Recommended
Sports Books
Burlington-Edison High School Library
List Prepared by Cathy Belben, Librarian
Updated October 1, 2001
Check
the online catalogue for availability and location.
Courtenay,
Bryce. The Power of One. (BOXING)
Story
of Peekay, an English boy, living in South Africa during World War II whose
dream is to become a winner.
Davis,
Terry. Vision Quest. (WRESTLING)
Louden
Swain, a high school wrestler, trains his senior year to compete at a lower
weight so he can beat his
archrival.
Duncan,
David James. The Brothers K. (BASEBALL)
Story
of the Chance family living in the Pacific Northwest in the early '60s embattled
over the ideals represented by baseball and religion. The family is thrown into
turmoil by the Vietnam War and when their father's baseball career is disrupted
by a mill accident.
Friedman,
Mark. Columbus Slaughters Braves.
(BASEBALL)
A
heart-breaking story of two brothers whose lives lead to vastly different fates.
Joe Columbus is an ordinary man, but his brother is anything but
ordinary. Joe wants to love his
brother, but CJ's talents and great fortune produce a rift between them that is
healed only by tragedy. This novel
is for anyone who has had a hero or wanted to be one.
Fromm,
Pete. How All This Started. (BASEBALL)
Abilene
and Austin, brother and sister, live with their parents in a stark, desolate
portion of Texas, where Abilene hopes to escape the monotony and boredom by
making her brother into a star baseball pitcher. Her enthusiasm, however, soon
takes on a darker cast and she drives the two of them to the edge of sanity
Harris,
Mark. Bang the Drum Slowly.
(BASEBALL).
Story
of baseball player Henry Wiggen throwing a baseball for the sake of his pocket,
his family, his teammates, and dying friend.
King,
Steven. The Girl Who Loved Tom
Gordon. (BASEBALL)
Nine-year-old
Trisha McFarland, lost in the woods after she wanders off to escape the
bickering between her mom and her brother, boosts her courage by imagining that
her hero, Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Tom Gordon, is with her, helping her
survive an unknown enemy.
Kinsella,
W.P. Shoeless Joe.
An
Iowa insurance agent turned farmer builds a baseball stadium in his cornfield
hoping his hero, Shoeless Joe will play in it.
Kluger,
Steve. Last Days of Summer. (BASEBALL)
Joey
Margolis writes letters to baseball players, President Roosevelt, his best
friend Craig, and others during World War II.
Landvik,
Lorna. Your Oasis on Flame Lake.
(HOCKEY)
The
lives of a middle-aged couple are thrown into turmoil after their teenage
daughter experiences violence at the hands of members of the hockey team on
which is the only girl athlete.
Lewis,
Catherine. Postcards to Father Abraham. (RUNNING)
Meghan
deals with a series of tragedies in her life in the course of only two years:
her mother is killed in an accident, her brother is sent to Vietnam and
returns a much different person, she is kicked out of school, and she gets
cancer in her leg and must have it amputated. Despite these difficulties, Meghan
maintains a sense of humor and is able to bounce back from her hardships by
writing letters to her idol, Abraham Lincoln, and by maintaining friendships
with her nurses.
Maclean, Norman. A River Runs Through It. (FISHING)
Recalls
the experiences of a young man coming of age in frontier Montana:
of his father, a preacher, who taught his sons about grace and fly
fishing; and of his brother, who is an artist at trout fishing but less
successful in life.
Patterson,
James. Miracle on the 17th
Green. (GOLF)
When
Travis McKinley misses Christmas dinner because he can't stop making birdies,
the underachieving copywriter's life seems on the verge of unraveling; when he's
fired a week later and decides to try to qualify for the Senior Tour, his wife
starts thinking divorce. Travis, even as he begins to beat his heroes Trevino,
Nicklaus, and Floyd, misses his wife and kids. If you've guessed that the
miracle on the seventeenth green has as much to do with family as golf, you've
also guessed that our Travis doesn't miss Christmas dinner the second time
around. (Review from Booklist).
Pressfield,
Steven. The Legend of Bagger Vance.
(GOLF)
A
golf novel in which Bagger Vance, a caddy who holds the secret of the Authentic
Swing, has a profound influence on the life of a young boy.
Reilly,
Rick. Slo Mo.
(BASKETBALL)
Growing
up in a bizarre cave-dwelling cult in Colorado, seven-foot, eight inch Maurice
"Slo-Mo" Finsternick knows nothing about the NBA-that is until the day
he's discovered and becomes the hottest sports icon in the country.
