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In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson (age 9-12)
by Bette Bao Lord
friendship ... humor ... identity ... sports ... school
Shirley Temple Wong sails from China to America with a heart full of dreams. Her new home is Brooklyn, New York. America is indeed a land full of wonders, but Shirley doesn't know any English, so it's hard to make friends. Then a miracle happens...baseball. It is 1947, and Jackie Robinson, star of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is everyone's hero. Jackie Robinson is proving that a black man, the grandson of a slave, can make a difference in America and for Shirley as well, on the ball field and off, America becomes the land of opportunity.
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SLO
Hang Tough, Paul Mather (age 9-12)
by Alfred Slote
identity ... illness/loss ... sports
Paul Mather's a pitcher ... a really good one. His off speed pitch is enough to bowl a kid backward, and his fast ball is pure smoke. There isn't anything he can't throw, from sliders, change-ups, and sinkers to a mean curve ball that breaks at just the right moment. He's pitched no-hitters and perfect games. To Paul, pitching is what you live for and why you live. Lately, though, Paul hasn't been allowed to do much of anything, much less play ball. He's got leukemia, and it's put him into the hospital several times already. His parents are so worried, they've forbidden him to play the game he loves so much. They're afraid that if Paul strains himself his illness may come back a final time...and maybe even take his life. But Paul is a winner. His team needs him, and he won't give up without a fight. Paul Mather is determined to pitch every inning...to keep playing baseball, and to keep hanging tough, no matter what the odds.
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BAR
Go Long! (age 9-12)
by Tiki Barber
school ... sports
Publisher comments: It's Tiki and Ronde's second year on their junior high school football team, the Hidden Valley Eagles. The eighth-grade season is here, and the boys have come together as a team. Now key starters, Tiki and Ronde are ready for a great season, and with hard work and determination, maybe they will even go all the way to the State Championship! But when Coach Spangler announces that he has been asked to move up to the high school team, and Mr. Wheeler, the science teacher, is tapped for the head coaching job, the season seems over before it begins. Sure, Coach Wheeler played college football until he was benched by an injury, but it just isn't the same. Tiki wants to give Coach Wheeler a chance, yet the team's loyalties are divided. What does a science teacher know about the game of football? Can the team work together, get behind their new coach, and play smart?
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MAD
Soccer Spirit (age 9-12)
by Jake Maddox
sports ... action
Catalog: When the girls' soccer team is cancelled, three girls have to join their arch rivals.
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MAD
Skater's Secret (age 9-12)
by Jake Maddox
sports ... action
Catalog: Maggie and Shannon are figure skaters and sisters, but Maggie is really tired of Shannon always being in the spotlight. For once, Maggie is determined to come out from behind her sister's shadow.
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MAD
Skateboard Save (age 9-12)
by Jake Maddox
sports ... action
Catalog: When Riley enters the skateboarding contest, he doesn't expect to help his biggest rival.
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MAD
On the Line (age 9-12)
by Jake Maddox
sports ... action
Catalog: After breaking his arm during the first day of try-outs last season, Robby is determined to make the football team this year, but to do so he must face his own fears and the bully who tackled him the year before.
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MAD
Karate Countdown (age 9-12)
by Jake Maddox
sports ... action
Catalog: When Kenny's anger problem gets out of control, his father signs him up for karate lessons. But even in karate class, Kenny can't get a grip on his temper, and he's getting a reputation for being angry.
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MAD
Horseback Hopes (age 9-12)
by Jake Maddox
sports ... action
Catalog: Molly has always dreamed of taking horseback riding lessons, but the lessons were too expensive, until now. A new stable has opened up in town and Molly convinces her parents to let her sign up for classes. Everything is great, except that two girls at school keep making fun of Molly.
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MAD
Free Climb (age 9-12)
by Jake Maddox
sports ... action
Catalog: Amir's new friend refuses to learn the right way to climb, and soon finds himself in danger.
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MAD
Backup Goalie (age 9-12)
by Jake Maddox
sports ... action
Catalog: The Comets are bound for the state hockey championship, but when Jill is told that she can't play on the boys' team anymore, and Brett is hurt during a match, everything starts to fall apart.
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MAD
Back on the Beam (age 9-12)
by Jake Maddox
sports ... action
Catalog: Because of an ankle injury, Nadia couldn't practice her balance beam routines all summer. Her ankle is healed now, but she's nervous about being back in competition, and it seems like every time she sees her rival, Nadia's ankle starts to hurt again.
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CHR
The Team That Stopped Moving (age 9-12)
by Matt Christopher
magic ... sports
A new baseball team gets some supernatural help from a concerned wizard.
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CHR
Mystery Coach (age 9-12)
by Matt Christopher
mystery ... sports
When their coach becomes ill and their baseball team starts falling apart, several of the Blazers begin receiving coaching tips from an anonymous phone caller.
