Issue 12 - Sports

Hey, just ‘cause we’re total bibliophiles doesn’t mean we can’t dig sports, too, right?

Right! In fact, there’s nothing we enjoy more than stepping out on that sun-filled court, racket in one hand, super-fab book in the other. Okay, so maybe we don’t take our luv (excuse the pun) for sports that far, but we do think that sports play such a huge part in the world of books these days, that we’ve decided to serve up (ha ha--did it again!) a special edition of WRN. For this issue, it’s all about sport books!

For our chat, check out our emotional journey through Wendelen van Drananen’s track themed novel, The Running Dream. And for our Off the Shelf feature this month, YA literary agent, Jen Rofe, talks about one of her most cherished books, How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy, by Crystal Allen. And for an extra special treat this issue, we threw a contest for some of our WRN fans from the Great White North. Over seventy five boys from St. George’s School in Vancouver, Canada competed by reviewing their favorite sports books.

Whew. With all these dynamite sports reads to check out, you might even be inspired to get in the game yourself! Happy playing, and as always, happy reading!

The Running Dream

by Wendelin Van Draanen

Review by Kerry O’Malley Cerra
Chatted by Kerry, Michelle Delisle, Jill Mackenzie, and Mitchell Snyder

For this issue, we did something a little different. We invited one of our loyal WRN? followers to join us for our chat. Mitchell lives in California and posts on our wall all the time. He’s won books from our site, and he recruits his friends to be WRN? groupies too. Gotta love him! So, we each read The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen and then met in the cyberworld to discuss this awesome book.

In this book, sixteen-year-old high school track star, Jessica, has just set a new personal record at a meet. Which isn’t surprising since she’s the school's star. But, when the team bus is hit on the way home, one girl dies and Jessica is left without a leg. This book totally and completely captures the raw emotions--the lowest of low points, and the small but heartwarming high points--that come in those weeks that follow the accident. With the help of her team, her family, one very cute boy and a truly unexpected friendship with Rose, Jessica heals in more ways than one. You. Gotta. Read. This. Book!

kerry: We are super-psyched to be joined by one of our loyal WRN? fans, Mitchell
michelle: Woot!
Mitchell: *bows*
Jill: Yay, Mitchell!!!

Stupid Fast

by Geoff Herbach

Reviewed by Kerry O’Malley Cerra

Wow, so I just finished reading Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach. His debut novel is intense, hilarious and just a little bit emotional. Don't freak by that word emotional for a boy YA. Really, it's so well done and authentic. And, the voice of Felton, the MC, is total perfection.  I seriously have not read a book with a voice so distinct since I read You by Charles Benoit.

Felton Reinstein 's always been the awkward dork-with-a-Jewfro. The kid who's dad committed suicide when he was five. The kid who chants his best friends name and carries rocks for comfort.   Despite it all, Jerri, his hippie mom, quirky little bro Andrew and his best friend Gus have always made the pinprick of a town bearable. But, scrawny Felton is starting to grow. He grows so fast his bones ache, his clothes don't fit, and he'd eat the entire deli at the local Wal-Mart if they'd let him. And suddenly, nothing feels better than running. In fact, it's the only time he really feels good.   As fast as the hair on his body is multiplying, his life spirals out of control. Gus has to go to Venezuela for the summer, Jerri is suddenly off-her-rocker crazy, and Andrew and Felton are left floundering.

The "honkies,"  though, are starting to take notice of Felton's jackrabbit speed and recruit him for the football team. In a matter of days, Felton goes from squirrel nut to super fast DI prospect jock.   And, hot-girl Aleah wants to be his girlfriend. Which is good, because  all of those things keep him running. Running from his problems at home and from the bullies like Ken Johnson . But, Felton knows he can't keep running forever.

Geoff Herbach's characters totally come alive on the page. Each one is so unique and plays a major role in helping Felton figure out who he really is. I totally recommend this book to anyone who likes a great sports story with heart. Can't wait to read Geoff's next book!

Sticks

by Joan Bauer

Reviewed by Michelle Delisle

Author Joan Bauer has a knack for creating three dimensional characters that pop off the page and into your life.   Mickey Vernon, the main character from her middle grade novel Sticks, is no exception.

Ten-year-old Mickey has a lot to live up to.  His father was a world class pool player before dying of cancer when Mickey was only eight months old.  His grandmother runs Vernon’s,  the only pool hall for serious players in Cruckston, New Jersey.  Plus, Mickey and his mother and his sister all live in the apartment above the hall.  So, even when Mickey’s not playing a game, he can hear the click clack of balls below him.  Pool—it’s in Mickey’s blood.

