I grew up in a large (7 kids) sports-loving family in Massachusetts. I rooted for the Red Sox and Celtics and tried to win various “family championships” against my older siblings. I usually lost. I used those memories and my passion for sports when I started to write my sports books for kids ages 8-12 and my weekly kids’ sports column for The Washington Post from 2000 – 2023. All my books include sports history so I have been reading about sports and sports history my entire life. As I am often asked to recommend sports books, I have a list of almost forty sports books that I recommend.
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 neverdo).
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.
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The epic account of the storm on the summit of Mt. Everest that claimed five lives and left countless more—including Krakauer's—in guilt-ridden disarray.
"A harrowing tale of the perils of high-altitude climbing, a story of bad luck and worse judgment and of heartbreaking heroism." —PEOPLE
A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong.
By writing Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons…
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.
The #1 New York Times-bestselling story about the American Olympic rowing triumph in Nazi Germany-from the author of Facing the Mountain.
Soon to be a major motion picture directed by George Clooney
For readers of Unbroken, out of the depths of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times-the improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant.
It was an unlikely quest from the start. With a team composed of the…
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 forThe 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.
In 1956, a casual bet between two millionaires eventually pitted two of the greatest golfers of the era -- Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan -- against top amateurs Harvie Ward and Ken Venturi.
The year: 1956. Decades have passed since Eddie Lowery came to fame as the ten-year-old caddie to U.S. Open Champion Francis Ouimet. Now a wealthy car dealer and avid supporter of amateur golf, Lowery has just made a bet with fellow millionaire George Coleman. Lowery claims that two of his employees, amateur golfers Harvie Ward and Ken Venturi, cannot be beaten in a best-ball match, and challenges…
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 ofThe 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.”
For 50 years, "Sports Illustrated" has set the standard for sports writing and action photography. Now, for the culmination of the magazine's 50th Anniversary celebration, some of the finest writing and most memorable pictures from "Sports Illustrated's" archives have been collected in a lavish coffee-table book that will be treasured by the magazine's devoted readers for years to come. Along with the stunning photography, which includes everyone of the magazine's covers since its launch in 1954, and the great writing that has appeared in "Sports Illustrated's" pages, this 304-page book will also be packed full of facts and figures that…
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.
In this New York Times bestselling classic, Caldecott Medal-winning artist Kadir Nelson tells the incredible story of baseball's unsung heroes -- perfect for celebrating the centennial anniversary of the Negro Leagues! Winner of the 2009 Coretta Scott King Author Award * Winner of the 2009 Sibert Medal
Featuring nearly fifty iconic oil paintings and a dramatic double-page fold-out, an award-winning narrative, a gorgeous design and rich backmatter, We Are the Ship is a sumptuous, oversize volume for all ages that no baseball fan should be without. Using an inviting first-person voice, Kadir Nelson shares the engaging story of Negro League…
Off The Bench is the latest book in my Fred Bowen Sports Story Series, twenty-five books for kids ages 8-12 that combine sports fiction, sports history and always have a chapter of sports history in the back.
In Off the Bench, Kris wants to be a starter on his 8th-grade basketball team just as his older brother Dylan is a starter for the local high school. Kris’s feelings about being “the first guy off the bench” change when he learns about the history of the “sixth man” for the Boston Celtics and in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
After Dr. Shawn Jennings, a busy family physician, suffered a brainstem stroke on May 13, 1999, he woke from a coma locked inside his body, aware and alert but unable to communicate or move. Once he regained limited movement in his left arm, he began typing his story, using one hand and a lot of patience.
With unexpected humour and tender honesty, Shawn shares his experiences in his struggle for recovery and acceptance of his life after the stroke. He affirms that even without achieving a full recovery life is still worth…
Locked In Locked Out: Surviving a Brainstem Stroke
After Dr. Shawn Jennings, a busy family physician, suffered a brainstem stroke on May 13, 1999, he woke from a coma locked inside his body, aware and alert but unable to communicate or move. Once he regained limited movement in his left arm, he began typing his story, using one hand and a lot of patience.
With unexpected humour and tender honesty, Shawn shares his experiences in his struggle for recovery and acceptance of his life after the stroke. He affirms that even without achieving a full recovery life is still worth…
