Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger

Friday Night Lights is a work of non-fiction based on a high school football team in Texas. Permian High School is, in many ways, just like any other high school except for the fact it did not desegregate until the 70s and Permian football is a religion in Texas. This book is about the 1980 Permian Panther football team and all the iconic people and the moments that happened. Along with all of that, the author talks about what a school day is like for a Permian football player where they aren't treated like students but get special treatment just because they are on the team. This book is an account of how a football team can come together after losing their star player, James "Boobie" Miles, and overcome all adversity and still win throughout the entire season but eventually they get taken down but they fought until the end and made it a game. If you have seen the movie, Friday Night Lights, or are looking for a great sports story based on the real thing and how a team can bring change to a town then Friday Night Lights is the book for you.

Dean P.

The Final Four by Paul Volponi

The book, The Final Four, was a really good book. I enjoyed reading it and suggest it to people who like to play basketball or who are just looking to read an exciting book. The story starts out with a small Division One college basketball team called the Troy Trojans. This year they are in the annual NCAA college basketball tournament. It’s very interesting because the Troy Trojans are never the ones competing in this competition because they are such a low ranked team. In addition, some of the team’s characters like Malcolm, who is a very competitive basketball player, really want to be one of the players who gets picked first in the NBA draft. Malcolm wants to get into the NBA as soon as possible because he doesn’t want to waste any time before playing for the big crowds. Another character who plays for the Troy Trojans and was introduced in the book is Roko who is from Croatia. He wants to make Croatia proud and represent them as a good basketball player. Another player is Crispin and he is a decent basketball player but he tends to focus more on his love life. Also, another character is M.J. who just wants to get an opportunity to play more for the team because he thinks he can prove people wrong about his abilities. Their whole team is trying to compete and prove people wrong. They just want to prove they can be contenders for the championship.

Oscar E.

Heat by Mike Lupica

Mike Lupica’s book, Heat, is in the genre of fiction. If you have a love for baseball or even passion for any sport, you would enjoy reading Heat.


Heat tells the story of a young teen who survives his struggles with not only family but society. Michael’s family, who only recently came to the United States, is just barely making ends meet when they suffer the horrific tragedy of their father’s death. While their father was on his death bed, he had a few last words to leave with the family and those were to have them keep his passing a secret so they could stay a family. 

Michael and his older brother, who is soon to be eighteen, have to get by while dodging major obstacles, such as the law. Michael’s brother is not yet an adult so therefore he cannot be legally accountable for him. While all of this is going on in the life of this  unlucky twelve year old, Michael looks to baseball, his friends and his brother to get through this rough time. Michael has to overcome challenges a normal kid could not even dream of and the pressure put on him to do so is immense.

If you are interested in a great story of someone who overcomes great trials then Heat is the book for you. It will help you to really put in perspective how important some things are in life and how their value is priceless.

A.J. S.

The Boys of Winter by Wayne Coffey

Wayne Coffey’s book, The Boys of Winter, is a non-fiction book. There is also a movie based on the same story called Miracle which came out around 2005. If you liked that movie, you will also like this book. 

The Boys of Winter is about the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team overcoming great odds to go on to win the gold that year. It starts off  with a coach, Herb Brooks, who has a lot of hockey knowledge but has never been able to play for a gold medal. He decides he wants to coach a team on to victory and when he chooses his select group of players, he is criticized. Everyone involved with hockey believes Herb Brooks’ team will be overpowered by a lot of other countries. 

They go into the Olympics as underdogs and end up making it to the elimination rounds. In the game before the championship, they get paired up against the hated Soviets. Nobody in the world thought the U.S. should even be on the same ice as the Soviets, let alone play with them. The book tells the story of Herb Brooks’ dream and how the boys on the team came together as one to beat more superior teams. It shows the long, grueling road to win the gold medal in 1980. 

If you have seen the movie Miracle or even have a little bit of passion for hockey, you should read this book . Also, if you would like to see how a team comes together for a main purpose, The Boys of Winter is a must read.

Kyle N.

Shaq Impaq by Bruce Hunter

This book gives information about Shaquille O’Neal from the time he was a junior in high school until the end of his rookie season. It tells about everything from the influence his dad played in his life to his average game stats. It also talks about his relationships with players and other things about his life. The book is based on comments from Shaquille’s former teammates, friends and coaches. I like this book because it gives a lot of information about Shaquille O’Neal, who is one of the biggest names in basketball. It is a really good book to read if you like Shaq.


