Throw Like a Girl by Sarah Henning

“When softball star Liv Rodinsky throws one ill-advised punch during the most important game of the year, she loses her scholarship to her fancy private school, her boyfriend, and her teammates all in one fell swoop. With no other options, Liv is forced to transfer to the nearest public school, Northland, where she'll have to convince their coach she deserves a spot on the softball team, all while facing both her ex and the teammates of the girl she punched... Every. Single. Day.

Enter Grey, the injured star quarterback with amazing hair and a foolproof plan: if Liv joins the football team as his temporary replacement, he'll make sure she gets a spot on the softball team in the Spring. But it will take more than the perfect spiral for Liv to find acceptance in Northland's halls, and behind that charming smile, Grey may not be so perfect after all.” taken from Goodreads.com

I am so glad that I picked up this book when I did. Needless to say, I found it to be magical as well as sports authentic. Liv’s family is supportive but tough and Grey is a phenomenal guy. I didn't feel like their relationship imploded in an attempt to bring drama to the story but that also maybe because I couldn't put this book down. I cannot wait to read some more from this author. 

Visit Sarah Henning’s website.

The Football Girl by Thatcher Heldring

“Team Statistics:

Caleb McCleary. QB. Following in his brother’s “baller status” footsteps.

Tessa Dooley. Any position that needs filling. Her motto: “Be afraid.”

The summer before Caleb and Tessa enter high school, friendship has blossomed into a relationship…and their playful sports days are coming to an end. Caleb is getting ready to try out for the football team, and Tessa is training for cross-country.

But all their structured plans derail in the final flag game when they lose. Tessa doesn’t want to end her career as a loser. She really enjoys playing, and if she’s being honest, she likes it even more than running. So what if she decided to play football instead? What would happen between her and Caleb? Or between Tessa and her two best friends, who are counting on her to try out for cross-country with them? And will her parents be upset that she’s decided to take her hobby to the next level?

This summer, Caleb and Tessa figure out just what it means to be a boyfriend, girlfriend, teammate, best friend, and someone worth cheering for.” taken from Goodreads.com

A quick read with an awesome message about what it means “to win” and about oneself. Tessa and Caleb’s soul-searching journeys with resound with readers about the demands one places on themselves and what our families and peers demand of us. A quick read.

Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles

"Love is the toughest game of all."

Derek Fitzpatrick finds himself expelled from the Regents Preparatory Academy at the end of his junior year for a stunt at graduation. He took the blame so that five of his friends wouldn't get in trouble but he never believed for one moment that expulsion would be his punishment. With his father on a six month deployment as the commander of a submarine, Derek must now live with his new stepmother and her five year old son, Julian. Brandi is only eight years older than him. When she announces that she is moving back home to Chicago, he doesn't want to go. With no way to stay in California, he will have to move to a new city to finish his senior year of high school. To make matters worse, Brandi announces that she and his father are going to have a baby. Derek is floored.

Ashtyn Parker is the only girl on her high school football team. Her mother left the family to go to New York and her father has checked out on her life. Joining the football team hasn't made her father, a former state champion football player himself, any more interested in her life. Truly alone, she has dated Landon McKnight, a fellow teammate for the past year. Now getting ready to start their senior year of high school and hopefully win a state championship, everyone knows that the college scouts will be there looking at Landon but will be seeing all of them as well. At the start of summer, the team gathers to vote on a team captain for the upcoming year. Ashtyn and Landon are both shocked when Ashtyn is voted as team captain. Landon doesn't take it very well.

Brandi has taken Derek and Julian to live with her father, who she hasn't seen in years. Derek picks up on the tension between them two of them, especially when her father says that she didn't mention a stepson coming with them. Put out at first, he makes sleeping arrangements for Derek. As they all go into the house, Derek notices that Brandi hasn't mentioned that she is expecting. Wanting to escape the confines of the house, Derek goes out into the overgrown backyard. He spies a tool shed and looks around. A hot looking girl comes up behind him with a pitchfork and demands to know why he is there. She accuses him of being from Fairfield to prank her but Derek doesn't know what she is talking about. Warning him, she throws the pitchfork at his foot and locks the shed. Derek is now trapped.

