Welcome to SPORTY GIRL BOOKS. At SPORTY GIRL, we want to give all girls the chance to love, watch, play, read, and write about any sport that interests them. We look forward to the day when the words, "You play like a girl," is the biggest compliment anyone can receive.
Showing posts with label sports books for girls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports books for girls. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Sporty Girl Books coming in 2015



There are some awesome Sporty Girl Books coming out in 2015. I’ve included the cover art, if available, though many of them have not revealed covers yet. I can’t wait for these! If you know of any more, please add them in the comments!

Descriptions are from Goodreads, so in some cases, details are limited.  If you have more information about a title, please let me know and I’ll update the post.

The Boy Next Door – Young Adult – Katie Van Ark – January 2015

Maddy Spier has been in love with the boy next door forever. As his figure skating partner she spends time in his arms every day. But she’s also seen his arms around other girls—lots of other girls.

Gabe can't imagine skating with anyone but Maddy, and together they have a real chance at winning some serious gold medals. So, he’s determined to keep thinking of her like a sister. After all, he’s never had a romantic relationship that lasted for more than two weeks.

But when their coach assigns a new romantic skating program, everything changes. Will this be the big break that Maddy’s been hoping for or the big breakup that Gabe has always feared?

Breaking the Ice – Middle Grade – Gail Nall – January 2015

Kaitlin has always dreamed of being a champion figure skater, and she’s given up a lot to pursue her passion. But after having a totally uncharacteristic and decidedly NOT figure-skating-approved tantrum after getting her scores at a major competition she’s dropped by her coach and prestigious skating club.

When no other club in town will have her, she's forced to join the ridiculed and rundown Fallton Club, jokingly referred to as the Fall Down Club. At first Kaitlin thinks this is a complete disaster, but after meeting some of the other skaters, including a boy (who happens to have the most perfect hair she’s ever seen) Kaitlin thinks it might actually not be so bad.

But when she’s tasked with learning a whole new program right before Regionals and figures out that almost all the other skaters target Fallton, she thinks joining the Fall Down Club may just be the second biggest mistake she’s ever made.

In this figure skating themed debut, Kaitlin learns that when you fall down, you have to pick yourself up – even if it’s in front of judges and a crowd.

Defenseless (Diamond Girls #3) – Young Adult – Elisa Dane – January 2015

High school senior, Claire Reilly’s world revolves around All-Star cheerleading. The Diamond Girls, are gearing up for a major competition, which, if they win will allow them to compete at Worlds for the first time. But the unimaginable happens, and both Claire and her team are rocked by a devastating loss. Determined to get to Worlds any way she can, Claire finds help from the last person she imagined would give it—up and coming UFC fighter and notorious bad boy, Ryker Vaughn.

Fouled out of the octagon by a dirty opponent and a vicious kick to the head, Ryker loses control when he learns he may never fight again. Angry over the loss of his mother, an unsupportive family, and the world in general, he gives up, gives in, and unleashes his rage—destroying part of his cousin’s cheer gym in the process. Things go from bad to worse when Ryker is given an ultimatum: help the Diamond Girls compete for a bid to Worlds, or go to jail.

Overwhelmed with anger, sadness, and grief, the unlikely pair learn that what you see is not always what you get, and that the most difficult losses sometimes open the door to a frightening, yet amazing new future

Any Way You Slice It - Young Adult - Kristine Carlson Asselin – April 2015

Penelope Spaulding just can't catch a break. Between long hours at the family restaurant, homework, and her parents' plans for her future, it's hard to find a spare moment to breathe. But when she laces up her skates and steps on the ice, everything slips away...

Racing around the rink allows her to blow off steam after yet another fight with her dad about going to culinary school. So when Jake Gomes, the bad boy who lives down the street, dares her to join the Rink Rats, the local misfit hockey team, she surprises herself and joins in silent defiance of her father and his expectations.

