by Gene Fehler (2010)
How do you trust God when tragedy strikes? Kate is having the best summer a sports-loving eleven-year-old could possibly have. Baseball. Tennis. And to top it off, Kate has just started a three-week class where she's discovering a new love: poetry. Then comes the news that tears Kate's world apart. In her close-knit family, Kate has always felt God's love and protection. But how can she trust God now? Do sports or poetry matter when tragedy strikes? In Kate's darkest hour, her mother's faith shines its brightest, helping Kate to see that life is still beautiful and God is still good. Always, no matter what.
Sue Corbett
Angry with his mother for having too little time for him, eleven-year-old Felix takes advantage of an opportunity to become bat boy for a minor league baseball team, hoping to someday be like his father, a famous Cuban outfielder. Includes glossaries of baseball terms and Spanish words and phrases.
Beverly Cleary
Ralph S. Mouse is the third in a children's novel trilogy by Beverly Cleary. It features Ralph, a mouse with the ability to speak, but only with certain people, who tend to be loners. It was first published in 1982, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky.
Matt Christopher
Everyone knows Jim will be the star linebacker on the team if he can only conquer his fear of being tackled, but it takes a boy in a wheelchair to teach him that kind of courage.
Timothy Tocher
When her father accepts a job as girls' basketball coach in another town, fifth-grader Laurie reluctantly leaves old friends and teammates and faces new challenges with a new basketball team at a new school.