Booklist: Hey There, Sports Fan

[slayground]

Hey there, sports fan! Looking for a good book? Want a sports-related story to recommend to your favorite young athletes? On your mark - get set - READ!

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin is not only a Newbery winner, but it's also one of my favorite books of all time. Though it is a mystery, one of its main characters is a high school boy who is a

Comments

[alexflinn]

Good list. Agree that the DAIRY QUEEN cover does not immediately brand it as a sports book (Depending on your audience, this could be an okay thing), but loved the book.

Two other titles to check out, HEADLOCK (H. Holt, 2006) by Joyce Sweeney is about a teen who wants to be a professional (WWE, not Olympic) wrestler, and PLAYERS, an older title by the same author, a thriller about a basketball team with one member who will do anything to be a starter.

[slayground]

Thank you!

EXACTLY. I think the cover helped it sell, certainly, because it was picked up by people who may not have been automatically interested in the storyline - but it also could have done the opposite and been passed over by sports fans because they took one glance at the cover and moved on. It definitely works both ways.

Thanks for the recommendations! I will have to look into those. Thrillers ROCK.

[popgurlie]

i absolutely adore "the westing game" :)

[slayground]

So do I. Turtle rules, and the story is so extremely intelligent. Well set-up and well executed. SO GOOD.

Is that a Grease 2 icon I see?

[amanda_marrone]

Oh, I loved the Westing Game when I read it sooooo many years ago--I passed that on to a lot of my students when I was teaching.

I also really liked Dairy Queen, and I am not a sports fan what so ever--so kudos to Catherine for writing a sporty book anyone could love.

[slayground]

The Westing Game love has been buzzing around blogs as of late, due to the recent Raskin announcement, and that makes me happy because I hold The Westing Game in SUCH a high regard. I wanted to be IN that book. I wanted to have WRITTEN that book. :)

[amanda_marrone]

Ack--what's the recent Raskin announcement???

[slayground]

I heard it from Leila, who got it from CLBC, who got it from Publishers Weekly:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6404728.html?nid=2788

Stephanie Owens Lurie and Mark McVeigh at Dutton have acquired five books by Newbery Award?winner and The Westing Game author Ellen Raskin in a major six-figure deal negotiated by Alex Glass and John Silbersack at Trident on behalf of the Raskin estate. The books include two new puzzle mystery novels: The Westing Quest, a sequel to The Westing Game, and A Murder for Macaroni and Cheese, a never-before-seen manuscript nearly completed at the author's death in 1984. The deal also includes the reissue of three backlist novels, Figgs & Phantoms, The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) and The Tattooed Potato.

[debalita]

The Westing Game seems interesting...I am thinking that my son and I will venture out this weekend to find our local library [we are fairly new to our area] and see if they have that book there!

[slayground]

*does a little dance* Yay!

[slayground]

Has anyone read Derailed by Jon Ripslinger? It is the only book from Flux's first wave that I have yet to read.