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The following books, listed alphabetically by author,
are available for
check-out from Franklin's library. They are all hardback fiction. Many stories are also
available in paperback, so remember to look on the paperback racks as well.
Avi. S.O.R. LOSERS.
Each member of the South Orange River seventh-grade soccer team has qualities of
excellence, but not on the soccer field.
Baczewski, P. JUST FOR KICKS.
Fifteen-year-old Brandon does not suspect the difficulties in store for him as manager of
the varsity football team when his sister Sarah joins and becomes the star punter.
Blessing, R. A PASSING SEASON.
Growing up in a town where football is everything, Craig Warren tries to resolve his
growing ambivalence towards playing on the high school team and making football the center
of his life.
Bloor, E. TANGERINE.
Twelve-year-old Paul, who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother Erik, fights
for the right to play soccer despite his near blindness and slowly begins to remember the
incident that damaged his eyesight.
Brooks, B. THE MOVES MAKE THE MAN.
A Black basketball player and an emotionally troubled white shortstop in North Carolina
form a precarious friendship.
Carter, A. BULL CATCHER.
Bull and Jeff continue their friendship and love of baseball as they progress from
ninth grade through high school in their small Wisconsin town.
Chambers, J. THE COLONEL AND ME.
Gussie's unwanted summer riding lessons from Colonel Meslenko change her whole approach to
living.
Cohen, B. THANK YOU, JACKIE ROBINSON.
A fatherless white boy, who shares with an old black man an enthusiasm for Jackie
Robinson, takes a ball autographed by Jackie to his elderly friend's death bed.
Christopher, M. FRONT COURT HEX.
Jerry thinks he can't score a point on the basketball court because another player has put
a hex on him.
Christopher, M. SUPERCHARGED INFIELD.
Penny Farrell, captain and third baseman of the Hawks softball team, tries to uncover the
reason for the strange behavior of two teammates who have also suddenly turned into super
athletes.
Christopher, M. TACKLE WITHOUT A TEAM.
Unjustly dismissed from the football team for drug possession, Scott learns that only by
finding out who planted the marijuana in his duffel bag can he clear himself with his
parents.
Christopher, M. TOP WING.
In between worrying about his hospitalized father and trying to play his best on the
soccer field, Dana Bellamy searches for the truth behind the fire for which his father is
being blamed.
Christopher, M. THE WINNING STROKE.
When hydrotherapy for an injured leg takes him to the pool on a regular basis,
twelve-year-old Jerry finds himself fascinated and challenged by the rigors of competitive
swimming.
Christopher, M. THE YEAR MOM WON THE PENNANT.
When the Thunderballs needed a coach, the only parent to volunteer was Nick Vassey's
mother.
DeJong, M. FAR OUT THE LONG CANAL.
Little Moonta Riermersma is determined to learn to skate and to let his iceskates lead him
into all kinds of adventures. Set in the Netherlands.
Deuker, C. HEART OF A CHAMPION.
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.
Deuker, C. ON THE DEVIL'S COURT.
Struggling with his feelings of inadequacy and his failure to make the basketball team in
his new school, seventeen-year-old Joe Faust finds himself willing to trade his soul for
one perfect season of basketball.
Deuker, C. PAINTING THE BLACK.
When star athlete Josh Daniels moves in across the street, Ryan Ward doesn't realize how
much his life will change during his senior year at Seattle's Crown Hill High.
Dygard, T. BACKFIELD PACKAGE.
The decision of four high school friends to go to the same college so that they can
continue playing football together is shaken when one of them begins to receive attention
as a star quarterback.
Dygard, T. FORWARD PASS.
To improve his struggling football team's chances of winning, Coach Gardner brings in a
new wide receiver, Jill Winston.
Dygard, T. GAME PLAN.
When the Barton High football coach's hospitalization forces skinny student manager Beano
Hatton to take over coaching the team, he must deal with a rebellious quarterback and his
own lack of confidence.
Dygard, T. HALFBACK TOUGH.
New at Graham High, Joe joins the football team and begins to change his tough guy outlook
as he becomes absorbed by the game and gains self-esteem and new friends.
Dygard, T. THE REBOUNDER.
Doug Fulton, coach of the Hamilton High Panthers, is certain that transfer student Chris
Patton can lead the team to a championship, but a tragic accident has made Chris decide to
never play basketball again.
Emerson, M. THE MEAN LEAN WEIGHTLIFTING QUEEN.
Susan Strong, a high school student who takes up weightlifting to become slim and more
attractive, discovers her talent for powerlifting and wonders if she should pursue such an
unglamorous and unfeminine sport.
