This isn’t really a Top 10 list as such, since I know zero about sports fiction and have no idea what’s top and what’s not; this is more a selection of young adult fiction that has sporting themes of different sorts. See what you think anyway. Let me know if you’ve read a good sports book recently too (I refrained from putting my favourite book here, Life at these Speeds, but, oh no, there I go, I’ve mentioned it anyway (athletics)).
Amazing Grace, Megan Shull (tennis)
- Ironman, Chris Crutcher (triathlon)
- Hero, Perry Moore. This is sport but with superheroes. It’s good.
- Rash, Pete Hautman. Reading Rants (which is a great review website, by the way) suggests this is futuristic, dystopian and involves football.
- Soccer Chick Rules, Dawn Fitzgerald (football)
- Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, Chris Crutcher (swimming)
Ball Don’t Lie, Matt de la Pena (basketball)
- How to Ditch Your Fairy, by Justine Larbalestier. When I first saw this book I thought “Nooooo!”. I mean, it seems very silly, but everyone actually likes it. Charlie is a freshman at a sports school and has the misfortune of having a personal parking fairy (as opposed to, for example, an “all the boys think you’re wonderful” type fairy) – you can see why I had doubts.
Dairy Queen, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock. This is football of the American variety, and the main character is female, which seems refreshing. People like this book (I haven’t read it yet), and its sequel The Off Season.
- Alex, Tessa Duder. The great New Zealand literary swimming sensation.
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