Revoyr,
Nina. The Necessary Hunger.
(BASKETBALL)
The
story of two high school senior who must negotiate the pressures of being star
athletes, the complicated terrain of their home situation, and the ambiguities
of their own intense, cometitive friendship.
Armstrong,
Lance. It’s Not About the Bike. (BICYCLING)
Champion
cyclist Lance Armstrong describes his triumph over cancer.
Bissinger,
H.G. Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, and a Dream.
(FOOTBALL)
Examines
the role of high school sports in America as seen through the story of a high
school football season in Odessa, Texas.
Blais,
Madeleine. In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle. (BASKETBALL)
Chronicles
one basketball season of a girls' high school team in Amherst, Massachusetts.
Breashears,
David. High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and
Unforgiving Places. (MOUNTAINEERING)
Filmmaker
and mountaineer David Breshears answers through his personal experiences the
question of "why climb?"
Brennan,
Christine. Inside Edge. (FIGURE
SKATING)
Chronicle
of a season on the figure skating circuit, discussing some of the sport's
current stars and looking at Olympic hopefuls for 1998.
Includes information on the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan clash, judging
criteria, and the disrupted lives of young skaters and their families.
Bryson, Bill. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail . (HIKING)
Bryson
share his experiences hiking the Appalachian Trail with a childhood friend.
The two encounter eccentric characters, a blizzard, getting lost, and
rude yuppies along the way.
Chotzinoff, Robin. People Who Sweat. (VARIOUS SPORTS)
Robin
Chotzinoff hits the road in search of people who pursue unusual sports and
recreational activities, including spelunking, tree-climbing, surfing (a grandma
who surfs!) and marathon running. You
won't break a sweat reading this fun, funny and fast-paced ride through the
weird world of sports.
Colton, Larry. Counting Coup. (BASKETBALL)
Author
Larry Colton spent a year on the Crow Reservation in Southern Montana, examining
the lives of the girls on the Hardin High School basketball, who were from both
Caucasian and Native American families. He becomes particularly fascinated with
the team's star, Crow Indian Sharon LaForge, whose talent could be her escape
from the poverty and alcoholism which plague her family.
Cooper, Cynthia. She Got Game. (BASKETBALL)
Cynthia
Cooper tells her story of growing up in poverty and hungering for dreams that
seemed out of reach, but sticking it out to achieve them.
Dugard, Martin. Surviving the Toughest Race on Earth. (ENDURANCE SPORTS)
The
author, a freelance journalist, describes his experiences as a reporter and
participant in the Raid Gauloises, an annual eight- to twelve-day race designed
to test the limits of human endurance.
Gammelgaard, Lene. Climbing High: A Woman’s Account of Surviving the Everest Tragedy. (MOUNTAINEERING)
Autobiography
of a woman's triumph and survival during the 1996 Scott Fischer Mountain Madness
expedition to Mount Everest that suffered a sudden storm, human error and eight
deaths.
Goodwin, Doris Kearns. Wait Till Next Year. (BASEBALL)
For
Doris Kearns, religion--Roman Catholicism at the Gothic St. Agnes Church--was a
given, but baseball in a region blessed with three outstanding teams was a
choice. The Kearns family chose the Dodgers with a passion that had six-year-old
Doris keeping a detailed score book, which allowed her to describe every game to
her bank-examiner father when he came home from work. The remarkable '50s in New
York baseball, together with the rituals of her church and the universal
preoccupations of childhood, lend structure to this involving memoir. Goodwin
superbly weaves together the universal and the particular: experiences she
shared with millions of other war babies and boomers, and those unique to a
specific place, time, and family. (Review from Booklist).
Greene, Bob. Rebound: The Odyssey of Michael Jordan. (BASKETBALL)
Follows
NBA star Michael Jordan for two years, beginning with the murder of his father,
continuing through his retirement from basketball, his short baseball career,
and his shaky return to the Chicago Bulls.
Greenlaw,
Linda. The Hungry Ocean . (FISHING)
Hawk, Tony. Hawk: Occupation: Skateboarder. (SKATEBOARDING)
Details
the life and career of professional skateboarder Tony Hawk. Full of great
information about becoming a professional skateboarder, with lots of action
photos.