Ashtyn goes into the house looking for her father and finds a woman rummaging in the refrigerator. Looking twice, Ashtyn realizes that it is her older sister Brandi, whom she hasn't seen in seven years. Telling her sister about the guy she has locked in the tool shed, Brandi realizes that she has met her stepson, Derek. They run outside to free him. Derek is able to locate the key hidden inside the shed and passes it out to Brandi. She unlocks the door and introduces her sister Ashtyn to her stepson Derek.

Ashtyn spars with Derek immediately. Finding him attractive, he is the last thing she wants to think about. Her problems with Landon are just beginning when he cannot let go of the fact that she was voted football captain over him. Julian literally worships the ground Derek walks on and even her dog prefers Derek over herself. Deep down, all Ashtyn really wants is to be accepted and loved by her parents. Derek is finding it hard to keep all thoughts of Ashtyn from his mind. He wishes for just one more day with his dead mother. Trying to make the best of his situation, he tries repeatedly to break through Ashtyn's tough exterior. Soon all of her friends are drooling over his physique and flirting unabashedly. Even though Ashtyn is technically Derek's step aunt and is constantly irritated by him, it isn't long before her thoughts begin to stray to him. The tension between the two of them is thick.

Landon and Ashtyn break up when he transfers to Fairfield to play football and become captain of their team. The two of them were going to attend an elite football camp in Texas that summer. Landon was going to be Ashtyn's ride. Derek gets a letter from his maternal grandmother wishing to see him one last time before she dies and to make up for all of the mistakes she made when her daughter married Derek's father. Ashtyn pushes him to go to Texas to see her and drive her to the camp, since she has no other way to get there. Derek eventually relents and the two of them drive together to Texas.

Can Derek break though Ashtyn's tough exterior? Is Derek willing to accept his new life or will he bolt as soon as he can? Will Ashtyn finally get acceptance from her father? Can the fractured Parker family find its way back to one another? Will Ashtyn be able to lead her team to a state championship against Landon and Fairfield? Does Derek makeup with his grandmother before it is too late? What secrets is Derek keeping from Ashtyn and how do they impact her? And will the two of them ever be able to admit their feelings for one another?

VisitSimone Elkeles' website.

Dairy Queen Trilogy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

"When you don't talk, there's a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said."

D.J. Schwenk has a story to tell. At fifteen, she has failed sophomore English and quit the basketball and track teams to run the family dairy farm. Her dad is recovering from surgery amd someone has to milk the cows and take care of all the farm chores. Her mom is working two jobs, teaching sixth grade and is the acting principal of her school. Her two older brothers are off at college playing football and younger brother Curtis doesn't talk and is busying with his little league baseball team. In fact, the one problem with the Schwenk family is that they don't talk with one another. Life is busy for D.J. in Red Bend, Wisconsin.

Enter Brian Nelson, quarterback for the Hawley football team and Red Bend's rival. Hawley's coach, Jimmy Ott, is a family friend of the Schwenk family and thinks that D.J. has a few things to teach his starting quarterback. Or does Brian have a few things to teach D.J.? Brian helps out around the Schwenk farm and D.J. secretly trains Brian so that her family doesn't find out what she is doing. And in talking with Brian, D.J. learns a few things about herself, one of which is her desire to join the Red Bend football team. The other, is to talk and what gets said is surprising.

The sequel to Dairy Queen and the further adventures of D.J. Schwenk.Once again, D.J. is the backbone of the Schwenk family as they go through what is the worse time of their lives.

 After five months of sheer absolute craziness I was going back to being plain old background D.J. In photographs of course I’m always in the background . . .

In this conclusion to the trilogy, the Schwenk family rallies around D.J. as she has to make some tough decisions about her future. I will admit I got a little teary at the end.

Visit Catherine Gilbert Murdock's website.