Sports

Six eighth graders in Washington, DC, navigate through the conflict and division sparked by a school assignment focused on their town's Native American mascot.

It is every baseball kid's dream summer job: batboy for your hometown Major League team. Yet for fourteen year-old Brian, the job means more than just the chance to hang around his idols. Baseball was the job his father loved so much, in the end he couldn't leave it. Yet he could leave his family. Now Brian sees the job as the way to win back his father.There is no winning back some people, though. Just ask Hank Bishop?once the most popular player...

For as long as ZJ can remember, his dad has been everyone's hero. As a charming, talented pro football star, he's as beloved to the neighborhood kids he plays with as he is to his millions of adoring sports fans. But lately life at ZJ's house is anything but charming. His dad is having trouble remembering things and seems to be angry all the time. ZJ's mom explains it's because of all the head injuries his dad sustained during his career. ZJ can understand...

Twelve-year-old Troy always dreamed of meeting his father, but when the man finally appears his mother's anger, his father's shady business dealings, and Troy's own feelings make the reunion difficult and confusing.

Back in his old basketball league, before the car accident, thirteen-year-old Carlos Cooper owned the court, sprinting and jumping and lighting up the scoreboard as his opponents (and teammates) watched in amazement. But now, Carlos feels completely out of his league on his new wheelchair basketball team, the Rollin' Rats. After all, how can he make a layup when he's still struggling to learn how to dribble? But when the city's crooked mayor threatens...

After his embarrassing strike out last season Eddie Jackson decided to quit baseball and stick to band practice, but Coach persuades him to join the team as the backup catcher--then the starter is injured and Eddie finds himself back in the lineup, facing his fear of failing the team.

Twelve-year-old Tully's attempt to swim across Lake Tahoe, after a heartbreaking loss, and become the youngest person to complete the famous "Godfather" swim, takes a dangerous turn, forcing her to choose between safety and a win that could change everything.

In Los Angeles, twelve-year-old Charlie's skill at fantasy football gains the attention of both the local media and the owner of a professional football team.

Lori Block and her best friend Sophia are dedicated to their Fourth-Grade basketball team, despite being relegated to the 5th quarter, an extra period before the real game starts, where the not-so-good kids play, and the points don't count. That doesn't matter to Lori though, because basketball is a place where working hard and getting better gives her hints of self-confidence. At school, she is awkward and unsure, and at home Lori's parents are consumed...

Fifth-grader Claire can do a perfect triple handspring. She can do a giant pirouette on the uneven bars. What she can't do is reading. With a lot of effort, she hides her secret until an alert vice principal suggests she get evaluated for a learning disability. Now Claire has to convince her mother--who's afraid her daughter will be labeled 'stupid'--to let her get tested. And that turns out to be even harder than reading.