Reid R.

Grudges, Guts, and Glory: By Les Krantz

Grudges, Guts and Glory is a book with about 50 short stories inside containing the best sports stories of all time. Stories are included about every sport at any time in history ever recorded from the great Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier to more recently when Notre Dame played USC with the infamous Bush Push.

Stories are told about many countries such as from the Olympics to the amazing races to simple basketball games.

If you like sports stories, this book has the best of the best, which is exactly the reason why I liked this book so much and why you might too. I would recommend this book to any person who loves reading adrenalin rushing sports stories.

Josh S.

"The Code" by Ross Bernstein

In his book, The Code, Ross Bernstein writes about the different personal and team codes football players have on all levels of play. He has quotes from many different players about their unique codes according to their positions.

Because this book is solely about football, it may be hard for someone who knows nothing about football to understand. The Code is like no other book I’ve read because it doesn't have a start or a finish; it just has different chapters filled with quotes about all the different codes players have in football. I enjoyed reading this book but it could be boring or very confusing to others who aren't familiar with football. If you already know about football, it is a great book to expand your understanding of football.

Dan S.

Surviving the Toughest Race on Earth by Martin Dugard

"Surviving the Toughest Race on Earth" by Martin Dugard is a non fiction book. It is a story about Martin and how he quits his job as a writer to cover extreme racing. The main endurance race is called the raid and it is universally known as the hardest race on the face of the planet. Because of its intense nature it has helped create other extreme racing events like the Eco-Challenge in America. After covering the raid a couple of times, Martin decides to create a team of his own. He wants to run in the raid and see exactly how hard the raid truly is. If you enjoy endurance racing and being outdoors, then you will enjoy reading about how people survive when they are thrust into harsh environments.

Scott H.

Only the Strong Survive by Larry Platt

Larry Platt's book, "Only the Strong SurviveS, is a really good book. I like how he put it together because it told Allen Iverson's life story from beginning to end in just 255 pages. It wasn't confusing at all. If you read this book I think you will love this story. You will enjoy reading it because everyone can relate to the book since everyone has some kind of struggle to go through. Allen Iverson had a really tough life but he got though all of his struggles and became one of the best basketball players in the NBA. Because of his struggles, he became a targeted person and everyone judged him.

Lamar M.

Friday Night Lights by H. G. Bissinger

Under the stadium lights, the Permian Panther football team enters the field with the crowd roaring behind them. This is the setting for H.G. Bissinger's Friday Night Lights, a tale about a struggling Texas town which looks forward to one thing: the high school football team's Friday night games. The story is told from the perspective of a reporter who followed the team for a year. At the beginning of the season, the team is predicted to win state and the players are feeling the pressure. To make matters worse, the star running back, James Miles, gets injured in a pre-season game. Friday Night Lights is more than just a football story; it's a story about struggling times, racism and the life of normal high school students. What makes this book work is the feeling of realism and by the end of the book, there is a connection between the reader and the students. The fact this is a work of non-fiction makes this one of the best sport books of all time.


Sean K.

DIrt Bike Racer by Matt Christopher

I liked this book because it was a book that kept me wanting to read it to see how he does in his races during the book. The book also shows if you work hard you get what you want. Other people would only like this book if they were into racing or sports.

DJ C.

How Soccer Explains the World by Franklin Foer

The book explains how soccer is very big in Europe and fans are passionate about their soccer team. Most of the book is about how soccer became a big sport all over the world and how soccer players are heroes for soccer fans. The book tells about how soccer is not just a game but is more a way of life, and how soccer clubs don't represent geographic areas because they stand for social classes and political ideologies. The meaning of the book explained how soccer is known all over the world and how soccer grew to be one of the biggest sports in the world. So the ideal audience will be for people who want to know about history and for any person who loves soccer.

Oscar T.

GYM CANDY by Carl Deuker

I liked this book because it involved sports and action in games. Other students will like this book because this book keeps making you want to read and read. Its about sports and steroids and how the main character was caught doing steroids and how he had to deal with the consequences of getting caught taking them. It's not one of the happy go lucky endings, which is good sometimes.

James L.

