Books in Lorimer Sports Stories series

When it's announced that Cody's kayaking club will host a national competition, no one doubts that Cody will represent them. He is the team's best paddler, after all. But Cody and the others aren't counting on a new guy arriving who can out-paddle them all. Cody's desire to be the best is put to the test one stormy day when he notices his rival's kayak missing from the clubhouse. Cody has a choice to make: attempt a solo rescue, or eliminate the competition… This story about overcoming rivalry and learning to put others first is sure to make a splash with reluctant readers.

Allie loves baseball. It's the one thing that has been consistent in her lately complicated life. Allie's father left recently, and now Allie has a new family―her mother's new girlfriend, Phyllis, and son Miles have moved in. It's taking some adjustment, mostly because Miles seems determined to get under her skin. Things start looking up when Allie gets invited to join the boy's baseball team as their new pitcher. But then Miles announces he's quitting the boy's team and tries out for Allie's old team―a girl's team! Allie is sure he's doing it just to annoy her, but Miles insists that he just likes the girl's style of play better. As Allie struggles to find her place on the boy's team, she starts to see that Miles is just trying to fit in as well, and that it may be even harder for him than it has been for her.

The soccer-mad gang from Brunswick Valley School featured in Robert Rayner's two previous books for this series is back, gathering every Saturday afternoon to play a friendly game against friends from a neighboring town. A well-meaning adult spots potential in some of the players and offers guidance, inspiring parents of the other side to get their own coach. As the games become more structured, they become more serious―and less fun. It's up to the kids to find a way to reclaim the spirit of the sport.

For the first time, Kaleigh is playing on an all-girls hockey team. Never a "girlygirl," she misses her former teammates, has trouble following the different rules of girls' hockey, and gets frustrated when her fellow players get distracted from their game. That is, until Shane comes along. Soon the attention of this older boy is taking up too much of her time, and Kaleigh finds herself unsure whether she can balance hockey, her friendships, and this new dating-life. [Fry Reading Level - 3.4

It should be the best week of Jay's life: he's attending a Basketball Nova Scotia Summer Camp and rooming in a real university dorm with his best friend, Mike. But then Mike's older brother, Chad, turns out to be less than the coach Jay expected and the brother Mike had always known. Luckily for Jay, a new teammate and friend has figured out how to do what Chad can't: bring out the best in people. Personal Best is the exciting and moving sequel to Sylvia Gunnery's Out of Bounds.

Fourteen-year-old Madeline Snow is the star goalie and captain of her girls rep hockey team. When her father moves the family to a small town, she feels like she's losing a lot. Maddie is unhappier than ever. Soon she discovers she's made the town's only Bantam team, but since they have a skilled goalie in Connor Spencer, Maddie wonders if she will get to play. When Connor dies in a car accident, Maddie is overwhelmed with sadness and guilt. But Maddie has become part of the community, and her friends help her to find the focus she needs to fill the empty net.

Between showing the award-winning jumper Mirror Glider, working at South Hills Stables, and washing dishes in her dad's South Asian family restaurant, thirteen-year-old Dev Rani doesn't always have a lot of time left for homework or a social life. But when Mirror Glider has an accident and is forced to retire, Dev is suddenly faced with a new problem: Zim, a promising, but very disturbed, rescue horse. Dev is charged with convincing this troubled Arabian to become the jumper she knows he can be. But first, she needs to learn more about this abandoned horse's history―and things get more complicated than she bargained for.

"When Vicky and her mom pack up and move across the city to a new neighborhood, it means switching schools and leaving behind her best friend and her soccer team. Now she'll have to try out for goalkeeper with her former rivals, deal with racism at her new school and struggle to maintain loyalty to her old friends while making new ones. Vicky is awesome in net and tries to keep focused on her goals and the game she loves, but it's not easy without the support of her friends and family."

Abby and Sarah are as different as two sisters can be, but they get along well―that is, until they join the same school basketball team. Older sister Abby is bound and determined that their team will win this season. But outgoing and carefree Sarah seems to treat practices as a chance to goof off with friends, when she bothers to show up at all. As the tension on the team heats up, so does Abby's intensity, until she's not only treating her sister poorly but her other teammates―and the coach, too.

Shay and his pal Toby are among the players on the school soccer team who fall foul of the "fair play contract" introduced by the new school administration. After being banned from playing on behalf of the school for the rest of the season, the dismissed players form their own unofficial team―and become one of the top teams in the league. But will they be allowed to play in the championship game? Based on a true incident, Suspended is a story about determination and true sportsmanship.

Abby and Sarah are as different as two sisters can be, but they get along well—that is, until they join the same school basketball team. Older sister Abby is bound and determined that their team will win this season. But outgoing and carefree Sarah seems to treat practices as a chance to goof off with friends, when she bothers to show up at all. As the tension on the team heats up, so does Abby's intensity, until she's not only treating her sister poorly but also her other teammates—and coach.