Mike Lupica
2) Heat
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Pitching prodigy Michael Arroyo is on the run from social services after being banned from playing Little League baseball because rival coaches doubt he is only twelve years old and he has no parents to offer them proof.
3) Play makers
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Still living large off their incredible football championship win just weeks before, Ben McBain and his crew must now prepare for basketball season. Ben is known as the best point guard throughout the league. And now that Shawn O'Brien has joined their team, they are a shoo-in to win it all. But there is a new kid in town, Chase Braggs, a point guard like Ben who seems to be better, stronger, and faster. Refusing to let his team down, Ben hits the...
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Ben and his friends, the Core Four Plus One, are so excited to play in their town's All-Star Baseball league. But in the first game of the season Ben gets hit by a pitch. It's never happened to him before and it shakes him up. Another player on Ben's team, Justin, is acting really weirdly. Ben has known Justin for a while and they're friendly but he's not one of Ben's closest "boys." Justin is the team's best hitter but his behavior on and off the...
6) Travel team
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After he is cut from his travel basketball team--the very same team that his father once led to national prominence--twelve-year-old Danny Walker forms his own team of cast-offs that might have a shot at victory. Mike Lupica's first novel for young readers! Twelve-year-old Danny Walker may be the smallest kid on the basketball court--but don't tell him that. Because no one plays with more heart or court sense. But none of that matters when he is cut...
7) Hero
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Fourteen-year-old Zach learns he has the same special abilities as his father, who was the President's globe-trotting troubleshooter until "the Bads" killed him, and now Zach must decide whether to use his powers in the same way at the risk of his own life.
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Eighth-grade star quarterback Nate Brodie's family is feeling the stress of the troubled economy, and Nate is frantic because his best friend Abby is going blind, so when he gets a chance to win a million dollars if he can complete a pass during the halftime of a New England Patriot's game, he is nearly overwhelmed by the pressure to succeed.
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"When two seemingly unconnected mysterious deaths occur on his watch, police chief Jesse Stone must pull out all the stops to unravel the truth and stop a killer from striking again. The small town of Paradise is devastated when a star high-school baseball player is found dead at the bottom of a bluff just a day after winning the team's biggest game. For Jesse, the loss is doubly difficult -- the teen was the nephew of his colleague, Suitcase Simpson,...
11) The extra yard
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"Teddy has been training all summer with his new friends Jack and Gus to make the new travel football team in Walton, but when his long-absent dad comes back to town and into his life he is faced with a much bigger challenge"--
12) The batboy
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Even though his mother feels baseball ruined her marriage to his father, she allows fourteen-year-old Brian to become a bat boy for the Detroit Tigers, who have just drafted his favorite player back onto the team.
13) Fantasy league
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In Los Angeles, twelve-year-old Charlie's skill at fantasy football gains the attention of both the local media and the owner of a professional football team.
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The Wolfs, the most powerful family in California, have a new head--thirty-six-year-old former high school teacher Jenny Wolf. That means Jenny now runs the prestigious San Francisco Tribune. She also controls the legendary pro football team, the Wolves. And she hopes to solve her father's murder.--Dust jacket.
15) QB 1
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Jake Cullen, fourteen, lives in the shadows of his father and older brother until he becomes the starting quarterback for the high school football team and finally has his chance to shine.
16) Point guard
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Gus is excited for basketball this year, but he is disappointed to find that his team's center, Steve Kerrigan, likes poking fun at him for his Dominican heritage, telling him to go play baseball instead. Then, when the team gets a new player--a girl and one of Gus' best friends--things get more complicated. Gus starts questioning if he belongs in this town and school at all.
17) Strike zone
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Twelve-year-old pitcher Nick Garcia dreams of winning the Little League MVP and throwing out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium. But he also dreams of a world where his sister can be cured of lupus and his undocumented parents don't have to live in fear of the government. Then his worst fears come to pass and they affect his fastball. Fortunately, an unlikely hero steps in just in time.
18) No slam dunk
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In Annapolis, Maryland, seventh-grader Wes is a good teammate but this basketball season has been challenging because of his ball hog teammate Dinero, who is determined to steal the spotlight, and Wes's army veteran father who is suffering from PTSD.
19) Fast break
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Since his mother's death, Jayson, twelve, has focused on basketball and surviving but he is found out and placed with an affluent foster family of a different race, and must learn to accept many changes, including facing his former teammates in a championship game.
20) Long shot
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Pedro, an avid basketball player, decides to run for class president, challenging a teammate who is also one of the most popular boys in school.