Gault, W. THE CHECKERED FLAG.
During the 1930's, Mike Cavanaugh dreams of becoming a race car driver.
Gault, W. GASOLINE COWBOY.
Raised in foster homes, Rex Smalley starts early to reach his goal of becoming a top
motorcycle driver.
Gault, W. QUARTERBACK GAMBLE.
Jug Elroy becomes a first string quarterback under one of the toughest coaches in college
football.
Gault, W. WILD WILLIE, WIDE RECEIVER.
Skeptical at first about the flashy black rookie receiver on his team, an NFL coach
revises his opinion as the team's long struggle toward the SuperBowl progresses.
George, J. SHARK BENEATH THE REEF.
On the Island of Coronado, a young Mexican fisherman comes of age as he becomes aware of
the politics, corruption, and changes around him.
Grosser, M. THE FABULOUS FIFTY.
In the summer of 1921, fourteen-year-old Sol seeks independence from his family and his
South Philadelphia neighborhood and joins his pals in their obsessive scheme to get to the
World Series by clipping newspaper coupons.
Gutman, D. THE MILLION DOLLAR SHOT.
Eddie gets a chance to win a million dollars by sinking a foul shot at the National
Basketball Association finals.
Hallowell, T. LAST CHANCE QUARTERBACK.
Sam McCaskill has the talent to be a great player, but something goes wrong whenever he
plays.
Honig, D. FURY ON SKATES.
A young hockey star questions the violence of the game and his own enjoyment of it.
Howe, F. RACE OF THE RADICAL.
Twelve-year-old Alex Porter, an expert racer on a lighter-than-air bicycle, fights to save
his bike from irresponsible race promoters.
Kelly, J. THE BASEMENT BASEBALL CLUB.
The Roader team members spend the summer trying to beat their local rivals in sandlot
baseball.
Klass, D. BREAKAWAY RUN.
Seventeen-year-old Tony, a soccer player whose parents are divorcing, goes to Atami,
Japan, to spend four-and-a-half months with a Japanese family.
Klass, D. WRESTLING WITH HONOR.
Champion high school wrestler Ron Woods faces a soul-searching season when he refuses to
retake a mandatory drug test he has failed. The decision affects every area of his life,
including his feelings about his father,who died in Vietnam, and his first tentative
romance.
Knudson, R. ZAN HAGEN'S MARATHON.
Zan's friend Arthur develops a training program in order to coach Zan all the way to the
Olympics.
Knudson, R. ZANBANGER.
A teenage girl encounters problems when she tries to play on the boys' high school
basketball team.
Knudson, R. ZANBOOMER.
Zan Hagen separates her shoulder playing baseball and finds cross-country running a very
satisfactory substitute.
Lee, R. " I WAS A TEENAGE HERO. "
Sixteen-year-old Johnny Dace is worried that his school won't have basketball because not
enough boys turned out for the team. When a new family with three six-foot, four-inch tall
sons moves into the area, Johnny thinks all will be well. Then he finds out that the new
boys don't know much about basketball and don't seem to be very eager to learn.
Lipsyte, R. THE BRAVE.
Having left the Indian reservation for the streets of New York, seventeen-year-old boxer
Sonny Bear tries to harness his inner rage by training with Alfred Brooks, who has left
the sport to become a policeman.
Lipsyte, R. THE CHIEF.
On the verge of having a shot at the heavyweight boxing championship, nineteen-year-old
Sonny Bear finds himself with conflicting loyalties when trouble erupts on his reservation
over the construction of a new gambling casino. Sequel to THE BRAVE.
Lynch, C. SHADOW BOXER.
After their father dies of boxing injuries, George is determined to prevent his younger
brother, who sees boxing as his legacy, from pursuing a career in the sport.
Lynch, C. SLOT MACHINE.
When overweight thirteen-year-old Elvin Bishop is sent to camp at Christian Brothers
Academy Retreat Center, he and his two best friends are forced to try various sports in
order to find out where they belong.
Mahy, P. THESE ARE THE RULES.
Having quit his school's swim team, Colm tries to swim the lake at his family's summer
home, while at the same time working on his difficult relationship with his father and
pondering the mystery of girls.
Manes, S. AN ALMOST PERFECT GAME.
As he and his grandmother keep score at the last game of the season for the local minor
league team, Jake and his older brother begin to wonder if Jake's scorecard can control
the outcome of the game.
McKay, R. THE RUNNING BACK.
An 18-year-old goes from a reformatory to a small town high school, joins the football
team, and tries to put his life in order.
Miklowitz, G. ANYTHING TO WIN.