This year he’s finally old enough to compete in the Junior Nine-Ball  Championship.  But, the biggest thing that stands in the way of his winning is Buck Pender, a thirteen-year-old bully.   Mickey is sure he has no shot of winning until a stranger named Joseph Alvarez rolls into town in his pool table green Peterbilt truck.  Turns out Alvarez knew Mickey’s father really well.  Shoot he knew the whole family and he might be able to teach Mickey a trick or two.  And then maybe, just maybe, Mickey can beat Buck Pender.

The dialogue in Sticks is funny.  It’s not the kind of humor that makes me laugh out loud, but instead it’s the kind that makes a big grin spread across my face.  Quite a few of the funniest parts involve Mickey’s genius/geeky best friend Arlen and their combined science fair project and how physics and math are at the heart of everything – even nine-ball.   The actual tournament at the end is a lot of fun, even if I kinda sorta knew how it would turn out, it was exactly what I wanted to happen!

If you like books with honest, funny boy characters, you’ll love this book.  If you like sports books with the-big-game climax, Sticks is for you, too.    And finally, if you’re not already a fan of Joan Bauer, this book might make you one.  Of course, if you’re already a fan, Sticks will not disappoint.

Soccer Hour

by Carol Nevius
illustrated by Bill Thomson

Reviewed by Jill Mackenzie

Creators of Baseball Hour and Karate Hour, dynamite author and illustratior Carol Nevius and Bill Thomson have just “teamed” up to create their newest addition to their sports-themed series, Soccer Hour. Soccer Hour is packed with memorable, signature catchy rhymes paired with jaw-dropping photo-realistic illustrations, capturing the strength, motivation and determination that soccer players must endure to succeed. It stands out as an accurate depiction of playing on a soccer team, including practicing, playing a game, and scoring a goal. Soccer Hour is so good, I hope Nevius and Thomson will continue to cover the Picture Book sports genre (I’m thinking Hockey Hour?)  at some point in the future.

by literary agent Jen Rofe’
Andrea Brown Literary Agency

As a child and young adult, I didn’t have the proper mindset for sports. To some extent, I longed to be an athlete, but my focus wasn’t there. I played the requisite years of organized soccer, but spent more time daydreaming than defending. When the coach appointed me goalie and the opposing team scored, I cried. I tried out for point guard for my elementary school basketball team, but I didn’t make the cut. I cried then, too. And in jr. high and high school, I managed to get out of running the mile due to a knee problem that I milked. That didn’t set me crying; I felt victorious.

So I’ve had to settle for being an armchair athlete. I fell madly in love with the Dairy Queen series by Catherine Gilbert Murdock. Oh, to have the strength and prowess of DJ Schwenk!  The story of Michael Oher’s rise to football fame in The Blind Side touched my soul. And I couldn't put down the forthcoming middle grade A Diamond in the Desert (Viking 2012) by Kathryn Fitzmaurice, based on the true story of a baseball team in a Japanese internment camp that goes on to become state champions.

But it’s a middle grade book about bowling — of every feasible sport (though there’s debate whether bowling is a sport or game) — that stole my heart. Lamar Washington, the hero of the hilarious How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy by Crystal Allen (Balzer & Bray 2010) is a sweet-and-smug prankster with an infectious voice, endearing personality, and groomed afro. Lamar longs to be a superstar like his older brother, Xavier the Basketball Savior, but a bad case of asthma keeps him off the fields and courts. So he becomes a powerhouse bowler, the King of Striker’s Bowling Paradise. When a local bad-boy clues Lamar in on how to use his skill to get what he wants – money, cool bowling gear, the ladies – he ends up striking out big time and damages every good relationship in his life. Lamar has to do some serious work to get his life out of the gutter and back on track.

If you and/or the children in your life (especially the boys) haven’t yet read How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy, I encourage you to get to your local bookstore and pick up a copy. You will laugh, you might get misty-eyed, and you will want to hug (or fist pump) Lamar Washington. As the starred review in PW says: “Under all the braggadocio is a boy with a big heart, and from the first sentence Lamar will have readers hooked.”

While you're reading about Lamar and his antics, I'll be contemplating the future of the Lakers, bemoaning the present state of the Dodgers, and mining my queries for more stories that will allow me to vicariously experience athletic success. But first, I need to stretch.

by Faran Fagen

Let’s face it, the coolest part about sports, and sports writing, is the action – the screaming line drive, three-pointer at the buzzer, quarterback plunge on fourth and goal at the 1, and the puck ricocheting off the cross bar and into the net for the win.

