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Everything was going great for Willie Weaver, renowned pitcher and star of his baseball team. Until his accident, that is. Faced with multiple losses, Willie runs away from his home, family, and friends in Montana to start all over in L.A. Will he be able to put the pieces of his life back together?

Seth Barham was still reeling from his father’s death a few years ago. Feeling lost and abandoned, Seth meets Jimmy and the two quickly become best friends. Jimmy introduces Seth to baseball and helps pull Seth out of his funk. Together, they face high school, making the baseball team, and dealing with peer pressure to drink at parties. Will Seth make good decisions? Will Jimmy’s choices have dire consequences?

Filled with action, humor, and drama, this anthology compiles short stories, poems, even a play from young adult authors like Jerry Spinelli and Sue Corbett.

This short-story collection features tales of young Latinos in California who face real-life problems big and small, including making the baseball team. While baseball isn’t the focus of every story, the coming-of-age themes are relatable to any tween.

When MVP Kevin Boland gets the news that he has mono and won’t be seeing a baseball field for a while, he suddenly finds himself scrawling a poem down the middle of a page in his journal. To get some help, he cops a poetry book from his dad’s den — and before Kevin knows it, he’s writing in verse about stuff like, Will his jock friends give up on him? What’s the deal with girlfriends? Surprisingly enough, after his health improves, he keeps on writing.

Seventeen-year-old Biddy Owens is part of the Birmingham Black Barons baseball team and dreams of becoming a major league baseball player. However, in 1948 most black players can only play for the Negro Leagues. Jackie Robinson has just recently integrated and is playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers, but the white owners are reluctant to add too many blacks to their rosters. The Birmingham Black Barons are some of the best players in the league. But as they travel around playing ball, Biddy realizes that not everyone is ready for blacks and whites to play on the same team. 

Young readers may be surprised to learn that a womern’s professional baseball league thrived in the U.S. from 1943-1954. This fascinating volume explores the history of the league and the challenges faced by these trailblazing players, and includes wonderful photographs from the era.

Anyone who has ever had the privilege of watching Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals knows the sound of a hit. It’s the sound his bat makes when it connects with the ball. It’s a sound that’s been heard countless times since his 2001 rookie season. That year, he took the league by storm by posting some of the most fantastic offensive stats of any rookie ever-and he’s been doing the same ever since, shattering records and helping his team win games, including the 2006 World Series, with clutch hits and amazing home runs.

This biography offers an up-close look at this superstar’s life and the most memorable moments of his outstanding career to date.

Molly and her Dad always shared a love of baseball — especially the hard-luck Chicago Cubs — and he taught her how to throw a tricky knuckleball. After her father passes away, Molly wants to try out for the boys’ baseball team, as a way of keeping her connection to her Dad. This tender novel combines sports action with Molly’s struggle to accept her loss.

This volume includes more than 100 articles from 60 years of baseball writing by the best baseball journalists. Read classic articles about the game’s legendary players like Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, and Reggie Jackson. Best of all, there are nearly 100 compleeting photographs to complement the text.

Are the wealthiest people in America the happiest? Nick Carraway seems to think so until he gets involved with his rich neighbors, including the mysterious Jay Gatsby. Through Nick’s love interest Jordan, and his budding friendship with Jay, Nick discovers that Gatsby’s world is filled with love, betrayal and murder. 

Have you ever been in love with someone your parents hated? Have you ever sneaked out to go on a date? How far would you be willing to go to be with your soul mate? Romeo and Juliet face these very questions. After they meet and fall in love, they discover that their families hate each other. But Romeo and Juliet have to be together, even if everyone wants them to be apart. Looking for a companion text? Try Romiette and Julio by Sharon Draper, a contemporary version of the classic featuring a biracial couple fighting against their families’ prejudice to prove their love for each other.

How far would you go to stand up for what you think is right? Would you be willing to defy a King, who also happens to be your uncle? These are the decisions Antigone faces when King Creon orders that Antigone’s brothers go unburied after a bloody civil war. Should she risk death or imprisonment to honor the dead and her god or blindly follow King Creon’s decree, leaving her brothers’ bodies to rot in the sun? As a companion text, try a Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This text reflects the theme of civil disobedience: standing up against injustice through peaceful demonstration.

What would you be willing to trade if you could have all of the knowledge and power in the world? Would you be willing to sell your soul to the devil? That’s what Dr. Faustus does in exchange for 24 years of service from a devil named Mephistopheles. With his help, Faustus is able to perform unbelievable magic tricks and feats, impressing famous dignitaries and exploiting others as he demonstrates his great power. But as the time approaches when Lucifer will take his soul to Hell, Dr. Faustus reconsiders his choice.

Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic.

Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Wright’s powerful novel is an unsparing reflection on the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in America.

Set in Salem, Massachusetts during the late 1600s, Miller uses the story of the infamous witch trials as an allegory for the anti-Communist feelings and the McCarthy hearings in America during the 1950’s. As the fervor over identifying witches gains traction, innocent people fall victim to unwarranted accusations, with devastating results. What happens when intolerance reigns in a society? Looking for a cross-curricular connection? Students can study the historical events and people involved in the Salem witch trials while reading this play. Teachers can help students uncover similarities and differences between the history and the text.

Have you ever wondered who your ancestors are or how their lives shaped yours? Milkman, a young, African-American man, sets out to discover his ancestry and learns how racism, injustice, and the disparities between the rich and poor have affected his life and his relatives’ lives. 

Beowulf is a famous warrior who arrives in Denmark to kill the terrible monster, Grendel. Grendel is a formidable foe who emerges out of the swamp at night in order to kill the Danish people. Will Beowulf be successful in his battle or will Grendel slay him instead? This epic poem is more than 1,000 years old, but its story of a hero overcoming villains still engages students.

This classic is filled with witches, ghosts, murder, betrayal, and revenge? Macbeth, a successful Scottish general, encounters three witches who prophesize his future. Eager to make their predictions come true and egged on by the power-hungry Lady Macbeth, he sets out on a murderous path to become King, deceiving and destroying anyone in his way. Looking for a parallel text? Read Enter Three Witches by Caroline Cooney, a story about Lady Mary, the teenaged charge of the Macbeths. How will she be able to cope with Macbeth’s deadly behavior?

Odysseus just wants to get home to his wife and son after being away for more than ten years fighting in the Trojan War. On his journey (odyssey) back, he encounters all manner of obstacles including a cyclops, temptresses, ghostly spirates, pirates, and a six-headed monster.Looking for companion text? Waiting for Odysseus by Clemence McLaren traces Odysseus’s journey through the eyes of the women in his life: his wife Penelope, the seductive Circe, the goddess Pallas Athene, and his childhood nurse Eurycleia.

In many ways, Jason Peele is like any other teenager. He hits the books, hangs with his friends, flirts with girls, and omits the full truth of his life from his Aunt Audrey and Uncle Steve, who have raised him since his parents died. But there’s one way that Jason Peele is very different: when he dreams at night, it isn’t about girls; it’s about David Bowie. At sixteen-years-old, Jason is just beginning to understand that he might be gay.