Bonnie Chamberlain is a great diver with a shot at the Olympic trials. She is reaching for her dreams. But diving is dangerous. There is no room for errors, even small ones. When Bonnie makes a minor mistake in practice, her confidence is in ribbons. Scared, but ferociously determined to compete, Bonnie drives herself on with training - until her father's troubles with the law join the personal demons plaguing her. Can Bonnie take the heat?

Bonnie Chamberlain is a great diver with a shot at the Olympic trials. She is reaching for her dreams. But diving is dangerous. There is no room for errors, even small ones. When Bonnie makes a minor mistake in practice, her confidence is in ribbons. Scared, but ferociously determined to compete, Bonnie drives herself on with training - until her father's troubles with the law join the personal demons plaguing her. Can Bonnie take the heat?

If you have met Chris Crutcher's characters before, you may well have wondered "what happened next?" This volume of six short stories will not answer your questions, but it will give you the pleasure of a return visit with some great people. The cast of characters includes: Johnny Rivers, a smart-mouthed wrestler who only wants to pin one opponent - his father, Lion Serbousek, a driven swimmer trying to get past the death of his family, and other memorable individuals. Enjoy!

Bo Brewster has a problem with arrogant authority figures. One outburst too many has him off the football team and suspended from school. The only way back is through Mr. Nakatani's Anger Management class. Bo initially labels them future serial killers of America, but gradually discovers a group of people with reasons to be angry, survivors like himself. Bo delivers his story in a series of wryly humorous letters full of attitude, addressed to talk show host Larry King. By the author of Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes.

"...a simple bounce pass would have given one of his teammates the easy two points. Trent knew that, because he was a player. Or he could have been a player, if he ever played right. But Trent Dawson never did anything right." Dawson isn't the stuff great friendships are made of. Basketball is the only thing he and Nick Abbott have in common - or so it seems.

Joe Mitchell and his three closest friends (the football team's backfield lineup) have made a pact: they will stay together. But the only college that has offered all of them scholarships is small and far from stellar. Joe is the star player. Media attention and an interested scout from a big-league college have him questioning his loyalties. Is he sacrificing his future for his friends?

Todd Bannister has it all: a future in major league baseball, colleges lined up to give him scholarships, and friends at his side. Then a wild pitch leaves him with a glass eye, and a future that isn't so bright. Is the dream over? Can Todd find the strength to rebuild his life? Baseball may not be your game, but this is a tale sure to have you rooting for the home team.

Johnny - John Aloysius Xavier Woods - is in jail. It's 1885. John and his family are Irish immigrants living in the tenements of New York's Lower East Side. They are the poorest of the poor. Desperate to supplement his meagre factory income, fifteen-year-old Johnny signs up for an illegal bare-knuckle boxing match in the back room of a bar. Unfortunately, the police choose that night to raid the place...

Alfred Brooks didn't really want to be a fighter. He ran to Donatelli's Gym to avoid a beating - but he had to say something to get through the door. From the inside, fighting looks better. Maybe it's a way to survive the harsh realities of Harlem in 1967. Maybe it's a way out. Don't miss the sequel, The Brave.

"I don't question why I'm a hockey player, I just am one. It's my style that's the issue. I play hard... I'm known to other players as the Iceman, because I'm heartless. But they couldn't really know about the burning inside. Could I be both, fire and ice? Sure, depending on the day." Eric plays a dangerous game - dangerous for his opponents, his teammates, and himself. He's not a bad guy, he's just trying to survive the pressures of daily life with his slightly mad family. An exciting and darkly humorous tale even non-hockey fans will eat up.

The true story of seventeen-year-old Albert Forrest, the youngest goalie to play in the Stanley cup finals, is an action packed piece of hockey history. 1904: the Dawson City Nuggets are facing off with the champion Ottawa Silver Seven. Getting to the game - before the age of cars and planes, beset with blizzards, avalanches, and disasters of the human variety - is half the battle. The game itself is out and out war. It's an experience that turns boys into men.

"Someday he would see her. Someday he would be discovered. He was nobody now. Someday he would be somebody. He was invisible now. Someday he would be visible. Willis Pierce, the greatest miler. The fans on their feet, shouting, Pierce! Pierce! Pierce! And her, the girl of his dreams, waiting for him." Willis is alone but he has his dreams to keep him company, dreams of running for medals, of finding a girl, the girl. Then he meets Sophie. Could she be the one? Could she help him find glory on the track, or will she hold him back?

Steroids. Cam Potter doesn't want to take them, but there may be no alternative. His coach is pressuring him, his teammates are taking them, and his chance for a football scholarship may depend on them. Are they really that bad? Are Cam's dreams worth the risk?

Greg "Slam" Harris doesn't put a foot wrong on the basketball court. But the rest of his life isn't so controlled. His grades are less than great and he has a hard time keeping his anger in check. Slam has a chance to be great. He could be one of the lucky ones, the guys with a future. Or he could lose it all in a split second of wild anger.

The race for the pennant is on! But halfway through the season, the Dodgers are ten games behind the rival Cardinals. Dodgers manager Spike Russell is trying frantically to turn the tide in his team's fortunes. Standing square in his path is Bones Hathaway, a rookie pitcher overflowing with talent but apparently shallow on responsibility. Can Russell turn him - and the team - around in time?

Here is a collection of seventeen sports stories that will take you from boxing to scuba diving, from warming up to competing, from defeat to victory and beyond. Contributors include sports novel greats Harry Mazer, Chris Crutcher, Will Weaver, Thomas J. Dygard, and a host of others. Not to be missed.

Jay McLeod is desperately hoping to make the basketball team, but he doesn't have much of a chance. He plays okay, but he doesn't quite fit the picture of your average highschool jock. His dad is getting himself together in California so Jay lives alone above a bar and works in the kitchen to pay the rent. His best friend Spit is an avant-garde musical genius with more troubles than Jay himself. If basketball doesn't pan out - maybe Jay will have a future onstage. Readers of Wrestling Sturbridge will enjoy the return visit to Sturbridge, Pennsylvania - the capital of nowhere.

"Joey hogs the ball, he gets the right girls, and he talks me into lying, stealing, and dating girls I'd never pick myself. But he's always been there for me - until now. Or maybe I'm just tired of being there for him. I suppose we ought to grow up. Maybe we'd win more soccer games." Sturbridge strikes again. This time we tune in to the trials and tribulations of the struggling soccer team and the rocky friendship of Barry - average guy with dreams of greatness, and Joey - a cool pack of trouble if ever there was one.

Baseball is the love of Billy Baggs' life. Unfortunately, farm labour leaves very little time to play the game - until Billy's mother suggests making a diamond in their own cow pasture. Why not? A farm team is better than none. But this team is a rag-tag bunch of oddballs, of which Skinner the dog is the very least. Will anyone take this team seriously? Be sure to catch the further adventures of Billy Baggs in Striking Out and Hard Ball.