Who can forget Josh Hamilton’s home run barrage in the All-Star game two years ago? The loud crack of the bat over and over. Or the Giants’ improbable fourth-down catch on the final drive of their Super Bowl win? Spectacular moments and blood-pumping, heart-stopping action fuel the pulse of the sports world—and literature.

But the most compelling thing about sports books – much like the countless documentaries on ESPN and feature stories in Sports Illustrated – is the story behind the action. What really led to Tiger Woods’ downfall? Is there some piece of persecuted quarterback Michael Vick in all of us, or is he just rotten to the core for what he did to those dogs? If you read Sports Illustrated, you already know the answers to these questions – and enjoyed yourself in the process, thanks to good, pure, compelling writing.

Which brings me to kids’ sports books. Young adult, middle grade and picture book authors have the unique ability to capture all the cool stuff about sports literature – the action, drama, and the story behind the story. But even more, in literature – like in sports – there’s always a lesson to be learned whether you win or lose. These are some of the coolest sports books that I read and enjoyed, and taught me lessons to last a lifetime:

In Chris Crutcher’s Ironman, I learned persistence, and that anger can be a good motivator if you know how to channel it. In John Ritter’s Over the Wall, I got that it’s okay to be growing up and confused – even if you can crush the baseball (I still laugh at the scene when Tyler tries to kiss his cousin). In Carl Deuker’s Night Hoops, I learned you always believe in and bring out the best in your teammate – even if everyone thinks he’s a criminal. My 3-year-old son, Spencer, currently likes a kid’s book I check out of the library called Baseball Hour (he mostly likes it because there’s one page with a huge baseball in a catcher’s mitt that he likes to point to and say “that’s a big baseball.”)

Here are some books my high school students – who happen to be sports writers on the school newspaper – wanted to share:

“Mike Lupica’s book Heat is one of the best sports books in my opinion. It really reaches out to anyone who has experienced baseball. Lupica also fuses other elements of everyday life with baseball to make the story that much better.” -- Troy Bottom, freshman, Pembroke Pines Charter High School

“As a high school football player myself, Crackback by John Coy made me see that steroids weren’t needed to become a successful athlete.  I was only 150 pounds in my senior football season, and I started every game.  Cheaters never prosper; hard work gets it done.” – Kevin Kennedy, senior, Pembroke Pines Charter High.

“My favorite sports-themed book is Resilience: Faith, Focus, Triumph, which was Alonzo Mourning’s autobiography written with the help of author Dan Wetzel. The book really gave an intriguing in-depth look to Alonzo Mourning’s journey to the NBA. What he went through in college to really become the man he is today is incredible. Any avid Miami Heat fan or Georgetown basketball fan will get a good feel of this book. Even if you’re not, getting an athlete’s side of his experiences to stardom may change the way you think about them.” – Paul Austria, junior, Pembroke Pines Charter High School.

Is This a Great Game, or What?: From A-Rod's Heart to Zim's Head---My 25 Years in Baseball by Tim Kurkjian”, has to be my favorite sports book of all-time, for its insightful look at MLB topics from player scouting to press box banter. Kurkjian also includes personal anecdotes about being in the press box watching famous moments such as World Series walk offs and meetings with quirky MLB scouts. Overall this book is a masterfully crafted look at Kurkjian’s 25-year career as an MLB Analyst and writer.” -- Matthew Coolidge, junior, Pembroke Pines Charter High

There are tons of youth sports books out there, each with a unique message and full of heart-stopping action. Find one that you connect with, and the game – along with the child in you that never stops winning, leaning from mistakes and just plain living -- can last forever.

Shoeless Joe

by W.P. Kinsella

Reviewed by Michelle Delisle

This month WRN? is launching a new feature all about e-books.  Both Amazon and Barnes and Noble are reporting huge increases in the number of digital books sold.  In fact, at Amazon they sell more e-books than paperback and hardcover combined!  So, whether it’s downloading a classic for free, or discovering a new indie voice, or reading the latest bestseller, we hope you’ll load up your personal library and take it with you so that you can read anything, anywhere.

Our first selection for this sports issue is Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella, a novel originally published in 1982, which was later made into one of my favorite movies, Field of Dreams.

The story is set on a farm in Iowa where the middle aged Ray Kinsella hears a voice, “If you build it they will come.”  He ends up ripping out a big chunk of his cornfields to build a baseball field.  Then he takes off on a cross country trip to find J.D. Salinger, author of the classic The Catcher in the Rye, to semi-kidnap him and bring him back to Iowa so he can experience the magic of the field too.

