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Hoopers
Set in Toronto, Hoopers is about a Black youth who wants to live the basketball dream of fame and acclaim. Jojo and his friends know that once they make the Squad, their high-school team, they will have the time of their lives. But their no-nonsense coach is strict, even mean, and seems to repeatedly target Jojo. Emphasizing the real qualities of hard work and dedication, Hoopers shows how Jojo learns how to be a skilled player and leader for his team — a real Hooper.
Hustle
Fourteen-year-old Johnny Huttle -- nicknamed "Hustle" by his best friend, Rex -- comes from an inner-city neighbourhood, where the streets are tough and the street ball games are rougher. More than anything, Johnny wants to shine as the school's star basketball player. But the one thing standing in his way is his best friend, Rex, who outshines Johnny effortlessly at everything, on and off the court. This makes Johnny angry enough that his game and their friendship suffer. When Rex starts getting into trouble in the neighbourhood and is suspended from the team, Johnny has to put his jealously aside to help his friend -- and his basketball team at the championship.
Run for Your Life
For Chris Khalili, cross-country running is all about winning. And the only way he can hit top speed is by imagining scary figures chasing him through the woods around his home in Victoria, B.C. When forest fires to the north cause mass destruction, Chris doesn't see why he has to participate in the charity run to help refugees from the fire, when he should be concentrating on winning the city finals. Chris becomes friends with Jason, a First Nations kid whose family has been displaced by the fire. He and Jason train together, but Chris is horrified that the shadowy figures in his mind have become stereotypical scary Natives. Chris is even more surprised by his dad's sudden interest in helping Jason and his family. For the first time, Chris wonders about his father's emigration from Iran as a young man, and starts to think about what it means to be a refugee and to have to actually run for your life. But without the fear of being pursued to spur him on, how will Chris win the big race?
Two Strikes
KaLeah has just moved from Halifax to the small town of Trail, B.C. KaLeah's a natural at baseball, and it's what she loves to do most. But she is excluded and bullied by Nikki and her clique, the popular Valley Girls, because she is black and because she is better at softball than Nikki. She decides she wants to play baseball with the Trail Boys, the best players her age. Except it's an all-boys baseball team. But first KaLeah has to prove herself to the boys and the parents who don't want her to upstage their kids.
Bad Shot
Bad Shot is about a 12-year-old basketball player whose shaky self-confidence is undermined by a much better-off player who targets him, first in subtle ways and then more aggressively. To play better, he has to come to grips with the bullying, become more self-reliant, and take advantage of his skills playing the sport. When a new kid arrives in town, Cody is impressed with the kid's wealth and skills, judging himself inferior. The newbie seems to take an interest in Cody on the court but his "helpful" hints are undermining Cody's performance — right up to him scoring a basket in his own team's net. Cody has to come to grips with his situation and make moves to challenge the bullying, as well as working to hone his basketball skills. This story plays out against the realistic backdrop of an economically struggling small town, a fictional version of Chatham, and touches on the emotional realities of performance anxiety, socioeconomic status issues experienced by kids, depression, and bullying.
Reaching Reluctant Young Readers
Reaching Reluctant Young Readers features 150 middle-grade books. Each profiled title has the potential to hook the reluctant reader and lure them to read the entire book. To specifically encourage elementary and middle-school-age reluctant children to read, there is first a pitch to get the reader’s attention. That is followed by a short reading passage to “set the hook” and encourage the young person to read the rest of the book on their own. Further, the book contains several hundred additional recommended titles. The books selected for this collection were chosen following the criteria of reluctant reader books created by the Quick Picks committee sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association. While these guidelines were designed for young adult books, they also work well for middle-grade books. The criteria include: clear writing (no convoluted long sentences with sophisticated vocabulary), high interest “hook” in the first few pages, well-defined characters, interesting plot, and familiar themes.
Red Zone Rivals
When Coach Gordon suddenly retires, Quinn Brown has to prove to a new coach that he deserves to remain the Spartans starting quarterback. But Coach Millers style seems to be throwing Quinn off his game -- and big-mouthed second-string Luke is gunning for Quinns position. To top it off, Quinn has been paired up with a peer tutor for math, and the tutor's a new kid everyone's making fun of. Who would have thought that the new kid would be exactly the kind of friend a struggling quarterback needs -- both on and off the football field?
Stick Pick
A car accident injures her parents and paralyzes Janine from the waist down. Her best friend and teammate urges Janine to look into sledge hockey. At first dismissing the sport as being just for the disabled, Janine agrees to play if her friend does too. They both learn that sledge hockey is an accessible sport, with fiercely competitive players, requiring a strength and skill set all its own. Adapting to her new life, Janine meets frustration at every turn. Soon her experiences lead her to speak up about the seeming invisibility of disabled people and their rights, taking her cause all the way to the professional hockey arena. Based on Steven Sandor's real-life experience and research, this story tracks the emotional and physical challenges a young teen faces when first dealing with disability.
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Snow Soccer
Sarimah has played soccer in both her home in Syria and then in a Turkish refugee camp, honing her skills there with an old soccer ball on a sandy field with any kids she could find. But when her family suddenly moves to Canada, Sarimah is too busy learning English and getting used to the cold Saskatoon winter to think about her favourite game. She is surprised to find that the kids at her school play soccer in the snow, but she feels clumsy and slow in her winter coat and boots. And she doesn't understand why Tamsen, her classmate and star of the girls league team, has decided she doesn't like Sarimah. But Sarimah finds that playing soccer in the snow is like playing the game in the sand. Her skills win her a place on the league team, even though Tamsen is convinced that the chance is given to Sarimah as charity. Sarimah has to find out if she has what it takes to play organized soccer on an indoor field, to show Tamsen that she deserves a place on the team, and to learn to love her new home as much as she loves the game.
