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Sports & Recreation

Book Buzz: War Games by Alan Gratz

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Alan Gratz, photo courtsey the authorThose three years of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade are a time of learning who you are as a person. They’re still kids. They play kickball, pull pranks on each other. But they’re also having their first serious relationships, starting to drink or experiment with drugs, questioning their place in the larger world….I want to teach empathy. I want people to understand the viewpoints of others, and that we are better together than apart. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you that 10 years ago. It took me writing a few books—and coming to that theme every time, naturally, as a writer—to understand.
  ― Alan Gratz, Interview with Scott Simon, Publishers Weekly

War Games by Alan Gratz

What booksellers are saying about War Games

  • I read this on my way to Berlin, and everything came to life! We may have been taught about the Holocaust, but what was the significance of how everything came to be? A stark warning not to repeat history. This book delves deep and gives a true glance at all the little things people may have missed in the rise to Hitler’s control. Should be read by everyone.
      ― David Lucey, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina | BUY

  • As a former tour guide in Berlin, I was impressed with the research and detail that Gratz has put into this gripping and thought-provoking thriller. We are plunged into the heart of Nazi Germany through the eyes of Evie, a US gymnast at the infamous 1936 Berlin Games, who makes both friends and enemies, both of whom gradually reveal to her the thinness of the veneer of respectability which the games have given Germany. A gold heist is the vehicle for a deeper delve into questions of morality, sacrifice and teamwork, and a surprisingly gripping vehicle too. Should keep any reader on the edge of their seat, and keen to learn more.
    ― Doron Klemer, Octavia Books in New Orleans, Louisiana | BUY

  • Loved this one. A heist, a girl, international characters and some insight into what was going on before the war. And I learned about Black Sunday!
    ― Wilson Robbins, Novel. in Memphis, Tennessee | BUY

About Alan Gratz

Alan Gratz is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of several highly acclaimed books for young readers, including Heroes: A Novel of Pearl Harbor, Two Degrees, Ground Zero, Allies, Grenade, Refugee, Projekt 1065, Prisoner B-3087, Code of Honor, and Captain America: The Ghost Army, an original graphic novel. Alan lives with his family in the Pacific Northwest. Look for him online at alangratz.com.

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The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze by Derrick Barnes

Being the star athlete and leading your team towards an undefeated season is a dream. But when one of your biggest fans is brutally attacked by the police, your focus shifts. You want to be there for him and not just under the Friday night lights. What you don’t expect is for the town to turn on you, treating you like you’re “just a football player” and nothing more. This story feels so real and so now, especially with the way athletes, young and old, are standing up against injustice and police brutality. Powerful story and an on-time read.

The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze by Derrick Barnes, (List Price: $17.99, Viking Books for Young Readers, 9781984836755, September 2025)

Reviewed by Morgan Gayles, The Book Worm Bookstore in Powder Springs, Georgia

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It’s Only Drowning by David Litt

This is about so much more than surfing! It’s about family and friendship and how we move through this world together, despite our differences! Love it!

It’s Only Drowning by David Litt, (List Price: $29.99, Gallery Books, 9781668035351, June 2025)

Reviewed by Laura Taylor, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida

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The Beautiful Game by Yamile Saied Méndez

Fútbol is the most important thing in twelve-year-old Valeria Salomón’s life, especially when life feels like it’s turning against her. But when Val gets her first period in the middle of the most important soccer game of her life (so far), the fallout slide tackles her into a summer harder than she’d ever imagined. In this delightful middle-grade read full of attitude, Val is forced to dig deep, figure out who she is as a teammate, friend, and daughter, and- most importantly- learn to play like a girl.

The Beautiful Game by Yamile Saied Méndez, (List Price: $16.99, Algonquin Young Readers, 9781643753980, September 2024)

Reviewed by Morgan Holub, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

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Go, Wilma, Go! by Amira Rose Davis

Told with a chantable refrain and collage illustrations, this is more than just the story of how Wilma won a gold medal! This tells the story of what happens once Wilma got home after experiencing Europe where she wasn’t treated differently because of her skin color. This is the story of activist Wilma Rudolph, one that is not as well known but is just as important. This belongs on every bookshelf.