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CHR
Front Court Hex (age 9-12)
by Matt Christopher
magic ... sports
Star of the previous year's basketball team, Jerry can't do anything right in the new season, but refuses to believe his new friend who, claiming to be a warlock, predicts Jerry's play won't improve until he changes his slovenly habits.
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TOL
The Great Pete Penney (age 9-12)
by Jean Bashor Tolle
sports
An 11-year-old pitcher's unusual friendship with a tiny invisible man is responsible for her team's very memorable season.
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KON
About the B'nai Bagels (age 9-12)
by E. L. Konigsburg
realistic ... family ... sports ... growing up
Mark Seltzer thought he had enough aggravation studying for his Bar Mitzvah and losing his best friend. It's the last straw when his mother becomes the new manager of his Little League baseball team and drags his older brother, Spencer, along as the coach. No one knows what to expect with a mother for a manager, but soon Mark and the other players are surprised to see how much they're improving due to coach Spencer's strategy and helpful hints from "Mother Bagel." It looks like nothing can stop them from becoming champs--until Mark hears some startling news!
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SLO
The Trading Game (age 9-12)
by Alfred Slote
family ... enterprise ... sports
Andy loves to collect baseball cards, but most of all, he loves his grandfather, an ex-Major League baseball player who thinks that baseball card collecting is a useless hobby. When Andy must choose to either play by his grandfather's rules or do whatever it takes to trade for his grandfather's baseball card, he learns a valuable lesson on hero worship.
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NAM
Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear (age 9-12)
by Lensey Namioka
family ... friendship ... sports ... the arts
Recently arrived in Seattle from China, musically untalented Yingtao is faced with giving a violin performance to attract new students for his father when he would rather be working on friendships and playing baseball.
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GUT
They Came From Center Field (age 9-12)
by Dan Gutman
humor ... science fiction ... sports
A team of aliens and a team of kids play a game of baseball.
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AVI
S.O.R. Losers (age 9-12)
by Avi
humor ... sports
The South Orange River (S.O.R.) School is big on sports and famous for not losing a game all season. That all changes when the school insists that some seventh-grader non-jocks form a soccer team. The new team is sure that losing their first game 32-0 will put an end to their athletic adventure, but no such luck. Their parents insist they try harder. The whole school cheers them on, and the finally score...for the other team. And only the eleven members of the S.O.R. Losers team know the secret of their outstanding "success."
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SLO
Finding Buck McHenry (age 9-12)
by Alfred Slote
identity ... historical ... sports
Eleven-year-old Jason, believing the school custodian Mack Henry to be Buck McHenry, a famous pitcher from the old Negro League, tries to enlist him as a coach for his Little League team by revealing his identity to the world.
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RIT
The Boy Who Saved Baseball (age 9-12)
by John Ritter
enterprise ... humor ... sports
Tom Gallagher finds himself in a tight spot. The fate of Dillontown rests on the outcome of one baseball game, winner take all. Maybe Tom has one hope: Cruz de la Cruz, the mysterious boy who has just ridden into town on horseback claiming to know the secret of hitting.
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GIF
All the Way Home (age 9-12)
by Patricia Reilly Giff
identity ... historical ... sports ... friendship ... family
Brick Tiernan is devastated when fire destroys his family's apple orchard in Windy Hill, New York, in the summer of 1941. His parents are forced to take jobs in different cities, and Brick is sent to Brooklyn to live with Loretta, a family friend, until the family recovers front their financial loss. Brick feels homesick before he even gets to Brooklyn, but when he meets Martel, Loretta's adopted daughter, he discovers that they have things in common. Both are Dodgers fans, and Martel, who wonders about her real mother, has a mysterious connection to Windy Hill. In the final days of summer, Brick and Martel find a way to return to Windy Hill, where a kind elderly couple help them discover what they are each searching for-a sense of belonging and the real meaning of home.
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KOR
The Zucchini Warriors (age 9-12)
by Gordon Korman
humor ... school ... sports
Roommates Bruno and Boots find obstacles in their way as they attempt to lead the Macdonald Hall Zucchini Warriors to a victorious football season and earn the reward of a new recreation center.
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GUT
Dan Gutman's Baseball Card Adventures (age 9-12)
by Dan Gutman
historical ... sports
With the help of baseball cards and other memorabilia, Joey is able to travel through time to meet some of the greatest sports stars in history.
title: Abner & Me: a Baseball Card Adventure
title: Babe & Me: a Baseball Card Adventure
title: Honus & Me: a Baseball Card Adventure
title: Jackie & Me: a Baseball Card Adventure
title: Mickey & Me: a Baseball Card Adventure
title: Satch & Me: a Baseball Card Adventure
title: Shoeless Joe & Me: a Baseball Card Adventure
title: Jim and Me: a Baseball Card Adventure
title: Ray and Me: a Baseball Card Adventure

Juana Briones Elementary School, Sat Aug 25 11:55:27 2012
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