Posts Tagged sports

Seven Game Changing Stories from Diverse Voices

By Jen Kraar on May 21, 2025 / Book Lists, Diversity, Fiction

A Universal Language

I have the opportunity to work with students from all over the world. I volunteer with a program which supports students who have recently arrived in this country from countries such as Palestine, Peru, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Sudan. Most of these middle schoolers don’t have the language skills to communicate well with each other in English. This does not matter when on the soccer field. Here, friendships, fun and competition are universal, as is the sharing of the canon of soccer heroes. Being part of a team, learning new skills and getting a taste of what competition involves, is an integral part of the middle school experience.

More Than a Sports Novel

This list of sports novels highlights stories with characters who are confronted with challenges on the field and off. From their athletic experiences, each of these characters learns how to face life problems, and while tackling their life problems they become better athletes. Each of these titles is more than a sports story

I was inspired by what Coach Martinez says to her players in Hena Kahn’s graphic novel, We Are Big Time: “. . . to value basketball is more than the score.” Middle-grade sports books are more than sports.

We Are Big Time by Hena Khan, illustrated by Safiya Zerrougui, Alfred A. Knopf, 2024.

“Some of them may not realize that this story is bigger than them. They’re just playing basketball. But they’ve shifted the conversation and what people think an all-Muslim team can be.”

When Aliya moves fromFlorida to Wisconsin, she joins the not-so-great basketball team at her new school, the Peace Academy. With a new coach, the team gains skills and the attention of the media. This gives the team a chance to break down stereotypes and inform the world about Muslim culture. Themes of friendships and jealousy within the team create a captivating story.

El Niño by Pam Munoz Ryan, illustrated by Joe Cepeda.

Ever since Kai’s sister’s disappeared he’s had difficulties swimming fast – his times are nowhere near the pool recordshe achieved two years ago. He joins the elite swim team his sister belonged to and discovers more about her disappearance. She was obsessed with a mysterious realm called the Library of Despair and Sorrow. Kai’s search for this mythical place parallels his journey of grief and self-identity. This swimming story with a twist of magical realism and climate themes, is unforgettable.

Almost Sunset by Walhab Algarmi, Harper Alley, 2025.

Seventh grader Hassan thought fasting would be easy-peasy, after all, this is his third year observing Ramadan. But waking up to eat before dawn, fantasizing about food all day, feasting at dusk and going to the mosque at night is a lot. Hassan is having difficulties with the intense soccer practices leading up to the playoffs, and getting his school work done. Initially Hassan keeps his teachers and friends in the dark about his religious practices, and they cannot support him. An unexpected person inspires Hassan to be more open about observing Ramadan. This graphic novel presents details about clothing, prayers, food and Muslim practices in an accessible way.

All or Nothing Vale by Andrea Beatriz Arrango, Random House, 2025.

Puerto Rican seventh-grader Vale, isn’t going to let her recent car crash keep her from being the top fencer she was before her car accident. This novel in verse gives us a deep understanding of the frustration, identity crushing and disappointment Val experiences as she struggles to regain her top status in fencing. She says, “fencing is what makes me me.” Val’s ready to jump back into competing, but her body isn’t. To make matters worse, the new Cuban American fencer seems to have it all. Val’s crush on the new girl complicates everything. This novel is a realistic look at the emotional journey of recovery.

On Thin Ice by Jessica Kim, Penguin Random House, 2025.

In this novel told in alternating points of view we learn how twins Phoebe and Dex haven’t been close since their father died of cancer two years ago. Their personalities are polar opposites, but both love to skate on the ice. Perfectionist Phoebe has her heart set on figure skating, but her dream is thrown for a loop when her skate partner is injured. Due to his practical jokes, laid back attitude, and a new hot shot goalie, Dex doesn’t make the ice hockey team. The twins team up and learn to skate together, and heal together. Phoebe’s realistic crush adds another element to this heartfelt family story.

Inside the Park by Andrea Williams, HarperCollins, 2025

As fun and suspenseful as Home Alone, this novel tackles family dynamics and brings the game of baseball to life. Twelve year old Pumpsie Strickland is having a batting slump. Not only that but he’s batting 0 among his siblings. He says, “I know the ranking of the five Strickland kids. I’m ot number one, two, three, or four. When Pumpsie and a chocolate Lab named Campy accidently get trapped in the stadium, he overhears some skullduggery. His favorite team, the Wildcats, is being threatened. It takes a whole lot of courage, and a ton of hot dogs, to save his team and his place in the family

May the Best Player Win by Kyla Zhao, Penguin Random House, 2024.

