If you like sports, you will love these novels featuring teens playing their games. (Created February 2023).
Kneel
When Marion and Rus are hassled by their white adversaries at the football game, insults and fists fly, and Marion is arrested. Rus knows he didn't start it, so when he takes a knee at the next game, he is surprised to see how many people - including his coach and his parents - do not support him.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View KneelCheer Up!
Old friends Annie (who is really antisocial) and Bebe (who is trans) need extracurriculars to round out their transcripts, so they both join the cheerleading squad. Can the rest of the squad learn to like Annie, and also to quit treating Bebe like a mascot?
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
View Cheer Up!Icebreaker
Mickey plays hockey mainly because it's what his dad and grandfather played, but when he meets Jaysen, his rival, he feels he may have more interesting reasons to play.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View IcebreakerThrow Like A Girl
After Liv is kicked off her softball team for fighting, she joins the football team, recruited by the coach's son and starting quarterback. Can she take his place, and can she manage her growing feelings for him?
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Throw Like A GirlWhy We Fly
Chanel and Eleanor's friendship is off to a rocky start of the season when their cheer squad takes a knee and each girl must face different responses and consequences.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Why We FlyA Map to the Sun
Ren and Luna were inseparable until Luna had to move away to deal with family tragedy. Two years later, they meet again and join the same basketball team. Can their sport (and the other girls on the team) bring them back together?
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
View A Map to the SunDangerous Play
Zoe is ready to take her field hockey team to the championship, but a sexual assault suddenly threatens their entire season. When a teammate reveals she was raped, the team changes tack and starts going after their assailants.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Dangerous PlayFuria
At home, Camila lives in the shadow of her soccer star brother and her abusive father, but on the soccer pitch, she dominates. Her skills are good enough to get her a scholarship to America, but will her parents ever allow her to play?
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View FuriaThe Knockout
Kareena hides the fact that she is an accomplished Muay Thai fighter, a rarity for women, but when she tells her normally disapproving community, she is surprised to learn her classmate Amit is supportive.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View The KnockoutShe Drives Me Crazy
After losing to her ex in a big basketball game, Scottie runs into annoying cheerleader Irene and persuades her to fake-date her to make her ex jealous. Will it work? Will it work too well?
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
View She Drives Me Crazy