"American Son" by: Oscar De La Hoya

I liked this book because it has many surprises about Oscar De La Hoya I never knew. The book, "American Son", is a really good book because it is the story of Oscar being a little kid who likes boxing and becoming one of the best boxers in the world. It has many chapters that make you want to read more and more when you are done with one chapter. The book will show how much work and things in life you have to do to become one of the best. Most things the book talks about are how Oscar started winning championships, how he loved to box and how Oscar became a better boxer when his mother passed away. Many people who are fans of Oscar will like this book because you can see what it took for him to become one of the best boxers in the world.

Oscar T.

Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy

I chose this book because it related to a topic in which I was
interested...football. But the whole book isn't about football. A lot of the book is about how he struggled as a football player and a coach. He talks about his family and the tragedy of his son and how he won the Super Bowl. I think other students would like this book because it's easy to read and from page one to the end it's very interesting. So if you're interested in a book that relates to sports and about somebody's life, this is the book you need.

Michael M.

Payton by Mark Sufrin

The biography “Payton” by Mark Sufrin is a great book because it's about the greatest running back in NFL history. It's about his growing up and his journey from college to the NFL and being the reason for the 1986 Chicago Bears Super Bowl Championship. Payton would become one of the most dynamic and strongest athletes in sports history. I would recommend this book to anybody who is a football lover and likes Walter Payton. At the beginning, Walter Payton, the running back for the Chicago Bears, is playing the Dallas Cowboys and is ready to beat Gale Sayers' all time rushing yard record in a single game. The record was 270 rushing yards. Payton had run 267 yards towards the end of the 4th quarter. He ran 8 yards on a nice handoff from Bears quarterback Matt Suhey and Payton even scored a touchdown and got 275 yards to beat Gale Sayers, which was an all time record. They eventually lost to the Cowboys 23-14. In 1985 Payton signed a big contract extension with the Bears. After that Payton fell apart. He was nervous before every game and was getting tackled too many times in games until the half point of the season when Bears headcoach Mike Ditka benched him and rested him. The Bears eventually made the playoffs with a backup running back. They let Payton play and eventually he got his game back and took the Chicago Bears to the Super Bowl with his outstanding play. I would recommend this book to someone who likes sports, especially football fans. I thought the book was great and rate it a 3 stars out of 5 because I love football. Walter Payton is the greatest running back ever. It's one of the best books I've ever read but the reason I gave it a 3 is mainly because I've read another book about Walter Payton before so I already knew a lot of the information that I read. I would recommend this book for boys ages12-30 because it's a book that is appealing to teens and young kids but only some adults as others would not enjoy it and be bored.

Jeremy W.

Damage by A.M. Jenkins

Austin Reid may seem to be the average senior guy. Well, he's not, although he seems that way to everyone. Austin holds things inside and doesn't let anyone know how he truly feels, not even his mother. His dad died when he was three and it's only him, his younger sister and his mother. He is one of the star players on the football team and he goes out with the hottest girl in the whole town. But Austin's feelings are held inside. Does he ever tell someone his feelings, does he finally let everything out? Find out in the book, Damaged.

Daniel D.

Tangerine by Edward Bloor

This book is about a middle school soccer player student, named Paul. He moves from Huston, Texas to Tangerine, Florida. Paul has lost part of his vision and he is technically legally blind. His older brother is a star football player in high school. Tangerine is a weird place but everyone
there acts like its normal. Paul is a very good soccer player but he is kicked out after they found out about his disability. After a part of Paul's school is destroyed he moves to another middle school and tries to fit in again as a soccer player. He often has some sort of flashbacks
about his past and how he really lost his vision.

Gaby L.

Triumph The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics by Jeremy Schaap

I liked the book because it was about a great African-American track runner whose dream to run at Hitler's Olympics became possible in spite of facing some discrimination along the way. But I also liked this book because it wasn't just a biography about him but also had some dialogue with in it.

The book gave a look back to those times and the story included Adolf Hitler's position. The book gave some history that went on at the time besides Hitler’s war which was in years to come. I think other students would like this book because it gives some history of the time and sets a positive view for people going out in sports.

For Jesse Owens, nothing was impossible because he made it as a young African-American male when some segregation still went on but none which he felt he couldn’t overcome.

Trenton A.

The Greatest: Muhammad Ali by Walter Dean Myers

I liked this book because it is very inspiring. You learn about the struggles Ali went through from the draft to the Rumble in the Jungle and how he persevered through all of them. Others will like this book if they are interested in sports or just a story of a champion. A great quote from the book is "Although the world knocked Ali down, he kept getting back up."

Frank S.