Read Around the Subject Sport Recommended Reading List Basketball Rebound #0. 5 by Kwame Alexander Hoop kings SOAR in kicks with wings. Game so sweet it’s like bee stings. It's 1988. Charlie Bell is still mourning his father and struggling to figure out how he feels for his best (girl) friend, CJ. When he gets into trouble one too many times, he's packed off to stay with his grandparents for the summer. There his cousin Roxie introduces him to a whole new world: basketball. A legend on the courts is born. But can Charlie resist when trouble comes knocking once again? A prequel to The Crossover, winner of the Newbery Medal, and follow-up to Booked, highly commended for the CLiPPA prize and nominated for the Carnegie Medal. The Crossover: Graphic Novel by Kwame Alexander 'With a bolt of lightning on my kicks. 'Cuz tonight I'm delivering,' raps twelve-year-old Josh Bell. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood - he's got mad beats, too, which help him find his rhythm when it's all on the line. Slam Dunk: An Unbeatable Story by Jenny Oldfield Thirteen-year-old Ashlee Carson is a basketball star. Tall and blonde, she takes after her father, a former professional player. But her mother has ambitions that go beyond the basketball court. She wants Ashlee to focus on her studies. When Ashlee gets the chance to compete for a place on the national girls' team, she heads for Florida. Can she count on her deadbeat dad for support? And will her mother ever forgive her? Boxing Chessboxer by Stephen Davies Leah Baxter is a genius. She's a few wins away from becoming a junior chess grand master, and her life is on course to achieve everything her mom and coach want for her. But Leah is at stalemate; grieving for her father and feeling suffocated. She decides to make the ultimate sacrifice and quit chess. But chess doesn't want to quit her. Soon Leah discovers her new gambit: chessboxing, a dangerous hybrid sport which will test her body and mind to their limits. Can the pawn become the queen? Amir Khan by Andy Croft School boy boxer. Silver medal at the Olympics. World champion. How did the boy from Bolton become such a superstar? Find out here! Simply written, the story of the boxer might speak specially to boys in Key Stage 2. Fighting Ruben Wolfe #2 (14+) by Markus Zusak It's the difference between being a winner and being a fighter... Cameron and Ruben Wolfe are brothers from a family clinging to the ragged edge of the working class. Initially to make some money, the boys hook up with a sleazy fight promoter who sees something marketable and audience-pleasing in the untrained brothers' vulnerability. So, they hide the boxing from their long-suffering mother. And Cameron hides what's going on in his head from the girls who come to the matches, the girls he wishes he could reach. But the Wolfes soon find that they're fighting for more than tips and pay-off money. It becomes for them a fight for identity, for dignity, and for each other. The question is, in a fight like that, who makes it out of the ring intact? Cricket Diary of a Cricket God by Shamini Flint* Perfect for fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid who love cricket, this journal-style novel is a laugh a minute. Marcus is a math whiz who can't do sport. His dad is a self-help author who thinks Marcus can achieve anything he sets his mind to... with hilarious results! A quick, fun read that will certainly be quite the catch for readers who love illustrated fiction. Butter-Finger by Bob Cattell and John Agard* With music and sport merging together in this celebration of calypso and cricket from author Bob Cattle and poet John Agard, this book shows the power of poetry as main character Riccardo gets dropped from his cricket team. Practising his poems and wandering around the West Indian island he lives on; he meets one of the island's most eccentric figures and the two plot a way for Riccardo to regain his place on the team. A delight for Key Stage 2 readers that shows another side to sport. A Cricketing Dream by Chris May * Matthew Temple has one thing on his mind: playing for England, just like his dad. Will he fulfil this dream? Will Lords Cricket Ground ever await him? This terrific tale shows how hard work, determination, resilience and having a goal in mind can lead anyone to success, even though there may be hardships along the way. Class 10’s Chance to Shine by Rachel Wong * In association with national cricket charity Chance to Shine, who work in state schools and communities across England and Wales, and with a foreword written by England international cricketer Moeen Ali, this is one not to miss. Alex loves cricket but hopes his friends develop the same passion for the sport as him when Chance to Shine coaches visit his school. Initially things don't quite go to plan but with the help of his teacher, perseverance and resilience become the name of the game! Glory Gardens by Bob Cattell * Lots of the books in this list have been published within the last ten years but this is an older favourite. As a group of friends begin to take the game of cricket more seriously, one of their schoolteachers suggests that they form their very own team and Glory Gardens Cricket Club is born. Captain Hooker soon finds out that playing together is not as easy as he first thought, however, and it takes more than time to keep the team together. This is the first in a brilliant, accessible and classic series of books about cricket that are just as recommended for lovers of the sport as it is for readers who know nothing about the game. Hat Trick (Toby Jones) by Brett Lee and Michael Pankridge * An omnibus edition of the first in the Toby Jones series of time-slip books that take the reader back to famous cricket matches of the past. When Toby and his classmates go to the MCG archives on a school excursion, they discover that Toby can see numbers and words whirl on the pages of old Wisdens, which means that he has the potential to travel back in time. With the assistance of the library caretaker, Jim, Toby and some of his friends are transported back to famous matches including the 1999 World Cup semi-final between Australia and South Africa in England. Pay Attention, Carter Jones by Gary D Schmidt Told from the perspective of a fourteen year old American boy whose life changes for the better when an old-fashioned, traditional (and slightly magical) English butler comes into his life and teaches him important lessons, including how to play the game of cricket. Older readers will be bowled over by this. Cycling Chris Hoy: The Autobiography by Chris Hoy Fully updated to include Sir Chris Hoy’s incredible, record-breaking golds at London 2012 (making him his country’s greatest ever Olympian), this is the story of a sporting legend in his own words. This 33-year-old cycling fanatic from Murrayfield in the suburbs of Edinburgh defied the doubters who thought he would struggle when his specialist discipline, the 1km time trial, was dropped from the Olympics, and went on to reinvent himself as a track cycling sprinter and triple Olympic gold medallist in Beijing. His return to these shores sparked unprecedented celebrations and real admiration that here was a role model who was the epitome of all things that are good in sport. King of the Mountain by Steve Lee When he tries to break into a team of older teenagers Paddy faces threats, injustice and rejection. It’s not just his new teammates causing problems as Paddy’s family life is rather chaotic, with his father just released from prison and his mother totally overworked. It’s Paddy’s burning desire to be the very best that keeps him striving courageously towards his goal. Between the Lines: The Autobiography by Victoria Pendleton The Golden Girl of British cycling opens up for the first time, in searingly honest detail, about the doubts and trials she has had to overcome to stay at the top of her sport. In Pursuit of Glory by Bradley Wiggins Few people know the controversial world of professional cycling like Bradley Wiggins. At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, he became the first British athlete in 40 years to win three medals in a single Olympic Games, which led to his being awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE). The 2007 Tour de France ended in disappointment for him when his teammate failed a drug test, but he roared back in Beijing, winning double gold. In this updated version of Wiggin’s warts-and-all account, he reveals his incredible life in cycling, and the truth behind the sport. Piglettes by Clementine Beauvais (14+) Piglettes is a light-hearted Young Adult novel about three French teenagers Mireille, Astrid and Hakima who experience on-line bullying (they are voted three ugliest girls in school by their classmates in a Pig Pageant) and decide to cycle across France to Paris together. The storyline follows the journey they each take, physically, socially and emotionally during that one summer. The book uses humour to sensitively, tackle key teenage issues such as peer and online pressures, bullying, friendship, aspiration and self-confidence without getting too serious.