Fifth grade is one wild ride in this illustrated middle grade novel about two best friends—the first book in the funny and engaging Rip and Red series.Rip and Red are best friends whose fifth-grade year is nothing like what they expected. They have an eccentric new tattooed teacher named Mr. Acevedo, who doesn't believe in tests or homework and who likes off-the-wall projects, the more "off" the better. And guess who's also their new basketball coach? Mr. Acevedo! ...

Perfect for fans of The Trouble with Heroes and Hey, Kiddo, this heartfelt illustrated novel tells the story of two friends who help each other make tough decisions while on a hiking adventure.Two middle schoolers, Jaxson and South, embark on a day-long mission to climb the fire tower at the top of Mount Hope. Until now, the two have been mostly long-distance friends, but after mo...

In a country struggling with acceptance, hope can come in many different forms.As a boy, Hector loved playing soccer in his small Johannesburg township. He dreamed of playing on a real pitch with the boys from another part of the city, but apartheid made that impossible. Then, in 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from prison, and apartheid began to crumble. The march toward freedom in South Africa was a slow one, but when the beloved Bafana Bafana national soccer team won ...

A 2021 NCTE Charlotte Huck Award Honor BookA Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2020A 2021 ALA Rainbow BookA Bank Street Best Book of 2021A heartfelt and relatable novel from Phil Bildner, weaving the real history of Los Angeles Dodger and Oakland Athletic Glenn Burke--the first professional baseball player to come out as gay--into the story of a middle-school kid learning to be him...

Lammy Award WinnerA "Best Book of the Year" from School Library Journal and Chicago Public LibraryA People's Pick for the Best LGBTQ+ Kids Books for Pride MonthA Book Riot Best Recent LGBTQ+ Picture Books SelectionAn American Library Association Rainbow Book List SelectionAn inspiring picture book biography about Glenn Burke, the fi...

Griffith, Graham, and Ruby's father passed away in the war. And now they must join their mother and their father's wartime traveling baseball team, The Travelin' Nine, on a tour of America to raise money. No one will tell the kids why the team needs money so badly. Their only clue is a baseball with a hole the size of an acorn in it that their Uncle Owen gave to them the night of their father's funeral. They know very little about its significance except that their father made it with his ...

In over their heads?THE YEAR IS 1899, and the Travelin' Nine are barnstorming their way across the good ol' U.S. of A., trying to raise money to pay off the Payne family's big-league debt.Griffith has a run-in with the Chancellor and learns that the baseball isn't the only item the infamous industrialist is after. Even more mysteriously, the Chancellor claims to have something that the Paynes want.And Ruby. Where in the world has sh...

The 1958 NFL championship game is known to football fans as the "Greatest Game Ever Played." Featuring gridiron legends like Johnny Unitas, Frank Gifford, and Vince Lombardi, the Game marked the beginning of America’s infatuation with professional football.Now, Phil Bildner tells a heartwarming father-and-son story against the backdrop of this historic moment.When the New York Giants baseball team moves to San Francisco, young Sam discovers the other New York Giants—the football Gi...

After the rousing success in New Orleans, the Paynes face yet another crushing defeat when the Chancellor’s thugs finally steal the baseball—and kill their uncle in the process. Faced with a second funeral in as many months, Griffith, Ruby, and Graham are determined to beat the Chancellor at his own game and save their family as well as the game of baseball. Pulling into their hometown of Baltimore, the Paynes are reunited with a familiar face, and the Travelin’ Nine are tested on the fiel...

A baseball stadium comes to life in this magical picture book brought to you by legendary sports icon and role model Derek Jeter.Seven-year-old Gideon is overjoyed to be at Yankee Stadium watching his favorite team win! And when the game is over, he’s going to get an autograph from his favorite player. However, Gideon gets separated from his family and then he tumbles into a secret part of the stadium. There he discovers a magical world where everything from the ra...

In New Orleans, there lived a man who saw the streets as his calling, and he swept them clean. He danced up one avenue and down another and everyone danced along. The old ladies whistled and whirled. The old men hooted and hollered. The barbers, bead twirlers, and beignet bakers bounded behind that one-man parade. But then came the rising Mississippi—and a storm greater than anyone had seen before. In this heartwarming book about a real garbage man, Phil Bildner and John Parra tell the ins...

At the start of the 1941 baseball season, neither Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees nor Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox were beloved by baseball fans. But that all changed when Joe started a 56-game hitting streak and Ted's batting average rose to over .400. Despite numerous challenges along the way-Joe had his bat stolen by an overeager fan and Ted's batting average dipped to .3995 on the last day of the season-the records set by "Joltin' Joe" and "The Splendid Splinter" have yet to...