Exciting YA Books about Sports for Olympics Fans

This gorgeous book has a little bit of everything: sports, family, friendship, healing, self-discovery, and an examination of racial and economic injustice. And it’s fantastic.

The beginning of the novel is heartbreaking: Donte and Trey are brothers. Their mother is Black, and their father is white. Donte, with his darker skin, looks more like his mother, while Trey, with his lighter skin, looks more like his father. Donte and Trey have just started attending a new private middle school in Massachusetts, and while Trey is popular, Donte is bullied, frequently blamed for things he hasn’t done and, in the novel’s opening chapters, arrested for “delinquent” acts he didn’t commit. Donte is scared and discouraged, knowing that skin color has led to his brother’s popularity and his own troublesome reputation.

Determined to humiliate the school bully, Alan, who is captain of the school’s fencing team, Donte decides to take up fencing, training under a former national championship fencer who now works as a facilities manager at the Boston Boys and Girls Club. Donte knows that defeating Alan at his beloved sport is the most effective way to get revenge for all the ways Alan has hurt him.

And yet over time, Donte starts to realize that his determination to fence is no longer just about revenge. He’s found a sport that he loves and excels at, supportive teammates, and a coach who cares about him. Not to mention, he’s part of a loving family who supports him every step of the way.

Sure, this is a great sports story that will introduce students to fencing, a sport they’re likely unfamiliar with, but it also explores racism and colorism, especially as they intersect with social class. After all, fencing is far more popular in elite private schools than urban public schools.

The author was inspired by the discovery that Alexandre Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers, has African heritage: his father, son of a Black slave and a French aristocrat, was a famous general in Napoleon’s army. And yet Hollywood has always portrayed Dumas’s characters as white, contributing to the perception that fencing is a whites-only sport. We learned a lot and felt a lot, and we think students of all ages will enjoy Donte’s story.

It wouldn’t be an Olympics-themed blog without a gymnastics book, and Iacopelli delivers with this one!

When the book opens, Audrey Lee is in the midst of qualifiers for the US National Gymnastics team, about to fulfill her lifelong dream of going to the Olympics. Making the team as a bars and beam specialist is especially important to her: she’s been recovering from spine surgery for the last year, and she knows she’ll need to retire after this run at the Olympics. When she makes it alongside her best friend Emma (the favorite to win the women’s all-around), she’s thrilled: everything they’ve worked so hard for is finally falling into place (especially when world champion snowboarder Leo Adams makes a point of congratulating her).

Things immediately start to go wrong, however. One of Audrey’s teammates is almost immediately removed from the team for failing a drug test, and when Audrey arrives in California for team training, her coach, Gibby, is being arrested and led out of the gym in handcuffs by two FBI agents. It turns out he faked the failed drug test in an effort to cover up the fact that he has been sexually abusing Audrey’s teammate.

Gibby’s arrest (and the subsequent removal of all the girls’ coaches, who colluded in the cover-up) throws the girls’ training into disarray. They’re supposed to be preparing for the Olympics, but now they’re being interviewed by the FBI and fielding questions from the media that have nothing to do with gymnastics. And the team is split between those who believe Dani’s accusations of sexual abuse and those who think Dani is just desperate for attention. Oh, and Leo’s mom is the girls’ new coach, so Audrey is banned from a relationship with him to avoid any accusations of favoritism.

The straight-from-the-headlines story inspired by the turmoil the real US Gymnastics team has faced is excellent: there’s so much tension for the girls to work through amidst an already nerve-wracking experience, and if you have any interest in gymnastics, the insider view of the Olympics is a delight.

There is some profanity in the novel, and do be aware that sexual abuse is a central part of the plot. The abuse is discussed rather than depicted, but it’s definitely something you’ll want to be aware of when making recommendations to students

If you’re looking for a more light-hearted gymnastics read that is appropriate for younger audiences, Freitas’s Gold Medal Summer offers the same insider look into gymnastics from a more innocent perspective.

