by Fredrick McKissack Jomo Rogers, a naturally talented athlete, stars taking performance enhancing drugs in order to be an even better

high school football player, but finds his life spinning out of control as his game improves.

by Mike Lupica When Hutch feels threatened by the arrival of a new teammate named Darryl, he tries to work through his insecurities about both Darryl and his remote and silent father, who was once a great ballplayer, too.

by Bobbie Pyron Plagued by slipping grades and a budding criminal record, Mardies heading down a path of self-destruction she cant seem to avoid. Unlike her perfect older brother Michael, who does everything right according to their father, Mardie cant meet those high expectations. Then she discovers a girls boxing club at the gym.

by John Coy When a school bus accident leaves 16year-old Jessica an amputee, she returns to school with a prosthetic limb and her track team finds a wonderful way to rekindle her dream of running again.

Whether youre an athlete or a spectator, check out these stories about feats of strength both on and off the field.


by Paul Volponi High school senior Adonis struggles to do the right thing when his fellow football players escalate their bullying of a new classmate, Alan, who is transgendered. by Alfred Martino After scoring the winning goal in the county soccer championship, Jonny finally attains some of the popularity enjoyed by his best friend Kyle, until a devastating event changes everything. rent problems. by Rebecca Fjelland Davis When she is left with relatives in rural Minnesota for the summer, Sadie meets Allie, a spiky-haired off-read biker, and Joe, who team up to train for a race. But when they find a priest badly beaten and near death in the woods, Allie mysteriously disappears, leaving Sadie and Joe to discover the secret shes hiding. by Beth Choat When Flora leaves her family and their Maine potato farm for a tryout at the International Sports Academy, she struggles to hold her own through injuries, learning new positions, and contempt from other players. by Geoff Herbach Just before his 16th birthday, Felton Reinstein has a sudden growth spurt that turns him from a small, jumpy, picked-on boy nicknamed Squirrel Nut, to a powerful athlete, leading to new friends, his first love, and the courage to confront his familys past and curby Holly Schindler Chelsea, a high school basketball star whose promising career was cut short by a terrible accident, and Clint, a 19year-old ex-hockey player who gave up his sport following a game-related tragedy, meet at a Minnesota lake and find themselves drawn together by the losses theyve suffered.

by Carl Deuker Overweight, timid Mitch reluctantly agrees to be the sports reporter for the Lincoln High newspaper because he is determined to be a writer, but he senses a real story in Angel, a talented football player who refuses to stand out on the field or to discuss his past. with Danny.

by Joshua Cohen Sophomore Danny excels at gymnastics but is bullied, like the rest of the gymnasts, by members of the football team, until an emotionally and physically scarred new student joins the football team and forms an unlikely friendship

by Caridad Ferrer Soledad Reyes decides to dance Carmen as part of a drum and bugle corps competition, not knowing if it will help or harm her chance of becoming a professional ballet dancer but eager to pursue new options.

by Walter Dean Myers by Ben Bo A teen gang member accused of various crimes finds redemption working and snowboarding at a ski lodge in the mountains surrounding Canadas Glacier National Park. by John Coy Sophomore Liam jeopardizes his new position on the varsity basketball team when he decides to take a stand against his coach who is leading prayers before games and enforcing team-wide participation. If Drew is going to realize his dream of playing college, then professional, basketball, he will have to improve at being coached and being a team player, especially after a new white student threatens to take the scouts attention away from him.