 The Benchwarmers by John Feinstein (2019) - Once again, Mr. Feinstein creates believable teen and pre-teen characters and uses sports to help them deal with life. In this case, a girl wishes to play for a 6th grade boys soccer team; and even though this novel is set in 2019, she is met with hostility from adults and kids; but she also gains new friends. A great book for anyone suffering from World Cup withdrawal. We also highly recommend Mr. Feinstein's other series for younger readers for anyone on your list who loves a bit of sports infused in their books or who just loves books about middle schoolers figuring out life. ~ Lisa Christie  The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (2013) – Not sure why I never got around to reading this, but I am so glad I finally did. What a terrific tale of triumphing – ultimately over Hitler, but also over horrendous parents, poverty and low expectations. ~ Lisa Christie  Who is? What Was? Series by assorted authors (assorted years) – We really can not recommend these books highly enough for emerging readers and beyond. The topics are varied, the illustrations humorous, and the information fascinating (e.g., did you know that King Henry VIII was so large he fell out of his coffin?). ~ Lisa Christie and Lisa Cadow  Soar by Joan Bauer (2016) – Many years ago, we fell in love with Ms. Bauer’s Newbery Honor Medal Winner Hope Was Here. But we haven’t read much of her work since. We corrected this awhile back when one of the Book Jam Lisas could not put Ms. Bauer’s latest novel – Soar – down, finishing it in one long swoop. Ms. Bauer’s main character and narrator of this tale – Jeremiah, is a heart transplant recipient and the world’s biggest baseball fan. He may not be able to play (yet) due to his transplant, but he sure can coach. And, he is just what his middle school needs after a huge high school sports scandal breaks his new hometown. Infused with humor, baseball trivia, and a lovely adoption sub-plot, this book is all about grit, hard work, and determination. It also does an amazing job of reminding readers that kids can be truly amazing people. We love all the books listed for this post, and we admit that some of Soar could be construed as corny, but we recommend it as an excellent (and possibly necessary) break from today’s politics. ~ Lisa Cadow and Lisa Christie  The River of Doubt by Candice Millard (2006) – After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, President Theodore Roosevelt decided to take on the most punishing physical challenge he could find — the first descent of an unmapped tributary of the Amazon (River, not the retail behemoth). Like Fleming, in the previously reviewed book, Roosevelt’s cast of adventurers is ill-prepared for the hardships ahead. Almost immediately, they lose their canoes and supplies in the whitewater rapids. This loss is followed by starvation, Indian attacks, disease, drowning, and murder; Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide. This nonfiction tale held my then 10-year-old and 13 year-old boys and their father in rapt attention as our family read-aloud when we were privileged to explore the Amazon River portion of my youngest’s native Colombia. ~ Lisa Christie  Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway (1960) – We now move from South America to Europe with Mr. Hemingway’s classic memoir of his time in Paris. Read it to capture what Paris meant to American ex-pats in the 1920s. Or, read it just to enjoy fabulous writing and a glimpse into history. This book vividly renders the lives of Hemingway, his first wife Hadley, and their son Jack. It also includes irreverent portraits of their fellow travellers, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ford Maddox Ford, as well as insight into Hemingway’s own early experiments with his writing. ~ Lisa Christie  Brazilian Adventure by Peter Fleming (1933) – In 1932, Peter Fleming, brother of Ian Fleming (yes, the James Bond Fleming) traded in his editor job for an adventure — taking part in a search for missing English explorer Colonel P.H. Fawcett. Colonel Fawcett was lost, along with his son and another companion, while searching Brazil for the Lost City of Z (a trip recently memorialized by a Hollywood movie). With meager supplies, faulty maps, and packs of rival newspapermen on their trail, Fleming and company hiked, canoed, and hacked through 3,000 miles of wilderness and alligator-ridden rivers in search of Fawcett’s fate. Mr. Fleming tells the tale with vivid descriptions and the famous British wry humor, creating a truly memorable memoir and possibly one of the best travel books of all time. ~ Lisa Christie  The Golem’s Mighty Swing by James Sturm (2017) – This graphic novel tells the tale of the Stars of David, a barnstorming Jewish baseball team that played during the Depression. Using the true story of a team that travels among small towns playing ball and playing up their religious exoticism as something for people to heckle, this books combines baseball, small towns, racial tensions, and the desperate grasp for the American Dream. ~ Lisa Christie  Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall (2016) – No, this isn’t a Bruce Springsteen song but rather an inspirational book about long-distance running. Though we have yet to read it (behold, this is the second time we’ve ever included a book we haven’t read, see below!), one of us has ordered a copy due to her daughter’s utter enthusiasm about it. After turning the last page, this daughter completely changed her own footwear and training regimen. So lace up your running shoes and start learning about a tribe that lives remotely and traditionally in the Copper Canyon of Mexico and is renowned for its members who run 100 to 200 miles without a rest. By all accounts, this is a fascinating anthropological exploration of a little known people as well as a work that has the effect of getting readers running for the pure joy of it. ~ Lisa Cadow  Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (2010) – What is the sports aspect of this non-fiction book of surviving Japanese POW camps during WWII? Well, the amazing hero of this spellbinding tale was an Olympic runner long before he served the USA in the war. This book provides an incredible testament to the resilience of the human spirit. We recommend reading this and then joining your family to watch the movie version. ~ Lisa Christie  Booked and The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (assorted years) – Yes, we love Mr. Alexander’s books. Yes, we have recommended both these books before. But trust us, the youth readers you love will love these books about soccer (Booked) and basketball (The Crossover). They are poetic, perfect for reluctant readers, and both address how life happens while you have your eye on the ball. ~ Lisa Christie  Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger (1990) – This book illustrates how sports – in this case high school football – can shape a community. It also inspired a pretty great television series (and a superb fundraising dinner for our town library). We recommend this book to football lovers (and lovers of small towns) everywhere. ~ Lisa Christie  Paper Lion by George Plimpton (2009) – And now, are including a book we have not yet read. But in our research about sports books we discovered that Book Week called this, “possibly the most arresting and delightful narrative in all of sports literature.” And we love the Detroit Lions; seriously Detroit could use a winning team people. So, we include this hoping someone will discover it as the perfect book for them, while we add it to our ever-growing pile of “to be read” book. ~ Lisa Christie and Lisa Cadow
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