp

FIC THA

In his senior year, high school star linebacker Hampton Greene finally begins to think for himself and discovers that he might be interested in more than just football.

4^th and Fixed

(football)

Rivers

FIC RIV

Michael Gasca is hired by the owner of a struggling NFL team to hatch a plan to turn the league into a winning sensation, but Stephen Oquist, NFL special agent, begins to question the teams' winning streak and suspects foul play.

Wild Thing / Bk 1

(football)

Poulsen

FIC POU

W.T. Zahara's long hair and sandals make him an outsider at Lawrence High, a school known for its sports programs, but when trouble arrives in the schoolyard and on the football field, the other students learn they may have judged W.T. too soon. Also see books 2 & 3.

Leverage

(football)

Cohen

FIC COH

High school sophomore Danny excels at gymnastics but is bullied, like the rest of the gymnasts, by members of the football team, until an emotionally and physically scarred new student joins the football team and forms an unlikely friendship with Danny.

Shooting Star

(football)

McKissack

FIC MCK

Jomo Rogers, a naturally talented athlete, starts taking performance enhancing drugs in order to be an even better high school football player, but finds his life spinning out of control as his game improves.

Game Day

(football)

Marlowe

FIC MAR

Tom Jordan had never played tight end before, but he knew he had to play it like a pro, or his first day in pro football might be his last.

Necessary Roughness

(football)

Lee

FIC LEE

Sixteen-year-old Korean American Chan moves from Los Angeles to a small town in Minnesota, where he must cope not only with racism on the football team but also with the tensions in his relationship with his strict father.

Pop

(football)

Korman

FIC KOR

Lonely after a midsummer move to a new town, sixteen-year-old high-school quarterback Marcus Jordan becomes friends with a retired professional linebacker who is great at training him, but whose childish behavior keeps Marcus in hot water.

Damage

(football)

Jenkins

FIC JEN

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

The Great Receiver

(football)

Returning to high school in the fall, brainy Joey Eastland, the football team's waterboy, is determined to reinvent himself by becoming a star player who the girls find attractive.

Iceman

(hockey)

Lynch

FIC LYN

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.

Open Ice

(hockey)

Hughes

FIC HUG

Hockey has been Nick Taglio's life since he was five years old, so when a massive concussion benches him--possibly for good--everything seems to fall apart, including his schoolwork, his family relationships, his friendships, and his love life.

Kick

(soccer)

Myers

FIC MYE

Told in their separate voices, thirteen-year-old soccer star Kevin and police sergeant Brown, who knew his father, try to keep Kevin out of juvenile hall after he is arrested on very serious charges.

Home of the Braves

(soccer)

Klass

FIC KLA

Eighteen-year-old Joe, captain of the soccer team, is dismayed when a hotshot player shows up from Brazil and threatens to take over both the team and the girl whom Joe hopes to date

Hardball

(baseball)

Weaver

FIC WEA

A fourteen-year-old Minnesota farm boy has to figure out how to get along with the arch-rival in his love life and on the baseball diamond, and both boys must learn how to deal with the unfair expectations of their fathers.

The Brooklyn Nine

(baseball)

Gratz

FIC GRA

Follows the fortunes of a German immigrant family through nine generations, beginning in 1845, as they experience American life and play baseball.

Fielder’s Choice

(baseball)

Norman

FIC NOR

Jax is a kid who loves to pitch and for a brief while he realizes his dream of playing in the pros. Then in 1941, he finds himself in the Army Air Corps and later a prisoner of war.

The Natural

(baseball)

Malamud

FIC MAL

Gifted baseball player Roy Hobbs, his career derailed by a youthful indiscretion, makes a stunning comeback in later life, but finds himself still struggling against the temptations that would bring him to ruin.

Centerfield

(baseball)

Lipsyte

FIC LIP

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

Beanball

(baseball)

Fehler

FIC FEH

Relates, from diverse points of view, events surrounding the critical injury of popular and talented high school athlete, Luke "Wizard" Wallace, when he is hit in the face by a fastball.

Heart of a Champion

(baseball)

Deuker

FIC DEU

Seth faces a strain on his friendship with Jimmy, who is both a baseball champion and something of an irresponsible fool, when Jimmy is kicked off the team.

Bull Catcher

(baseball)

Carter

FIC CAR

Pete and Jeff continue their friendship and love of baseball as they progress from ninth grade through high school in their small Wisconsin town.

Wrestling Sturbridge

(wrestling)

Wallace

FIC WAL

Stuck in a small town where no one ever leaves and relegated by his wrestling coach to sit on the bench while his best friend becomes state champion, Ben decides he can't let his last high school wrestling season slip by without challenging his friend and the future.

Headlock

(wrestling)

Sweeney

FIC SWE

High school senior Kyle is determined to become a professional wrestler but his dream is threatened by a loved one's illness and the dramatic reappearance of a long-absent relative.

Pinned

(wrestling)

Martino

FIC MAR

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