The best sports books (as picked by a kids’ sports book author)

Mountain climbing is not the typical American team sport such as baseball or basketball but it is definitely exciting … and dangerous.

Jon Krakauer is a skilled nature writer who can give his reader the feel of what it takes to climb a mountain (something I will never do).

Krakauer went to Mount Everest to report for Outside Magazine about the growing phenomenon of professional guides leading tours of the world’s highest mountain. Krakauer had planned to stop at the Everest base camp (about 17,000 feet). He decided, however, to train and go for the summit (29,000 feet) with one of the tours.

Instead, Krakauer became part of a mountaineering disaster in which eight people lost their lives on the mountain. Into Thin Air is a harrowing and unforgettable adventure tale that will leave you gasping for breath.

Several years ago, I was in a reading slump. It seemed like months since I had read a really good book. 

So during some school visits (children’s authors visit schools), I asked some school librarians for book suggestions. “The Boys in the Boat,” was the immediate answer of two consecutive librarians.

The moment I picked up the book, my reading slump was over. While the premise of the book – the true story of the University of Washington men’s rowing team in the 1930s – does not sound promising, Brown magically weaves the stories of the nine “boys in the boat,” the Depression and the leadup to the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany.

Many sports books are about people overcoming obstacles to achieve something great. The Boys in the Boat is that and much more. Just a fabulous piece of storytelling.

There is an old adage in sports writing: the smaller the ball the better the writing. 

According to that adage, golf, with its small ball, should inspire the very best writing. I am a golfer and I have read a lot of golf books. The adage is certainly true for The Match.

The setup is that a wealthy auto dealer attending the Bing Crosby Pro-Am golf tournament in 1956 declares he has two amateur golfers working for him – Ken Venturi and Harvie Ward - who can beat any other two golfers in a match.

Another well-heeled golf fan takes the bet and shows up the next day with a team of two professionals: Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson.

Pretty good setup. The 18-hole match played on the legendary Cypress Point golf course on the Monterey Peninsula is even better.

My fourth pick is not a book. It is an article that appeared in Sports Illustrated magazine on June 17, 1985 although it does appear in various anthologies of great sports writing.

In his heyday, Frank Deford was the king of the “take out piece,” the longer journalistic pieces that appeared in the back of magazines. The Boxer and the Blonde is his masterpiece.

It is the story of Billy Conn when the light heavyweight champion challenged Joe Louis for the heavyweight crown in the summer of 1941.  But it is also the story of Billy falling hard for the blonde – Mary Louise Smith.

Years ago, I handed a copy of The Boxer and the Blonde to my son Liam when he was complaining about his 8th grade English assignment (The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton). An hour later Liam returned and declared, “Dad, this one of best things I’ve ever read.”

Liam was right.

I thought I should include at least one kids’ sports book since I have written 28 of them.  But honestly, We Are the Ship by Kadir Nelson could be included in any list of great sports books.

Nelson is a talented artist who has illustrated dozens of children’s books and whose work has appeared in art galleries and on New Yorker magazine covers.

The art in We Are the Ship is wonderful but it is Nelson’s writing that is the surprise.  Adopting the voice of an aging baseball player who saw it all, Nelson tells the story of the Negro Leagues of the 1920s and 30s.

We Are the Ship is a magical combination of sports history, great art, and superb storytelling that will captivate any reader.  

I can give this book the greatest compliment I can give any children’s book: I wish had written it.