Yes, chess is a sport! This novel is packed with girl power. It also depicts the performance anxiety that is prevalent in so many sports stories. MayLi is the top chess player in her middle school, and her team is heading to Nationals. Her success has changed everything including her friendship with Ralph, her teammate and friend who has become jealous of her success. The attention May Li gets for being a successful girl player begins to affect her love of the game. MayLi’s new friendship with soccer goalie Marie, helps her realize she is not alone. Her struggles with chess are similar to Marie’s with soccer. MayLi learns she isn’t a pawn, she can make her own moves on the board of life.

Jen Kraar grew up chasing lizards in India, making up stories about the residents of the spirit houses in Thailand, and riding retired racehorses in Singapore. Jen explores themes of finding home in the middle grade novels and picture books she writes. As a manager at Pittsburgh’s beloved City of Asylum Bookstore, she builds a diverse collection of books and talks about kid lit with customers young and old.

Basbeball Booklist: Four Books For Your Baseball-Obsessed Middle Grader

By Ines Lozano on March 22, 2023 / Articles, Book Lists, Fiction

Baseball Booklist

It’s officially spring, and when I was in middle school, there was only one thing that meant to me: spring training season! My middle school years were defined by the New York Mets. I couldn’t get enough of them, and the months before spring training were made colder by the lack of heat felt from the sound of a bat cracking against a baseball. The only way that I could tithe my obsession over until the next season was by escaping into books about baseball.

That’s the thing about middle-grade-aged kids. As a mom of one, I see that gripping passion that takes hold when a child finds a passion and becomes blindingly obsessed with it. It’s those moments when they can’t seem to get enough of whatever they’ve fallen in love with that you’ll find the perfect opportunity to indulge them with books. Whether it’s a sport, a band, or a show (Stranger Things obsessed middle grader in my house), you can casually slide a book about it their way and watch them gobble it up. The point is, you’ll get them reading.

“Kids like to read when it’s fun and when it’s relevant to their interests…In addition to wanting to read more, your child will also expand his or her imagination.” – Save The Children, Child Literacy Statistics for Parents

So, for my baseball-obsessed middle graders out there, this list of books about baseball is for you:

Four Books About Baseball

The Hero Two Doors Down by Sharon Robinson

Can you imagine what it would be like for your middle grader to befriend a baseball legend? This middle-grade novel is based on the true story of the friendship between eight-year-old Stephen Satlow and baseball great Jackie Robinson.

Having been a middle-grade fanatic, I can attest that all sports-loving kids dream about meeting their favorite players and even fantasize about becoming friends with them. This story follows Stephen in his Brooklyn neighborhood as he develops a bond with an American hero, tapping into those fantasies.

Out Of Left Field by Ellen Klages

Katy is the best pitcher in town, and everyone knows it. Then why is she barred from playing for their little league team? Why is it only for the boys? Readers will join Katy’s movement for girl’s rights in baseball in this middle grade novel. She sets out on a campaign with the help of friendly librarians to prove that lots of girls love and play baseball. Katy doesn’t understand why these baseball heroes have gone unknown, but she’s on a mission to change that and the rules of her town’s little league.

Out Of Left Field is the third book of The Gordon Family Saga, which means you may get your child to read more than one book because, as stated above, when middle graders become enamored with something, they can’t get enough.

Lupe Wong Won’t Dance by Donna Barba Higuera

Speaking of girl activists, meet Lupe Wong—champion of causes. Whether she’s fighting for the expansion of options when it comes to designating one’s race on a school test or demanding less wait time between Doctor Who seasons, Lupe Wong stands for what she believes in.

So, when the chance to meet her favorite baseball player, Fu Li Hernandez—a fellow Chinese Mexican, requires straight As on her report card, she sees no problem…until gym class takes up square dancing. No way Lupe will let that happen.

Baseball Great by Tim Green

This one would be for the older middle-grade reader as the topic of steroids is covered in this riveting story which is as much about a talented young baseball player as it is about a father-son relationship.

Josh’s talent is too good to ignore, especially for his father who pulls him from school tryouts and pushes him toward the traveling youth championship team coached by Rocky Valentine.

Playing baseball is all that Josh wants, but when he’s being pressed to drink protein shakes and take supplements, he knows something is wrong. He and his friend Jaden uncover a dangerous secret and catch the attention of a man willing to do anything to keep the secret from getting out.

These four kids books about baseball scream everything I would’ve craved for as a kid.

((If you enjoyed this list, you’ll love the list here))

Meet Fred Bowen, author of the FRED BOWEN SPORTS STORY SERIES

By Andrea Pyros on August 25, 2021 / Articles, Author Interviews

Today at MUF we’re so excited to welcome Fred Bowen, author of Peachtree’s popular Fred Bowen Sports Story Series for middle grade readers. A lifelong sports fanatic, he has coached youth league baseball, basketball, and soccer. His kids’ sports column “The Score” appears each week in the KidsPost section of the Washington Post. His latest book in the Fred Bowen Sports Story Series is Soccer Trophy Mystery.

