Carl Deuker

Living with his alcoholic father on a broken-down sailboat on Puget Sound has been hard on seventeen-year-old Chance Taylor, but when his love of running leads to a high-paying job, he quickly learns that the money is not worth the risk.

Groomed by his father to be a star player, football is the only thing that has ever really mattered to Mick Johnson, who works hard for a spot on the varsity team his freshman year, then tries to hold onto his edge by using steroids, despite the consequences to his health and social life.

Seth and Jimmy have the kind of friendship you can't put into words-the kind you think only happens in books and movies. They both live and breathe baseball, but while Seth struggles to be good enough to make the varsity team, Jimmy, a natural, looks like he's on is way to becoming a major league star someday. 0n and off the field, their passion for "A the game gets them through some of life's bitterest struggles and unites them in a once in a lifetime...

"Nate plays soccer, but he doesn't love it. He plays because it's what his family expects. Then Lucas Cawley moves in across the street. Lucas isn't like any of Nate's sports friends--he's poor, his parents are mostly absent, and he's devoted to his sister Megan, who has a learning disability. Lucas may be an outcast at school, but he and Nate find common ground in their fierce games of one-on-one basketball"-- Provided by publisher.

Like the game of baseball, life is quirky and unpredictable, as Shane Hunter discovers in the spring of his sophomore year. Suddenly and without warning his life of privilege is turned upside down. And just as suddenly, life begins to seem utterly without fairness or purpose to him. Exciting, well-written sports scenes transport readers right into the stands while complex issues engage their hearts and minds. For here is a novel of loss, of morality,...

In his senior year of high school, late bloomer Ryan Ward has just begun to feel the magic of baseball - the magic of catching a wicked slider, of throwing a runner out, of training hard and playing hard and pushing his limits. Giving up baseball would be like getting off the most exciting ride of his life. But when one of his teammates clearly pushes the limits too far, Ryan is faced with a heartbreaking dilemma: he must choose between his love for...