The more she plays, the easier it is to keep lying, and soon Pen finds it impossible to come clean. She’s sneaking out to practice—and loving every minute of it. It doesn’t take long for her to fall in love with hockey…and Jake’s not half bad either. But she knows it can’t last. As soon as her dad finds out, she’ll be benched. For good.

She’s absolutely not going to tell her parents until she’s sure it will be worth the inevitable fight. Not only is she skipping shifts at Slice Pizza while a foodie reality show is on the horizon, but her lies are starting to take their toll on her game. It’s only a matter of time before everything falls apart.

With the team counting on her and with her relationship with Jake on the line, will she have to sacrifice the thing she wants most for the people she loves? Or can she step up and take her best shot?

Play On – Young Adult – Michelle Smith – April 2015

In the small town of Lewis Creek, baseball is everything. Especially for all-star pitcher Austin Braxton, who has a one-way ticket out of town with his scholarship to a top university. All that stands between him and a new start is one final season. But when Austin starts flunking Chemistry, his picture-perfect future is in jeopardy. A failing grade means zero playing time, and zero playing time means no scholarship.

Enter Marisa Marlowe, the new girl in town who gets a job at his momma's flower shop. Not only is Marisa some home-schooled super-genius; she's also a baseball fanatic and more than willing to help Austin study. As the two grow closer, there's something about Marisa that makes Austin want more than just baseball and out of Lewis Creek -- he wants a future with her. But Marisa has a past that still haunts her, one that she ran all the way to South Carolina to escape.

As Austin starts to peel back the layers of Marisa’s pain, it forces him to look beyond the façade of himself and everyone he thought he knew in his town. What he sees instead is that in a small town like Lewis Creek, maybe baseball isn’t everything—maybe it is just the thing that ties them all together.

What Happens In Water – Young Adult – Diana Gallagher – September 2015

In which a girl afraid to take risks since a gymnastics injury must take charge of her future after her best friend's failed suicide attempt.

Little Red Gliding Hood – Picture Book – Tara Lazar – October 2015

A pairs skating competition is coming up, and first prize is a new pair of skates!

Little Red Gliding Hood knows she can win, but can she find a partner? Hansel already has Gretel, the Dish is skating with the Spoon, and the Seven Dwarfs are forming a hockey team instead! Well, there is one shady character who's interested...

(This isn't the cover, but Author Tara Lazar was kind enough to share some of the artwork from the interior with us!)

Cross My Heart – Young Adult – Mari Mancusi – December 2015

Cross My Heart tells the story of an eighth-grade snowboarder who returns to her elite mountain boarding school after an accident nearly destroys her dreams of Olympic gold, and finds herself faced with pressuring parents, frenemies, and first love.

On Ice – Young Adult – Cate Cameron – 2015

After her mother's sudden death, Karen Webber is shipped off to live with her estranged father and his new family, despite the fact that she's never met any of them. As she struggles to adjust to her new world, she finds Tyler MacDonald, star of the local Ontario Hockey League team, going through his own hard times. Together, they find strength to stand up for themselves, and for each other.

The Harder You Fall – Young Adult – Joy Hensley – 2015

About a girl in the world of mixed martial arts!

The Trick to Landing – Young Adult – Jenny Kaczorowski – 2015

The Trick to Landing is about Summer, a semi-pro skateboarder trying to build a new life after a DUI. After moving to Oceanside, she meets Bastian, a brilliant photographer fighting for a future beyond the bleeding disorder that defines his life.


Friday, September 19, 2014

The Booklist Kerfuffle and Welcome!

Over the last 24 hours we've seen fabulous growth in views of Sporty Girl Books blog thanks to ALA Booklist's recent article Top 10 Sports Books for Youth. The list of "the year’s best sports books [sic] drawn from books reviewed in Booklist from September 15, 2013, to August 2014" didn't include a single female athlete. A quick and certain backlash from librarians, teachers, and readers throughout the blogosphere led Booklist to quickly create a new list Let's Hear It for the Girls. We've been making lists of great books about female athletes for over a year and we're so glad you've found us. Welcome!