Joey Jordan loves gymnastics, but it’s a touchy subject in her family. Her sister Julia became the National Champion when she was 16 but then retired due to an injury and a weariness with all the sacrifices gymnasts must make to compete at the top levels. Joey’s parents, exhausted by the stress of constantly worrying that their daughters will hurt themselves and watching the intense pressure their coach puts on them, refuse to attend Joey’s events and frequently encourage her to quit.

Joey’s never won a gold medal, and she’s determined that this will be the summer she makes that podium, finally answering her lifelong question of whether she’ll be all smiles or she, like everyone else, will break down in tears.

But it’s not easy: her coach refuses to listen to her suggestion that she develop a new floor and beam routine that highlights her strengths; her best friend Alex, the team superstar, is talking about quitting; her rivals from the Jamestown Gymcats keep threatening her focus; and an old friend, Tanner, seems interested in dating her, even though her entire life revolves around gymnastics and her coach forbids any of his gymnasts to date, considering it a distraction from attention on their sport.

It’s fun to watch Joey work toward her goal and navigate all the conflicts that are part of the process as she decides how much of her life and personality she’s willing to sacrifice for this sport she loves so much, and Olympic fans of all ages will enjoy the inside look at the world of competitive gymnastics.

Mickey and Carolina are stars on their school’s softball team—Mickey is the catcher and Carolina is the pitcher—and the team is gearing up for a successful season where, hopefully, college scouts will be there to look at both girls. But when the girls get into a car accident, Mickey’s hip is destroyed, and Carolina’s throwing arm is broken. They’re both facing a long and painful recovery, and Mickey is determined to accelerate her recovery so she’ll be ready for the season.

Depressed, in pain, and determined to push herself, Mickey finds relief in the painkillers her doctor has prescribed until her prescription runs out, far sooner than it’s supposed to. When she’s unable to get more pills from her doctor, a woman overhears and passes Mickey her contact information. In desperation, Mickey reaches out, and it’s not long before she’s caught up in the vicious downward spiral of opioid addiction. 

While Mickey thinks the painkillers will give her the relief she needs to make it to softball season, we watch it slowly destroy her life, and we see how the addiction entraps her, like it does so many others: when she runs out of pills or tries to quit, the withdrawal symptoms are so bad it’s unbearable. When her access to painkillers runs out, her new group of friends introduce her to heroin, and things go from bad to worse.

This is a tough read, but it also provides a brutal look at the very real opioid epidemic. Through Mickey, McGinnis puts a real face on the problem, giving us empathy for those who find themselves trapped in it.

This is definitely a book to recommend with caution and probably not one we would recommend on First Chapter Friday (the novel is full of mature content, and McGinnis includes a warning before the novel begins that those who are struggling or have struggled with addiction should proceed with caution). But given the reality of the opioid epidemic, there are important ideas here, including the pressure many high school athletes feel to perform at all costs, and we think it’s a book many students will be drawn to and find lots to discuss.

Sadie is a Scofield, and Scofields don’t quit. For generations, the Scofield family has competed in the 265-mile Texas River Odyssey, and they’re legends in the racing community. Everyone has finished except Sadie, and she’s not going to feel like a real Scofield until she does. But the race is brutal, and in the novel’s opening chapter, she’s in a canoe with her father, desperately trying to hide that she wants to give up.

When she’s injured, ending the race for them that year and ruining her father’s chance for a 20-year streak of finishing the race, it destroys her relationship with her father. All he sees when he looks at Sadie is her failure to finish, and when the story picks back up a year later, the two can barely look at one another.

This time, Sadie’s preparing to race with her brother Tanner, but he abandons her at the last minute when a spot opens up on another team and he has a chance at a first-place finish. Sadie’s devastated, but then she gets an unexpected offer: John Cullen, her once-best-friend-now-brutal-enemy, has also had his opportunity to race taken away, and he offers to compete with her so they can both finish. This makes Sadie’s relationship with her family even worse; after all, the Scofields and the Cullens have been enemies ever since their dads raced together and got into a nasty fight.

