Mike Lupica

Small but fast twelve-year-old Will Tyler, an avid football player in the down-and-out town of Forbes, Pennsylvania, takes matters into his own hands to try and finance the city's football team, giving the whole community hope in the process.

"Tommy Gallagher plays monster back for the Brighton Bears defense--and he's every quarterback's worst nightmare. A fierce competitor, Tommy's the toughest--and bravest--guy on the field. After all, he learned the game from his dad, a Boston firefighter who tackles each fire with a simple mantra: first man in, last man out. But his father never said anything about being carried out. Even Tommy isn't strong enough for what happens when the sirens sound...

Sixth grade is supposed to be the year that Jack Callahan would lead his team to a record-shattering season and the Little League World Series, but after the death of his brother he loses interest in baseball and only Cassie, star of the girls' softball team, seems to understand.

When Coach Coop, a former star player for the Dallas Cowboys, starts exhibiting side effects from the many concussions he suffered while playing professionally, twelve-year-old wide receiver Clay Hollis becomes determined to help him get through the football season until Thanksgiving, when Coach plans to attend a ceremony honoring him and his former Super Bowl-winning teammates.

Playing baseball was the one thing that made twelve-year-old Nick Crandall feel at home until he found acceptance with adoptive parents, but he faces a new struggle to fit in when he becomes the first seventh-grader ever to make the varsity baseball team.

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.

Brainy Scott Parry, a great kicker who otherwise struggles with football, and star quarterback Chris Conlan, who has dyslexia, team up to help each other succeed in both football and school.

"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"-- Provided by publisher.

In the wake of his parents' separation, ten-year-old Billy seems to have continual conflicts with his father, who is also his basketball coach, but his quiet, younger brother Ben, a piano prodigy, is having even more trouble adjusting, and only Billy seems to notice.

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.