We hope you'll explore our archives which include our own lists of great picture books, books for middle grade readers, teens, and books leveled for teachers. We have interviews with current and aspiring authors, as well as interviews with athletes. We are your source for female athletes in the news and even have tips for young athletes. At SPORTY GIRL, we want to give all girls the chance to love, watch, play, read, and write about any sport that interests them. We look forward to the day when the words, "You play like a girl," is the biggest compliment anyone can receive.

We'd love to hear from you. Please contact us if you:
  • have a new Sporty Girl Book coming out in the next year and would like us to review it. (We give first priority to SCBWI PAL published books.)
  • are a young female athlete who would like to be featured as an athlete of the month.
  • coach young women and have some insight on training you'd like to share.
  • are in the children's publishing industry (agent, editor, art director, etc.) and would like to do an interview or contribute a guest post.
  • just want to say, "hello!" 
You can follow us on Facebook, or on Twitter @sportygirlbooks

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Picture Book List for Young Sporty Girls or the Young-At-Heart!

You may have noticed that Sporty Girl Books blog includes tabs with booklists for middle grade and young adult readers. However, if you’ve seen some of the sportiest girls out there, you know that they start when they are knee-high to a grasshopper and can hardly fit their sports equipment.

(When my kiddos were this big we called soccer, magnet ball and had fun counting how many times a player took the ball from someone on their own team.)

With the right safety and inspiration, some young players grow into healthy young women with a life-long love of sport, while others become experienced and technically savvy athletes. Either way, below is a list of picture books that will inspire sports and history lovers young and old, male and female.

About this list:

  • This list is not at all exhaustive. While I was pleased to find picture books about African-American athletes along side Caucasian athletes, it is clear that there are still underrepresented groups including Latinas, Asian-Americans, "out" gay athletes, athletes who identify as Muslim or Jewish and many others. I would love to hear other suggestions from our readers in the comments! 
  • The books are listed by author’s last name. The MLA citations and summaries are from WorldCat.org
  • Many of the books that I’ve listed were chosen because they have won a variety of awards or been on well-known lists. Some have shown up on the relatively new (2002) ALA Amelia Bloomer Book list that showcases feminist books for young readers. Read more here. http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/amelia-bloomer-book-list
  • Except Mia Hamm's book, these are picture book biographies.
  • Yes, there are TWO books about Alice Coachman. Give them a look and tell us what you think!


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Adler, David A, and Terry Widener. America's Champion Swimmer: Gertrude Ederle. San Diego: Harcourt, 2000. Print.
Describes the life and accomplishments of Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel and a figure in the early women's rights movement.


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Corey, Shana, and Ed Fotheringham. Mermaid Queen: The Spectacular True Story of Annette Kellerman, Who Swam Her Way to Fame, Fortune, & Swimsuit History! New York: Scholastic Press, 2009. Print.
As a child growing up in Australia, Annette Kellerman was a frail ugly duckling who dreamed of becoming a graceful ballerina. With courage and determination, she confronted a crippling illness to become an internationally known record-setting athlete who revolutionized the sport of swimming for women, a movie star who invented water ballet, and a fashion revolutionary who modernized the swimsuit.


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Corey, Shana, Rebecca Gibbon, and Marijka Kostiw. Players in Pigtails. New York: Scholastic Press, 2003. Print.
Katie Casey, a fictional character, helps start the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which gave women the opportunity to play professional baseball while America was involved in World War II.



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Deans, Karen, and Elbrite Brown. Playing to Win: The Story of Althea Gibson. New York: Holiday House, 2007. Print.
Growing up in Harlem, Althea Gibson was heading down the wrong path until she found her calling. She went on to become the first African American women to be ranked as the number one woman tennis player in the world.



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Hamm, Mia, and Carol Thompson. Winners Never Quit! New York: HaperCollns, 2004. Print.
Shows that being a team player is more important than winning or losing a game.