But Sadie is determined to finish the race, so she agrees, and the brutal race is made even more challenging as she’s forced to cooperate with the boy who hurt her so badly when they were kids. He’s not nearly as skilled as she is, so she keeps telling him what to do, and he’s frustrated by her horribly bossy treatment. But as the race grinds on, they’re forced to confront their shared history and the conflict between them, and there are some surprises along the way.

The novel offers a window into a sport most of us probably know very little about and the extremes these racers must go to in order to reach the finish line, and it’s rewarding to watch Sadie overcome her past failure, to see Sadie and Cully work through their painful relationship, and ultimately, to see Sadie reconcile with her family. It’s a sports story, a family story, and a love story, all rolled into one, and we think many students will enjoy it.

While the novel is, for the most part, appropriate for a wide range of students, it does include profanity and a few mature observations as Sadie starts to think of Cully as a potential boyfriend rather than a childhood friend.

Written by the ShibSibs, two-time Olympic bronze medalists and the first ice dancers of Asian descent to medal at the Olympics, this is a delightful mystery full of the Olympic spirit that is especially appropriate for middle school readers but that high school readers can enjoy as well.

Andy and Mika are headed to Tokyo for the Summer Olympics: their mom is the editor-in-chief of a sports website, and their dad is a freelance travel writer. They can’t wait to explore the city of Tokyo and see real Olympic athletes in action. Making things even better is the release of an augmented reality game called OlympiFan (think Pokémon GO), created and hosted by a former Olympian known only as the Masked Medalist. Andy loves puzzles, so he’s been excited about the game all summer, but when he learns that the grand prize is the opportunity to work as a beta tester for the Masked Medalist’s upcoming games, he’s even more determined to win.

Mika is excited about the game as well, but she’s got problems of her own: it’s the summer before she starts middle school, and in addition to feeling nervous, she’s frustrated that her parents won’t let her have her own Instagram account until she turns 13, especially when an activewear company hosts a competition for photographers. Take a photo that captures the spirit of unity at the Olympics, tag it #TeamWorld, and your photo could be used in an ad campaign. Mika wants to participate, but that will mean going against her parents’ rules and hiding a secret Instagram account from her family.

As the Kudo Kids race through the streets of Tokyo trying to find clues—while taking time out to watch Olympic events and try new foods, like octopus—they start to suspect that someone is trying to sabotage the game. Now they’re determined not only to figure out who the Masked Medalist is but who’s sabotaging the game and why.

We thoroughly enjoyed following the Kudo Kids on their adventures, and the novel is full of the global spirit we all love so much about the Olympics. We think this is a fantastic First Chapter Friday recommendation that students of all ages will enjoy.

Born into a soccer family, Golden Maroni is confident he has what it takes to be just like his hero, Lionel Messi. He just needs to practice for 10,000 hours, and he’s made a lot of progress the summer before eighth grade begins. Maybe even enough progress to be named captain and take his school’s soccer team to their first championship game.

But outside of soccer, things aren’t going great. Golden’s father has been diagnosed with ALS, and Golden refuses to believe that hard work and optimism won’t be enough to keep his father’s muscles from deteriorating. His home life is falling apart as his mom struggles to keep everything together and care for his dad: he has to share a room with his older sister, they’re always out of clean clothes and food, and somehow the job of doing his little sister’s hair has landed on him. Golden’s next-door neighbor and best friend Lucy might be moving to Maine . . . unless he can sabotage the sale of their house. And Golden’s other best friend Benny seems distant, probably because Golden has been too embarrassed to let him come over and see everything going on in the Maroni home.

Golden’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders, and it’s not long before it all becomes too heavy and threatens to fall apart. But how will he cope once that happens?

This was a beautiful book, appropriate for middle and high school readers, about a young man and a family living through unbelievably difficult circumstances. But it is not a book you’ll be able to get through without tears. There is hope within the struggle, but with a diagnosis like ALS, there is also an inevitable end that brought tears to our eyes on more than one occasion.