Alan Brown's Sports Literacy Blog

Key:

^ Nonfiction 

*Grade levels are based on reviews from sources such as School Library Journal, Booklist, etc. They do not necessarily represent Alan’s and Abby’s views on grade level appropriateness.

Baseball

A Diamond in the Desert by Kathryn Fitzmaurice (Grades 4+)

A Season of Daring Greatly by Ellen Emerson White (Grades 9-12)

^ A Strong Right Arm by Michelle Y. Green (Grades 4-7)

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko (Grades 4-8)

 All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg (Grades 6-8)

  All Star by Jesse Lonergan (Grades 9-12)

  Babe and Me by Dan Gutman (Grades 5-9)

 Baseball Crazy by Nancy Mercado, ed. (Grades 4-8)

Baseball Great by Tim Green (Grades 4-7)

Baseball in April by Gary Soto (Grades 4-7; Spanish Edition)

 Beanball by Gene Fehler (Grades 5-9)

^ Beyond Belief by Josh Hamilton and Tim Keown (Grades 9-12)

^ Big Papi by David Ortiz and Tony Massoratti 

  Biggie by Derek E. Sullivan (Grades 9-12)

Broken Laces by Rodney Walther

Center Field by Robert Lipsyte (Grades 8-12)

Change-up John Feinstein (Grades 6-9)

Choosing Up Sides by John Ritter (Grades 5-9)

^ Clemente by David Maraniss (Spanish edition)

Conviction by Kelly Loy Gilbert (Grades 8-11)

Curveball by Jordan Sonnenblick (Grades 7+)

Diamond Ruby by Joseph Wallace

^ Eight Men Out by Eliot Asinof

Fair Ball by Derek Jeter (Grades 4-8)

Fantasy Baseball by Alan Gratz (Grades 3-7)

Fences by August Wilson (Grades 9-12)

Fenway Fever by John Ritter (Grades 5-7)

  Finding Buck McHenry by Alfred Slote (Grades 4-6)

  Game Seven by Paul Volponi (Grades 7-10)

Gold Dust by Chris Lynch (Grades 5+)

Golden Arm by Carl Deuker (Grades 6-8)

Goodbye Mr. Spalding by Robin Barr (Grades 4-8)

Heart of a Champion by Carl Deuker (Grades 6-10)

Heat by Mike Lupica (Grades 5-9)

High Heat by Carl Deuker (Grades 5-8)

^ High Heat by Tim Wendel

 Hurricane Heat by Steven Barwin (Grades 5-8)

^ I Never Had it Made by Jackie Robinson and Alfred Duckett

 Ironweed by William Kennedy (Grades 9-12)

 Just as Good by Chris Crowe (Grades 1-4)

  Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park (Grades 4-7)

^ Kenichi Zenimura, Japanese American Baseball Pioneer by Bill Staples, Jr.

Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger (Grades 9-12)

 Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt (Grades 5-8)

Lost in the Sun by Lisa Graff (Grades 5-8)

^ Making My Pitch by Ila Jane Borders and Jean Hastings Ardell (Grades 9-12)

Man Up by Kim Oclon

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (Grades 6-10)

Mascot by Antony John (Grades 4-8)

Mexican WhiteBoy by Matt De La Peña (Grades 9-12)

^ Mo’ne Davis: Remember My Name by Mo’Ne Davis (Grades 4-8)

Mudville by Kurtis Scaletta (Grades 5-8)

No Cream Puffs by Karen Day (Grades 5-8)

^ One Shot at Forever by Chris Ballard (Grades 9-12)

^ Opening Day by Jonathan Eig

 Out of Left Field by Ellen Klages (Grades 4-8)

Out of Order by A.M. Jenkins (Grades 8-10)

Over the Wall by John Ritter (Grades 6-9)

Painting the Black by Carl Deuker (Grades 8-12)

Pinch Hit by Tim Green (Grades 5-8)

^ Playing with the Enemy by Gary Moore

Plunked by Michael Northrop (Grades 9+)

^ Pujols by Scott Lamb, Tim Ellsworth, and Joe Posnanski (Grades 9-12)

Rivals by Tim Green (Grades 5-8)

Samurai Shortstop by Alan Gratz (Grades 8-11)

 See No Color by Shannon Gibney (Grades 9-12)

Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ron Koertge (Grades 6-9)

Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs by Ron Koertge (Grades 6-9)

^ Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella (Grades 9-12)

Singled Out by Andrew Maraniss 

Six Innings by James Preller (Grades 5-8)

Snow in August by Pete Hamill

Striking Out by Will Weaver (Grades 8-12)

Summerland by Michael Chabon (Grades 5-9)

Swing by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess (Grades 9-12)

  ^ The Belles of Baseball by Nel Yomtov (Grades 6-8)

The Boy Who Saved Baseball by John Ritter (Grades 5-8)

 The Boy Who Would Not Play Ball by Robert Taylor Brewer

The Brooklyn Nine by Alan Gratz (Grades 7-10)

The Big Field by Mike Lupica (Grades 4-8)

^ The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter by Ian O’Connor

The Comeback Season by Jennifer Smith (Grades 8-11)

The Crazy Horse Electric Game by Chris Crutcher (Grades 8-12)

The Desperado Who Stole Baseball by John Ritter (Grades 5-8)

The Girl who Threw Butterflies by Mick Cochrane (Grades 5-9)

  The Legend of Mickey Tussler by Franki Nappi (Grades 6-11)

  The Natural by Bernard Malamud (Grades 9-12)

 ^ The Orlando Cepeda Story by Bruce Markusen (Grades 6-12)

  The Pitcher by William Hazelgrove (Grades 9-12)

 ^ Tomboy by Liz Prince (Grades 9-12)

Top of the Order by John Coy (Grades 3-6)

^ We Are the Ship by Kadir Nelson (Grades 4-8)

 You Don’t Know about Me by Brian Meehl (Grades 9-12)