If you love this movie the way I do, I can’t recommend Shoeless Joe enough.  W.P. Kinsella’s writing is as magically beautiful as the Ray Kinsella’s baseball field.  There are other story lines about Ray’s twin brother and the original owner of the farm Eddie Scissons – the world’s oldest living Chicago Cub— that were left out of the film.  These characters will bring additional depth to someone who already loves the story.

And, if you’ve never seen the film, give it a try, but like with almost every other movie, read the book first. 

Whip It

By Shauna Cross

Reviewed by Becky San Juan

One flyer announcing a Roller Derby game seals Bliss Cavendar’s fate. In Shauna Cross’s novel, Whip It, a sixteen-year-old girl with a knack for dreaming large in a small, restrictive town is set on joining the Hurl Scouts. Practice after practice, Bliss realizes that there is more to her than the pageant puppet her mother made her out to be. However, grounding her personality with newfound confidence is not a task for the faint of heart. Soon all the lies that acted as her cover-up shatter. In the quake of consequences, Bliss hurries to regain the strength that she found under her rookie title of Babe Ruthless before all her hard work is crushed under the heel of her mother’s pageantry obsession.

The book is crammed with comedic punch lines that will have the reader roaring with laughter. Bliss Cavendar’s sarcastic tone never fails to entertain. Her down-to-earth logic and frank voice will make readers feel that they are listening to their unpredictably funny best friend. With her talent for snapping up any situation and giving a kick to it, no chapter is road kill.

Whip It dusts off Roller Derby and shows how through one girl’s ambition, a community is built. From hometown pals like Pash, to a wide spectrum of personalities in the Hurl Scouts, it opens up a reader’s mind that one sport can build bridges of connections that end in self-discovery. Towards the end of the book, readers will unwrap the idea that our heroes are not only found in our daily lives but also in ourselves. Readers get a range of tastes from constant-mother-and-daughter bickering, tight bonds with goofy and fierce friends, and heart-pounding-knee-buckling first love. Every page builds a thirst of anticipation that is never fully quenched ‘til the last page.

Get 'em! Be there! Catch it! Goal! Touchdown! Score! Grand Slam! New Record! Personal Best! Yeah, I’m sure you've heard these yelled from the stands before—whether on TV or live. Sports are exciting. From Roller Derby to NASCAR, there's just something about the competition that drives us. That eggs us on. That…okay, so you get it.

For this issue, we are all about sports. We've found some really cool sports to feature and if you don't see what you love best on our main list, be sure to check out our Whatcha’ Gotta Readsection.   We're bound to have it there.

What's a new WRN? Issue without some epic book giveaways? We have over 20 books to mail out to our lucky winners. Titles like Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach, The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen, Sticks by Joan Bauer, Deadline by Chris Crutcher The Rivalry: Mystery at the Army-Navy Game by John Feinstein, Roberto & Me (Baseball Card Adventures) by Dan Gutman, Sports Camp by Rich Wallace, and more. Here's whatcha' need to do. Post an answer to the following question on our new community page over at Facebook. Or send an email with your answer contests@whatchareadingnow.com.

Question(s):

What's your favorite sport to play and why?

Or

Whatcha' Reading Now?

Each post gets you one entry, so whatcha' waiting for?

Contest for our Canadian fans

1st Place
Murder at the Winter Games by Roy MacGregor
Reviewed by Francis Chambers

Hockey is one of the most well played sports in the world and a splendid way to relieve your mind from the stress of work or school. For some people, it is their life, and for others, it is just another sport. I'm as interested in hockey as a cat is interested in taking a bath in Niagara Falls. Murder at the Winter Games seemed like a dull book, because I'm not interested in hockey books, and the pages were as yellow as the teeth of a man who smoked and the cover drawing seemed like a baby doodled all over it. As the saying goes, "Don't judge a book by its cover", I checked it out and read it. To my surprise, it was a great book that'll keep you thinking, "What's next? It is a masterful creation that includes suspense, adventure, and action, a bit of everything to make the perfect combination. The book starts off with a boy named Travis who plays in the Winter Olympics. There is one extremely skilled team from Hollywood, and their captain was Brody Prince. The story enters its climax as Brody is kidnapped and held for ransom. Travis and his friends race against time to solve the mystery of Brody's kidnapper. My favourite part was when Roy MacGregor created many disgusting but funny activities in the "Gross-out Olympics, including Snot Shot, which is putting a jellybean up your nose and firing the farthest, or the Slurp, which was when a player had to put a pantyhose over his/her head and eat a bowl of jiggling Jell-O by forcing it through the pantyhose. Murder at the Winter Games is a fantastic book and perfect for the hockey fans in your family.