To increase his chances of winning a college scholarship, a talented high school
quarterback risks his health by taking anabolic steroids to gain weight.
Murphy, C. TO THE SUMMIT.
Seventeen-year-old Sarah, who has trained for months to increase her physical
endurance, hopes that accompanying her father on an expedition to climb Mount McKinley
will help to bridge the gap that has widened between them since her parents' divorce.
Murrow, L. TWELVE DAYS IN AUGUST.
Twelve days in August change a sixteen-year-old soccer player's perceptions of himself,
his family, girls, and gays.
Myers, W. ME, MOP, AND THE MOONDANCE KID.
Although adoption has taken them out of the institution where they grew up,
eleven-year-old T.J. and his younger brother Moondance remain involved with their friend
Mop's relentless attempts to become adopted herself and to wreak revenge on their baseball
rivals, the obnoxious Eagles.
Myers, W. THE OUTSIDE SHOT.
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.
Myers, W. SLAM!
Seventeen-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.
Platt, K. BROGG'S BRAIN.
Everyone is convinced that all Monty needs to be the fastest miler on the high school
track team is heart. Monty himself is not so sure he's got what it takes until he sees a
movie called "Brogg's Brain."
Platt, K. RUN FOR YOUR LIFE.
Fifteen-year-old Lee Hunter finds both his badly needed part-time job and his chances
to become number one school miler threatened by the unscrupulous actions of a jealous
teammate.
Powell, R. DEAN DUFFY.
A young man who was a star baseball player in high school, wonders what to do with his
life now that the dream days are over.
Powell, R. MY UNDERRATED YEAR.
Roger's plans for a great sophomore year are upset when he faces unusually stiff
competition both on the football field and on the tennis court.
Robison, N. BALLET MAGIC.
Stacey's sudden spurt of growth makes her feel unfit for ballet, until she learns that is
it possible to be both tall and graceful, and that attitude is the most important element
of dance.
Sanderlin, O. TENNIS REBEL.
Trying to adjust to her parents' divorce, a teenager moves to California with her
mother and works her way up the tennis circuit.
Savage, D. TO RACE A DREAM.
In 1906, fifteen-year-old Theodora disguises herself as a boy to pursue her dream of
becoming a harness racer.
Savitz, H. FLY, WHEELS, FLY!
Two boys join a group of paraplegics who are preparing to enter the Paralympics(wheelchair
sports) in Israel.
Savitz, H. RUN, DON'T WALK.
When a teenager returns to school in a wheelchair after a debilitating accident, all she
wants is to be left alone. However, a handicapped activist insists she join his crusade
and she begins training for a marathon.
Slote, A. THE HOTSHOT.
A young boy realizes that a good player is not always the one who scores but the one who
helps the team win.
Smith, D. KARATE DANCER.
Passionate about karate, fourteen-year-old Troy tries to convince his disapproving parents
about the true nature of the art and its importance in his life.
Smith, K. SKEETER.
The adventures of two boys, befriended by an old black man who is a legendary hunter.
Snyder, Z. A FABULOUS CREATURE.
Torn between his love for a girl who likes to hunt and his appreciation of wild
creatures, James almost creates a disaster he could never forget.
Spinelli, J. CRASH.
Seventh-grader John "Crash" Coogan, star football player, has always been
comfortable with his tough, aggressive behavior, until his relationship with an unusual
Quaker boy and his grandfather's stroke make him consider the meaning of friendship and
the importance of family.
Spinelli, J. THERE'S A GIRL IN MY HAMMERLOCK.
Thirteen-year-old Maisie joins her school's formerly all-male wrestling team and tries to
last through the season, despite opposition from other students, her best friend, and her
own teammates.
Spinelli, J. MANIAC MAGEE.
After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary,as he
accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries.
Springstubb, T. WITH A NAME LIKE LULU, WHO NEEDS MORE TROUBLE?
Shy and retiring Lulu, whose greatest passion is baseball, finds her life changed
dramatically when she saves a toddler who jumps out of anapartment house window.
Tunis, J. HIGHPOCKETS.
A baseball player learns a lot about life when he accidentally hits a boy with his car.
Wallace, R. SHOTS ON GOAL.
While pursuing his goal of helping his soccer team win the league championship,
fifteen-year-old Bones tries to deal with his resentment of his best friend, on whose
girlfriend he has a crush.
Weaver, W. FARM TEAM.
With his father in jail and his mother working full-time, fourteen-year-old Billy Baggs
finds himself in charge of running the family farm in northern Minnesota and having to
give up the thing he loves most, baseball.
