Teens love sports! Whether about a soccer team, baseball team, hockey team, or other sports, your teenager can read fictional tales of challenge and strength in overcoming sports. Maybe instead they prefer true biographies and nonfiction facts about the sports they love! Check out this list of 25 books for teen sports fans!
1. Soar
While Jeremiah faces health issues that won't allow him to play, he finds his niche by becoming a team leader on the local baseball team. He works to help coach the team and bring them from rock bottom to victory. He is just the motivation they need!
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2. A Walk in our Cleats
Perfect for students facing challenges on or off the court or field, this book of encouragement and motivation is sure to promote a positive outlook and mindset for young readers. Inspiration flows as you read the story of famous football athletes who face injury and must strive to overcome it in order to remain part of the beloved tradition of football.
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3. Heat
Extremely talented, a young pitcher makes a name for himself in baseball. His home life is turned upside down and he finds that as lots of classmates rally around him, he has a whole new family he wasn't expecting.
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4. Throw Like A Girl
This story tells about being a girl in the world of sports. Part of a softball team, Jennie motivates and inspires other female athletes, as she faces challenges on and off the field. The golden girl of softball, Jennie, promotes positivity to other young women through her book and her summer training camps.
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5. Jayla Jumps In
Jayla is a jump rope star! She builds a team and discovers her mom is also talented at the same skills! Not a bossy team captain, but a good leader, Jayla is ready to lead her team on the court and off!
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6. A Season of Daring Greatly
Eighteen-year-old Jill Cafferty made baseball history! That's right! She wasn't on the softball team, but she played baseball. She was drafted by the MLB and was a star pitcher! Immediately following her high school graduation, she goes off to play with an MLB team. This chapter book is an excellent tale of overcoming all odds and being a complex heroine in this male-dominated baseball world.
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7. Furia
An award-winning novel, the story of a soccer star who hides behind a double life, middle school readers will enjoy seeing how the young soccer star comes into her own and pursues her passions, even when she lacks support from her family.
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8. The Warriors
Jake is twelve years old and moves away from his family's reservation to a big city. He joins the lacrosse team and finds strength in himself as he faces challenges and tragedy ahead.
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9. The Boys in the Boat
The Boys in the Boat is a great true story of a boy's rowing team and how their hard work led them to victory. This group of average young men shows how work ethic and determination can prove victorious, no matter what odds you must face! They proved that narrow expectations had no place in their world!
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10. Swimming to Antarctica
Starting her swimming journey as a teenager, Lynne Cox had plenty to prove. In a story of true triumph and ambition, this chapter book is a great story to show how endurance and hard work pay off. Teenagers will enjoy this true-life story of a champion swimmer!
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11. No Summit Out of Sight
Teens will find inspiration in this true story of a boy who made it his mission to climb Mt. Everest. Through adventure and perseverance, this boy proved his bravery and courage as he conquered his fears. This book is a perfect one to promote a teen's real-life role model.
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12. Gravity
Hot summers can't slow down this budding boxing star. Gravity grows in her sport and in herself, as she begins to form new relationships and prepares for her shot at American tournaments and even the Olympics. Can she balance her troubled home life and her growing greatness in the sport of boxing?
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13. Face Off
The story of a talented hockey player and her fall and recovery from bad decisions, Face Off is a great story of a relatable character. Jessie is leading a normal high-school life when she was noticed for her talent of being a great hockey player. When a bad choice comes back to bite her, she must find the strength to overcome it.
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14. Eye on The Ball
This chapter book is a great example of how life can change when you apply hard work to your natural talents. Sought out by a college recruiter, a young boy is shy and doesn't know if this will work for him. A washed-up football player turned manager for a team, Henry is desperate to find a stat player! This is a soccer story, but not set in the USA, so here it is called soccer.
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15. The Pitcher
The Pitcher is a touching story about a son who wants to make the renowned team for his high school. Talented with an arm for pitching and the potential to be a star pitcher, the young boy in the story is a great example of how hard work and determination can take you far. Unlike any of his privileged peers, he cannot afford lessons, but with the help of a former World Series pitcher, he will find a way to better himself!
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16. Rising Above
The epitome of great teen & young adult sports biographies, this book features athletes who have overcome nearly impossible circumstances and made it after all. Showcasing famous basketball players, baseball players, a star goalie, and many other famous athletes survive a roller coaster of events and ending an unlucky streak in their athletic careers, these athletes all make it to being international stars! Look for other similar picture books and nonfiction books that showcase other athletes, like tennis stars and field hockey stars.
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17. Heart of a Champion
In this tale of friendship, the main characters form an unbreakable bond that is good support and comfort as they face challenges. A wonderful tale of striving to find strength on and off the field.
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18. Gutless
Proving there is more to football than being a star quarterback, Gutless is a great book about a wide receiver and his rise to overcoming bullies. When a boy in the role of QB on the school football team will not stop being a bully, a friend must decide how to stand up and help the ones he cares about.
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19. The Girl Who Threw Butterflies
After suffering the loss of her father, a young girl becomes part of the school team for baseball. Finding her place on a team of boys, she makes friends and finds comfort and peace in the game her dad always loved.
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20. Courage to Soar
Simone Biles, an international star in the field of gymnastics, brings positivity and inspiration to life in the book she co-authored, Courage to Soar. Recounting her life plans and the hard work it took to get to a place to make her goals a reality, Simone shines as a role model for young teens everywhere.
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21. Hoops
A young basketball star is ready to face the world! He is preparing to face rival teams in a historic tournament. He has high hopes of leaving his hometown and seizing opportunities for a better life! Will he make his team proud? Is there an athletic scholarship in his future?
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22. Here to Stay
Here to Stay is a great chapter book that focuses on a young boy who joins a basketball team and must face adversity and bullying. He overcomes this and racism to prove that he is there to stay. Will his perseverance lead to an athletic scholarship?
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23. The Crossover
Written by the talented Kwame Alexander, The Crossover is a perfect tale of life balances for young teens. As the main characters, twin basketball team stars, learn to balance all aspects of life as it gets hurried and hectic with sports, school, girls, and family life. This novel is a great example of how to see things through when life isn't the perfect picture you envision.
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24. Shoot Your Shot
Filled with inspiration, this guide uses a basketball theme to convey messages of positivity and encouragement for living the life you want. Suitable for all ages, this book has quotes from members of famous basketball teams to help promote a positive mindset.
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25. Ghost
Different from the traditional sports in the USA, Ghost is a chapter book about a boy and the sport of running. While reading about Ghost's adventures in track and field, young readers will also learn about the struggles teens sometimes face with fitting in, tough choices, and family life. This book is relatable to teenagers!
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