2nd Place
Real Stories from the Rink by Brian McFarlane
Reviewed by Iain Ang, age 12, grade 6

Caution: May Contain Nuts... I Mean Spoilers

When I wanted a book on Canada's favorite sport, hockey, I naturally hopped off to the Dunbar Public Library, the closest nearby, to look one up. I found not the one I had searched up on the VPL website, but only others. They were mainly books about hockey history, famous players, how to teach hockey, how to become better at hockey, hockey rules, teams, and the list went on and on. I was almost at the verge of looking in the J+FIC EASY section, or picking some Arthur book, when I saw Real Stories from the Rink, as I was scanning over the shelves with a fine tooth comb (my fingers) as a last resort before I moved on.

I basically ripped the book out of the shelf, near joyous that I had found one... I hoped. I checked out the back of the book... and there I found a ridiculous picture of a goal (a shot of a goalie's helmet flies high up, then bounces on that all important "red line" into the net) and some tidbits of information from inside the book (guts on the outside, as I like to call it). As usual, I was thinking "Hmmmmm..." and I was certainly extremely skeptical. Then I looked at the author. Brian McFarlane. I certainly haven't heard about this guy... wait... correct that. I haven't heard about this guy since my K years. Finally sighing and opening the book to a completely random page, I was ready for the worst. So, by the bit of the review above, you'd probably think something really boring came up, like so-and-so scores so many goals and had so many assists and won the whatever award, while so-and-so came up second with so many goals and so many assists but fell short (I like this part with so many unknowns). Then, WHOA! There had been a game in 1942 where a Toronto Maple Leafs player had gotten hip checked, then had flown over the net getting stuck in the wire netting (the glass nowadays) completely upside-down... and had stayed that way for more than 2 minutes before the whistle blew!

Through the rest of the book there were many more "holy cow, that's hilarious" moments with different scenarios: player vs. player, strange coaching, coach vs. ref, strange happenings (including flying hotdogs), etc. If you're wanting to read this book, you'd better read it in the hospital or have a doctor on call... you might laugh your head off and need someone to put it on again!

3rd Place
Stars from Mars by Gordon Korman
Reviewed By Anders Bretsen 6TB

I have absolutely no idea how I finished Stars from Mars alive! My heart was a ballistic snare drum as I ferociously tore page after page, literally starving for the end. Honestly, I have never been a diehard fan of fictional sports books, I used to find there was no important philosophical (or meaningful) message,biography,or whatever one may expect, but this book completely lengthened my "reading radar", it was astonishing and pleasantly surprising!

(Here is a quick breakdown of the beginning, for I shall not reveal anything spoiling the outcome) The kids of Mars, Ontario, are thrilled to finally get their own hockey team. The town is located beside a much larger and more developed city, Waterloo. The Marsers (that is the official term for a resident) are constantly teased for the miniscule layout of their city, and of course... its name, I can smell revenge brewing in the form of hockey! At first the Stars are doomed to last place, but then sail out of the doldrums with the help of their trustworthy coach and former NHL player "Boom Boom" Bolitsky, and a wonderfully gifted centerman named Trent Ruben (the league's most skilled player). perplexingly though, they acquired him because of a registration issue! This season is a perfect example of a "Cinderella" team's journey to greatness after almost being kicked out of the league because of a "lack of competitiveness", this puts immense pressure on the squad, yet how will they overcome it....

The intensity,suspense, and sheer humour is overwhelming and will excite anyone who craves some gripping hockey action! The story is also told from a budding reporter's perspective (to be precise,Clarence "Chipmunk Adelman, the most avidly addicted "Jawbreakers" consumer in the world!) who follows his hometown team wherever they go and writes sensational articles about their most recent adventures (or misadventures), whether it's in agony or ecstasy. Stars from Mars contains a tolerable/moderate level of complexity, therefore I feel it may appeal to a wide variety of readers, regardless of age or ability, so why not expand your interests and stick your nose in a book like this, for a world of excitement await you.

We have so many other sports books that have been favorites of ours: Tangerine by Ed Bloor, the Dairy Queen trilogy by Catherine Murdock. If you can’t get enough, check out our lists with Books for Teens, Books for Middle Graders, and Picture Books.