Lay-Ups and Long Shots: Eight Short Stories

Purely fiction, these stories tell the tales of athletes in a variety of sports, including track, football, martial arts, Ping Pong, fishing, and dirt bike riding.

About the Author :
David Lubar has written more than twenty books for young readers, including Hidden Talents, Flip, Invasion of the Road Weenies, Punished, and My Rotten Life. His novels are on reading lists across the country, saving countless students from a close encounter with Madame Bovary. His short stories have appeared in the collections of such respected anthologists as M. Jerry Weiss, Don Gallo, and Michael Cart, and in a variety of magazines, including Boy's Life, READ, and Nickelodeon. He has also designed and programmed many video games, but he'd much rather spend his time writing books and hanging out with librarians. He lives in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, with his wife and a variety of cats. Joseph Bruchac was born in Saratoga Springs, New York, and grew up in the Adirondack foothills. He began to take an interest in his Abenaki heritage when he was a teenager. Mr. Bruchac has written many books, poems, plays, and short stories--most of which include tales, characters, and teachings from his Native American roots. Performing as a storyteller allows him another way to preserve his Abenaki culture.

Review :
"Nine authors for children and young adults team up for this compilation of short stories whose focus is the spirit of the game. As with Sports Shorts (Darby Creek, 2005), which included contributions from several of the same authors, these accessible and engaging selections cover a wide range of sports, from basketball to surfing to BMX riding. The protagonists are not star players. Instead, they are the second- or third-stringers who love their particular sport so much that they are willing to be less than perfect. Readers will feel Joseph Bruchac's angst when the coach tells him that he's not cut out to play on his high school basketball team, as well as his sense of triumph when he sinks several shots in a row at home, taking the small victory as a sign that his grandfather will not succumb to poor health. David Lubar introduces Tyler, whose pursuit of the Ping-Pong championship trophy becomes so all-consuming that he learns an important lesson about the price of self-reliance. Whether the stories are based on the authors' own childhoods or not, these protagonists are engaging, and middle schoolers will find much to relate to in the reassuring reminders that perfection is highly overrated. A great way to introduce reluctant readers to some talented voices." --School Library Journal