Fred Bowen

"Richie Mallon has always known he was a shooter. Now that he is facing basketball tryouts under a tough new coach, will his amazing shooting talent be enough to keep him on the team?"--

Isaac is a perfectionist, especially when it comes to baseball, and is unable to cope when things go wrong until his coach asks him to help out with a Unified Sports basketball team on which intellectually-disabled and other children play together.

Although he knows all the plays, freshman wide receiver Jesse is reluctant to try out for quarterback until his brother, a college player, is asked to switch from quarterback to safety and the two make a deal that will force them, and Savannah, the new kicker on Jesse's team, to conquer their own and others' expectations.

Sam is proud that his touchdown in the final play of a game left his football team undefeated, but when a videorecording of the game reveals that the touchdown was scored illegally, he and the other Cowboys must decide whether to reveal the truth. Includes facts about a similar situation faced by Cornell University's team after a game with Dartmouth in 1940.

There's "plenty of soccer action" in this story of a middle schooler who has to figure out how to balance good sportsmanship with the goal of winning (Booklist). Eighth-grader Nate Osborne is a forward on his U-14 soccer team, the Strikers. He and the rest of his teammates are very competitive-especially when it comes to their rivals, the Monarchs. They want the Monarchs to lose so badly that they'll even root against them when they play other teams....

When Jamie, a twelve-year-old shortstop, loses the glove that "magically" helped him make fantastic catches, he wonders whether it was the sole secret of his success. Includes a history of baseball gloves.

Tyler's hope that his soccer team will be undefeated is dashed when his friend Zack, the team's star midfielder, and two more of the Cougars' best players accept an offer to play for an elite travel team.

Worried that his inability to make free throws is making his junior high basketball team lose games, Marcus learns an unconventional underhand shooting method from a friendly custodian but is not sure he wants to use it. Includes a history chapter discussing great basketball players who have used the underhand toss.

When Ben and Logan go to a recreation center to practice basketball with more experienced players in hopes of getting on the freshman team, they meet Hud, who could be the perfect point guard if he is willing to listen to the coach.