With the return of spring, the sun is glowing in the evenings again, making it a good time to stop, pause and escape the daily routine with a good book to read.
Below is a list put together by librarians with the San Diego Public Library, who were inspired by March Madness and sports-related stories that seldom get told.
Some stories follow historical trailblazing true accounts, and others tell uplifting underdog stories.
Options for teens include a sports manga series written by an Eisner award nominee and an award-winning debut novel written by an Ojibwe author from Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota.
Adults have several options to choose from. One book was written by a World War II fighter pilot about the history of March Madness. Another one is a true story about women athletes who broke barriers in the 1930s and faced criticism that women in sports were “unhealthy and unladylike.”
Their list also offers non-sports related topics. Book recommendations for children include a story that could encourage healthy conversations about how to deal with change and another story that helps children understand the power of the words they use.
Many of these books can be found at your local library branch.
For children
'Petra' by Marianna Coppo
“Petra is a little rock who believes she is a mighty mountain, until a dog fetches her for its owner, and she is tossed into a bird’s nest. A mountain? No, Petra is now an egg! An egg of the world in a world of possibility. Until she’s flung into a pond, and becomes an amazing island and eventually, a little girl’s pet rock. What will she be tomorrow? Who knows? But she’s a rock, and this is how she rolls!” — Tundra Books
'Polly Diamond and the Super Stunning Spectacular School Fair' by Alice Kuipers
“Polly and her magic book, Spell, have all kinds of adventures together because whatever Polly writes in Spell comes true! But when Polly and Spell join forces to make the school fair super spectacular, they quickly discover that what you write and what you mean are not always the same.” — Chronicle Books
For teens
'The First State of Being' by Erin Entrada Kelly
“When Ridge reveals that he’s the world’s first time traveler, Michael and Gibby are stunned but curious. As Ridge immerses himself in 1999 — fascinated by microwaves, basketballs, and malls — Michael discovers that his new friend has a book that outlines the events of the next 20 years, and his curiosity morphs into something else: focused determination. Michael wants — no, needs — to get his hands on that book. How else can he prepare for the future? But how far is he willing to go to get it?” — Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
'Dragon Hoops' by Gene Luen Yang
“Gene doesn’t get sports. As a kid, his friends called him ‘Stick’ and every basketball game he played ended in pain. He lost interest in basketball long ago, but at the high school where he now teaches, it’s all anyone can talk about. The men’s varsity team, the Dragons, is having a phenomenal season that’s been decades in the making. Each victory brings them closer to their ultimate goal: the California State Championships. Once Gene gets to know these young all-stars, he realizes that their story is just as thrilling as anything he’s seen on a comic book page. He knows he has to follow this epic to its end. What he doesn’t know yet is that this season is not only going to change the Dragons’s lives, but his own life as well.” — First Second Books
'Slam Dunk' by Takenhiko Inoue
“Hanamichi Sakuragi’s got no game with girls — none at all! It doesn’t help that he’s known for throwing down at a moment’s notice and always coming out on top. A hopeless bruiser, he’s been rejected by 50 girls in a row! All that changes when he meets the girl of his dreams, Haruko, and she’s actually not afraid of him! When she introduces him to the game of basketball, his life is changed forever…” — Viz Media
'Rez Ball' by Byron Graves
“When Jaxon’s former teammates on the varsity team offer to take Tre under their wing, he sees this as his shot to represent his Ojibwe rez all the way to their first state championship. This is the first step toward his dream of playing in the NBA, no matter how much the odds are stacked against him.” — Heartdrum
For adults
'Dust Bowl Girls' by Lydia Reeder
“Lydia Reeder captures a moment in history when female athletes faced intense scrutiny from influential figures in politics, education, and medicine who denounced women’s sports as unhealthy and unladylike. At a time when a struggling nation was hungry for inspiration, this unlikely group of trailblazers achieved much more than a (basketball) championship season.” — Algonquin Books
'March 1939: Before the Madness–The story of the first NCAA Basketball Tournament Champions' by Terry Frei
“In 1939, the Oregon Webfoots, coached by the visionary Howard Hobson, stormed through the first NCAA basketball tournament, which was viewed as a risky coast-to-coast undertaking and perhaps only a one-year experiment. Seventy-five years later, following the tournament’s evolution into a national obsession, the first champions are still celebrated as ‘The Tall Firs.’ They indeed had astounding height along the front line, but with a pair of racehorse guards who had grown up across the street from each other in a historic Oregon fishing town, they also played a revolutionarily fast-paced game.” — Lyons Press
'The Secret Game' by Scott Ellsworth
“Based on years of research, ‘The Secret Game’ is a story of courage and determination, and of an incredible, long-buried moment in the nation’s past.” — Little, Brown and Company
