A baseball book full of on the field action perfect for middle grade readers. "Strike one is the best pitch in baseball." Mike loves pitching, and he loves knowing his team counts on him to deliver wins. But Mike's father starts to worry that Mike is getting too carried away with baseball and not spending time working at after school jobs and developing a sense of responsibility. Can Mike and his father reach a compromise in order to let Mike play the game he loves and help his team win the league championship? Read “The Real Story” of Harvey Haddix, who pitched a perfect game against the Atlanta Braves in 1959 and LOST. Baseball fans will love this extra dive into sports history.

Chris wants to be a star scorer like his brother—so why does his coach keep him waiting on the bench? Chris comes from a sports-loving family. His brother is the star scorer on the high school team, and is being recruited by Division 3 colleges. Chris longs to earn the same adulation, and he’s a good scorer for his junior high team. But why won’t his coach start him? He’s better on defense than his rival, Carlos, and nearly as good a shooter. Soon Chris becomes obsessed with earning a place in his team’s starting lineup. He does everything he can think of—including being an invaluable player every time he comes in. But nothing seems to get Coach’s attention. Even after he learns the history of the valuable “6th man,” Chris can’t seem to let it go. How will he ever be a big scoring star? For every kid who hates to read but loves basketball, comes a suspenseful novel with plenty of play-by-play sports action.

Chris wants to be a star scorer like his brother—so why does his coach keep him waiting on the bench? Chris comes from a sports-loving family. His brother is the star scorer on the high school team, and is being recruited by Division 3 colleges. Chris longs to earn the same adulation, and he’s a good scorer for his junior high team. But why won’t his coach start him? He’s better on defense than his rival, Carlos, and nearly as good a shooter. Soon Chris becomes obsessed with earning a place in his team’s starting lineup. He does everything he can think of—including being an invaluable player every time he comes in. But nothing seems to get Coach’s attention. Even after he learns the history of the valuable “6th man,” Chris can’t seem to let it go. How will he ever be a big scoring star? For every kid who hates to read but loves basketball, comes a suspenseful novel with plenty of play-by-play sports action.

Fred Bowen is back with more soccer action - and a mystery - in his newest Sports Story Series book, perfect for fans of Mike Lupica and Tim Green. While soccer-playing twins Aiden and Ava lead their teams to a championship season, they try to solve the mystery of their town's infamous missing soccer trophy. Thirteen-year-old twins Aiden and Ava and their good friend Daniel, all avid soccer players, have just learned their county league soccer trophy mysteriously disappeared forty years ago from the town library. It was never recovered. So between games and practices for the town's soccer championships, the three friends try to solve the case. But will these amateur detectives be able to unravel the mystery and find someone who had both motive and opportunity to commit the crime? Will their teams make it all the way to the championships? Award-winning author and Washington Post KidsPost sports columnist Fred Bowen returns with another installment in his Sports Story Series, this time tackling important topics like women in sports and equal recognition for their skill and accomplishments. At the end of the book, Bowen includes the real story behind the disappearance of the original World Cup trophy.