Go, Wilma, Go! by Amira Rose Davis, (List Price: $18.99, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 9781547612093, July 2024)

Reviewed by Chelsea Stringfield, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee

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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Simultaneously heartbreaking and humorous. A fictionalized tale of the author’s life as a young teen, chronicling his battle with being loyal to his home and breaking away to meet who he was destined to be.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, (List Price: $20.99, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 9780316504041, September 2017)

Reviewed by Mallory Sutton, Bards Alley in Vienna, Virginia

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Kneel by Candace Buford

I have never cared so much about football as I have while reading Kneel. This is a fantastic debut.

Kneel by Candace Buford, (List Price: $11.95, Inkyard Press, 9781335454355, July 2022)

Reviewed by Cat Chapman, Oxford Exchange in Tampa, Florida

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There’s Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib

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There’s Always This YearThere’s Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib, (List Price: $32, Random House, 9780593448793, March 2024)

Reviewed by Mikey LaFave, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

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Alone in the Great Unknown by Caroll Simpson

Caroll Simpson and her husband David totally fell in love with a remote fly-in/boat-in fishing lodge named Ookpik Wilderness Lodge on Babine Lake in British Columbia and decided to buy it. With unbelievable beauty and natural wildlife, some of their life was a magical dream. They lived totally off-grid for two years until tragedy struck and David died. Would Caroll be able to live and maintain the lodge solo? She had amazing parents—her father, “a strong and powerful force in my life,” and her mother, “was the current that moved the river.” Besides having to fight off grizzlies and vicious pine martens, this awe-inspiring woman had to deal with logging issues and shattering deforestation in her watershed. She spent years battling loggers and proposed mining operations. This is a love story—a love of the wilderness and the astonishing natural beauty and the love of her dogs and being able to survive alone with only her own grit and determination. What an astonishing woman and what an amazing book! Unforgettable.

Alone in the Great Unknown by Caroll Simpson, (List Price: 22.95, Harbour Publishing, 9781550179941, April 2023)

Reviewed by Nancy Pierce, Bookmiser, Inc. in Marietta, Georgia

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A Giant Win by Tom Coughlin

I am a football fan who happens to adore the New York Giants and the Manning QBs. I have always appreciated Tom Coughlin as a coach and as a person. How can you not admire a man who got frostbite coaching a game and had no idea? Clearly, the book was a must-read for me, and it did not disappoint. The dissection of his first Giants Super Bowl win I believe is a diary any football fan will relish. The little things that every coach will emphasize are explained in meticulous detail. His path to coaching and his stops along the way are well documented, his emotions are poured out onto the page, and he does not spare himself. What shines through on every page is his love for his family, his faith, and the players he coached. They may not have been friends, but they were his football family. The book is a quick read, you feel like you are sitting in the room with a friend talking about their life and career. One of the most engaging football biographies I have read.

A Giant Win by Tom Coughlin (List Price: $30, Grand Central Publishing, 9781538724644, December 2022)

Reviewed by Jackie Willey, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina

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The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat

Christina Soontornvat’s graphic memoir depicts the challenges & joys of middle school life as a Thai-American in Texas centering around her dream of making the school’s cheer squad. For fans of Victoria Jamieson’s Roller Girl, Jerry Craft’s New Kid or any of Raina Telgemeier’s many graphic novels.

The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat (List Price: $24.99, Graphix,, 9781338741308, November 2022)

Reviewed by Elese Stutts, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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Fearless Heart by Frank Murphy

Surya Bonaly is an amazing Olympic ice skater who astounded the world with her abilities on ice. Fearless Heart tells her story with beautiful illustrations that shows Surya’s life, her challenges, and her triumph. Fearless Heart will inspire the reader to work hard to follow their dreams, and stand up for what they believe in.

Fearless Heart by Frank Murphy, (List Price: $17.95, Triumph Books, 9781629379340, January 2022)

Reviewed by Gretchen Shuler, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina

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Bubbles . . . Up! by Jacqueline Davies, Sonia Sánchez (Illus.)

A love poem to water and the many things one can do with it, this fun title screams of summer and sun and fun but also of Self-confidence and empowerment. This picture book from “Lemonade War” author Davies is an absolute must for summer reading.

Bubbles . . . Up! by Jacqueline Davies, Sonia Sánchez (Illus.) (List Price: $17.99, Katherine Tegen Books, 9780062836618, 5/4/2021)

Reviewed by Angie Tally, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina

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