Here Fred shares his rules for writing for middle graders, his favorite teams, and the most important thing we can learn from sports.

Soccer Trophy Mystery

MUF: Thank you so much for answering a few questions for us. Starting with the hardest question first: What’s your favorite sport?

Fred: I enjoy most sports if they are well played and the teams or players are well matched. But my favorite sport to watch is baseball. My son, Liam, is the head baseball coach at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and so my favorite team to watch is the UMBC Retrievers.

Growing up, I played lots of sports: baseball, basketball, football, soccer, tennis and even street hockey. I wasn’t great at any of them but I loved playing and being active. Now that I am older my favorite sport to play is golf. I am still trying to score my first hole-in-one.

MUF: As a kid, did you love reading, love playing and watching sports, or love both? What led to your career as a sportswriter?

Fred: Both. As I said above, I played lots of sports growing up. I also spent many hours watching sports on television. Living in New England, I was a big Boston Red Sox and Boston Celtics fan. Because my father was in advertising, he would get tickets to see the Celtics and the Bruins, Boston’s pro hockey team. So I was lucky enough to see such great basketball players as Bill Russell, Bob Cousy and many others up close in the Boston Garden. I also saw the incomparable Bobby Orr of the Bruins play hockey several times.

As for reading, I grew up on the Chip Hilton sports books. The books, written in the 1940s and 50s by Hall of Fame basketball coach Clair Bee, followed Chip and his friends’ sports adventures at Valley Falls High School and State (his college). I suspect the books would seem very old fashioned now, but I loved them. They helped me understand the joy of being lost in a book. I also read sports magazines such as Sports Illustrated as well as the sports section of several newspapers.

Finally, I did not start out as a writer. I studied history at the University of Pennsylvania (PENN) and then went on to law school at George Washington University. I was a lawyer for more than thirty years.

The most important reason I became a writer is because I married my wife, Peggy Jackson, who was, at the time, a journalist. She encouraged my writing.

Kidlit author Fred Bowen

First, I wrote movie reviews for local papers. That was fun. I got paid to go to the movies! A few years later, after my son was born, I started reading sports books to him. I didn’t think they were very good so I tried writing one. Those efforts produced T.J.’s Secret Pitch, the first in my Fred Bowen Sports Story series. I now have 24 books in the series with Soccer Trophy Mystery being the latest. I plan on writing kids’ sports books as long as I am having fun doing it and kids want to read them.

MUF: For your young readers, what would you tell them are the most important things they can learn about the world and themselves by participating in sports? What if they’re not sporty at all?

Fred: There are lots of things kids can learn from sports such as sportsmanship and how to be a good teammate. But I think the two most important lessons kids can learn from sports are:

Always try your hardest. That way you can be satisfied even if things do not turn out the way you had hoped. It is easy to say, “I could have gotten an “A” if I had studied.” It is harder to study your hardest and get a “B.” But at least you will know you gave it your best effort

I have hinted at this lesson in the first answer. Sometimes, you can try your hardest and things still do not turn out the way you wanted. Your team loses or you don’t make the team. Life is filled with disappointments. Sports is often a good (and safe) place for kids to learn how to deal with disappointments but to bounce back and try again.

Sports are not the only place to learn these lessons. Some kids are not “sporty.” They can still learn these lessons about effort and learning how to bounce back from disappointment if they are interested in music or theater or some other activity. The important thing is you have to care about your interest. Don’t be a kid who is always complaining things are “boring.” Find something you like to do and give it your best efforts.

MUF: For writers, any advice on how you created such a successful and wonderful book series? What’s your secret?

Fred: First, thanks for the kind words about the series. One of my “secrets” is I am lucky enough to write about a subject that is interesting to me and my readers. I have been a sports fan for my entire life and so it is a joy to write about the games and personalities in sports. I think my readers sense my enthusiasm for the subject and that is one of the reasons they love my books.

As for the more technical aspects of writing, I was asked to speak at a conference of people who wanted to write for middle readers (ages 8-12). So I came up with my Rules for Writing for Middle Graders. Here they are (although I am sure I broken all of them at some time).

Write in short, clear sentences;
Avoid long descriptions;
Avoid adverbs and the passive voice;
Subject/Verb/Object is a good sentence structure 90% of the time;
Show, don’t tell;
All action should either reveal character and/or move the plot along;
If you can tell your story (or part of your story) clearly through dialogue, do it;
Try to break up the words on the page – no young reader likes to see page after page filled with words;
Think about your reader.

MUF: Finally, how can fans find you? Do you have a website and/or any social media that you use?

Fred: The best way to reach me is to go to my website: www.fredbowen.com

Click on the “Contact” heading at the top of the home page. That will direct kids or any interested people to a way they can send me an email. I always enjoy hearing from my readers and will answer any emails sent to me.