Hamm, Mia. Go for the Goal. (SOCCER)
Olympic
and World Cup soccer champion Mia Hamm discusses her life, tracing her path to
success on the field, and offers advice and tips to other girls who would like
to follow in her footsteps.
Heywood, Leslie. Pretty Good for a Girl. (RUNNING)
In
this memoir of her life as a runner, Leslie
Heywood explores why girls need and want to participate in the American dream of
competition and individual achievement; it also reveals the obstacles they still
face.
Kennedy, A.L. On Bullfighting. (BULLFIGHTING)
Writer
A.L. Kennedy is offered an assignment she can't refuse, an opportunity to travel
to Spain and cover a sport that represents the ultimate confrontation with
death: bullfighting.
Krakauer, Jon. Into Thin Air. (MOUNTAIN CLIMBING)
The
author relates his experience of climbing Mount Everest during its deadliest
season and examines what it is about the mountain that makes people willingly
subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense.
Kurmaskie, Joe. Metal Cowboy: Tales from the Road Less Pedaled. (BICYCLING)
Contains
forty essays in which the author describes the highlights and low moments of his
cycling life, from its beginnings at the age of five when he ran off with his
sister's bike, through five cross-country tours. Online comments about this
book: http://www.breakawaybooks.com/MC_Praise.htm
Littman, Jonathan. The Beautiful Game. (SOCCER)
A
riveting story of sixteen girls whose lives were changed in the course of one
soccer season.
Loren, BK. The Way of the River. (MARTIAL ARTS)
An
autobiographical account of the author's experiences with various forms of
martial arts and how they have helped her develop patience and wisdom.
Lynn, Elizabeth. Babe Didrikson Zaharias. (VARIOUS SPORTS)
Describes
the athletic achievements of the multi-talented Babe Didrikson Zaharias, whose
prowess in golf, track and field, and other sports in the 1930s made her one of
the most accomplished athletes in history
Maxwell, Jessica. Driving Myself Crazy. (GOLF)
Jessica
Maxwell writes of her attempts to learn golf and her games at some of the finest
golf courses.
Monniger, Joseph. Home Waters: Fishing With an Old Friend. (FISHING)
The
author shares the story of the road trip he took out west with his
eleven-year-old Golden Retriever, Nellie, a nature adventure he decided to make
after discovering lumps on his beloved pet and realizing that her time with him
was coming to an end.
Picket, Lynn Snowden. Looking for a Fight. (BOXING)
Seeking
an outlet for aggression and hurt she feels after a painful divorce, Lynn Picket
is led by her trainer to a gym in New York City, where she learns how to box.
After ten months, she is ready for her first public fight against another woman
equal to her in strength and size, the greatest physical challenge she has ever
faced. She finds, however, the greatest test of her courage will be knowing when
to quit.
Rushin, Steve. Road Swing. (VARIOUS SPORTS)
Steve
Rushin recounts the adventures he has as he spent seven months traveling to all
of America's most popular sports shrines.
Ryan, Joan. Little Girls in Pretty Boxes. (GYMNASTICS AND FIGURE SKATING)
Investigates
the destructive side of women's elite competition in gymnastics and
figure-skating, exposing such problems as eating disorders, stunted growth, and
debilitating injuries. Concludes
that abusive coaches and intense pressure from parents are often to blame.
Salzman, Mark. Iron and Silk. (MARTIAL ARTS)
An
American describes his experiences after his arrival in Hunan Province in 1982
to teach English, including his wushu training and life in post-Mao China.
Salzman,
Mark. Lost in Place: Growing Up Absurd in Suburbia. (MARTIAL ARTS)
Mark
Salzman recalls his tortured, often humorous growing up years as an eccentric
teenager obsessed with Asian culture and martial arts.
Sandoz, Joli. A Whole Other Ball Game. (MULTIPLE SPORTS)
Describes
the activities of the members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball
League, the women's professional baseball league that existed between 1943 and
1954.
Shields, David. Black Planet. (BASKETBALL).
Explores
how white basketball fans think about and talk about African-American heroes,
scapegoats, and bodies.
Walker, Paul Robert. Hoop Dreams. (BASKETBALL)
Adapted
from the award-winning documentary film, Hoop Dreams tracks these two young men
for almost five years as they struggle to turn their playground skills into the
kind of basketball mastery that could earn them college scholarships and maybe
even a place in the pros. A story
of hardship and determination, Hoop Dreams is as fast-moving, exciting and
suspenseful as a hard-fought, down to the buzzer championship game.