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Hopkinson, Deborah, and Terry Widener. Girl Wonder: A Baseball Story in Nine Innings. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2003. Print.
In the early 1900s, Alta Weiss, a young woman who knows from an early age that she loves baseball, finds a way to show that she can play, even though she is a girl.



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Krull, Kathleen, and David Diaz. Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1996. Print.
A biography of the African-American woman who overcame crippling polio as a child to become the first woman to win three gold medals in track in a single Olympics.



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Lang, Heather, and Floyd Cooper. Queen of the Track: Alice Coachman, Olympic High-Jump Champion. Honesdale, Pa: Boyds Mills Press, 2012. Print.
Tells the story of Alice Coachman, an athlete from rural Georgia who made history as the first African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in 1948.


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Macy, Sue, and Matt Collins. Basketball Belles: How Two Teams and One Scrappy Player Put Women's Hoops on the Map. New York: Holiday House, 2011. Print.
Raised on a cattle ranch, Agnes Morley was sent to Stanford University to learn to be a lady. Yet in no time she exchanged her breeches and spurs for bloomers and a basketball; and in April 1896 she made history. In a heart-pounding game against the University of California at Berkeley, Agnes led her team to victory in the first-ever intercollegiate women's basketball game, earning national attention and putting women's basketball on the map.



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Malaspina, Ann, and Eric Velasquez. Touch the Sky: Alice Coachman, Olympic High Jumper. Chicago, Ill: Albert Whitman, 2012. Print.
 A biography of the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal, from her childhood in segregated Albany, Georgia, in the 1930s, through her recognition at the 1996 Olympics as one of the hundred best athletes in Olympic history. Includes bibliographical references.



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Rosenstock, Barbara, and Scott Dawson. Fearless: The Story of Racing Legend Louise Smith. New York: Dutton Children's Books, 2010. Print.
Introduces the life of stock car racer Louise Smith, from her first ride behind the wheel of her father's Ford to her thrilling stock car races across the country during the 1950s.



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Vernick, Audrey. She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story. New York: HarperCollins, 2010. Print.
Effa always loved baseball. As a young woman, she would go to Yankee Stadium just to see Babe Ruth's mighty swing. But she never dreamed she would someday own a baseball team. Or be the first and only woman ever inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. From her childhood in Philadelphia to her groundbreaking role as business manager and owner of the Newark Eagles, Effa Manley always fought for what was right. And she always swung for the fences.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

A Title IX Anniversary Celebration!

Happy Anniversary Picture Cards
Title IX!!

What is Title IX and why are we celebrating it today?
Title IX is a section of the Education Amendments of 1972 that states: 

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance...

Title IX is a legal act that has helped girls and women fight gender discrimination. Sinces its passing 41 years ago today, girls participation in sports has risen by 90%! 37 words that changed opportunities for thousands of women and girls.

How are we celebrating?
We have been celebrating all month with interviews of the authors of Sporty Girl Books. At midnight tonight we will be picking one lucky follower. That follower will win a copy of Karen Day's No Cream Puffs, a copy of a signed copy of Maria Padian's Jersey Tomatoes Are the Best, the choice of one of Catherine Murdock's books (any of her Dairy Queen books or her newest book, Heaven is Paved with Oreos which will be delivered on its release day, 9-3-13), and a copy of Liz Fichera's Hooked (interview coming next week). We are also adding to that a $25 gift card to Modells Sporting Goods

How can you win?
All you have to do to win is to let people know about this blog. Sign in to the rafflecopter giveaway on the sidebar and it will tell you all the ways you can add entries. We've given you so many options, it's definitely not to late to start now. 

How else can you take part in celebrating Title IX?
We would love to hear your experience as a girl in sports, as a sports fan, as a sporty book reader, or as a guy who supports girls in sports. Tell us your story by posting a comment on our Your Stories page. Our hope is that through your stories and comments, this blog becomes a community of people who care about girls in sports and the books written about them. We hope to hear from you soon. Watch this YouTube Video from Title IX's 40th to hear more about Title IX. Also make sure to check out our featured video that has the voices of women in sports.


Happy Anniversary Pictures