Adrean Friend

Dr. Warner

English 112 B

10 May 2011

Annotated Bibliography: The Sports Genre

Originally, I had planned to write my annotated bibliography on the gothic genre. However, I changed my mind after I read Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher. I have never enjoyed a young adult novel as much as I have enjoyed Whale Talk. It is now without a doubt one of my favorite novels. For this reason I decided to explore the sports genre.

Having never enjoyed sports, mostly because my asthma and allergies prevented me from participating in them during my childhood, I found my enthusiasm for Whale Talk to be confusing. When I thought back to the book talks and book pass, I realized that it was the sports novels like Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, Deadline, Juggling with Mandarins, The Running Dream, and Chinese Handcuffs that stayed with me. Also, when I read First Crossing Elsa Marston�s �Lines of Scrimmage� was my favorite short story.

I took this as a sign and switched to the sports genre. To gather the rest of my sources I decided to ignore the very helpful book Literature for Today�s Young Adults, which provides an abundant amount of sport novels, in order to challenge myself. Searching for sports novels online proved to be surprisingly difficult. The majority of sports themed novels that came up were the novels I already knew about. I tried to be very selective of the novels I did find and chose ones with a variety of sports and characters, though finding female main characters in this genre proved quite difficult. Finding good summaries of the novels was also a challenge. I ended up visiting my local Barnes & Noble bookstore and the MLK library to get information straight from the novels.

Besides the novels and short story mentioned earlier, I also discovered Far from Xanadu, Friday Night Lights, All-American, and Dairy Queen. I�ve also included the famous poem �Casey at the Bat,� the Eminem song �Lose Yourself,� and the movie Finding Forrester because they capture the essence of sports novels.

One thing that I�ve discovered about young adult sports novels is that while sports are an important part of these novels, they are not really about sports. They are about complex, teenage characters dealing with very adult issues, like abuse, sexuality, love, death, pregnancy, trust, and depression. Despite some pretty intense themes, these novels have a hopeful theme as well.

I think these novels, three of which I have now read, do a fantastic job of demonstrating just how complex teens are. I believe that some of these novels are so popular because sports are an important part of American culture. Even someone like me, who is not very into sports, can enjoy them.

Annotated Sources

Bissinger, H.G. Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream. 10^th ed. Cambridge: Da Capo, 2000. Print.

Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream is about a real high school football team�s journey to the Texas state championship during the late 1980s. Along the way, the citizens of Odessa, Texas, home to the football team, misplace their priorities by choosing football over academics and each other. An important theme within this novel is racism and how racial tension can escalate.

One reason I chose this novel was because I knew it had spawned a movie and a currently running television series. I find that the non-fictional aspect of this novel to be particularly intriguing. Many sports novels I have come across have themes of racial tension and prejudice, but the racism in this novel actually happened. It gives weight to the issue of racism in sports.

Crutcher, Chris. Chinese Handcuffs. New York: Harper Tempest, 2004. Print.

After watching his brother commit suicide, his mother leave his father, and learning that his dead-brother�s girlfriend is pregnant, Dillon Hemingway tries to pick up the pieces of his broken life as he trains for the Ironman Triathlon. Meanwhile, he falls in love with Jennifer Lawless, member of the high school basketball team, who is secretly being sexually abused by her stepfather.

This novel touches on some very dark themes that some might consider inappropriate

for teens. The truth of the matter is that many if not all teens are already aware of the themes in this novel: suicide, sexual abuse from a family member, and teen-pregnancy. I feel this is a powerful novel because it discusses very real issues and does not try to sugar coat them- a practice that I feel does more damage than good.

Crutcher, Chris. Deadline. New York: Greenwillow Books, 2007. Print.

High school senior Ben Wolf decides to live his final year of high school like it is last year�because it is. Ben has been diagnosed with a rare, terminal disease. He keeps his illness a secret and becomes determined to help the local drunk get sober, to annoy a close minded teacher, win the girl he has a crush on, and to be the best football player his school has ever seen. As his sickness begins to take its toll, Ben realizes that he is not the only person with a secret and he begins to regret his decision to keep his.

I don�t know how many times I�ve had someone ask me what I would do if I only had an hour, a day, a week, a month, or a year to live. This novel answers what one boy would do if he had a year, bringing such a common hypothetical question into a reality. What I find so interesting about this novel is that it is being told by a dying character, not something that I have come across in young adult literature and certainly not what I would expect from a sports novel.

Crutcher, Chris. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. New York: Greenwillow Books, 2003. Print.

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes is about an unpopular, overweight boy named Erik and his friendship with a severely burned girl named Sarah Byrnes. When Erik begins to lose weight after joining the swim team, he becomes more popular but remains Sarah�s best friend. One day Sarah enters the hospital and refuses to speak. Erik searches for a reason for her silence and uncovers her darkest secret as he does.

This novel deals with issues of child abuse, body image, the idea of what is right and what is wrong, and trust. This novel is as much a mystery novel as it is a sports novel. Erik�s swim team is an important part of the novel, but in some ways it is less important than the secrets Erik is trying to uncover about Sarah�s past. Erik�s time in the classroom ends up being more important that the sports aspect. I like how this novel shows that there are adults willing to help.

Crutcher, Chris. Whale Talk. New York: Greenwillow Books, 2009. Print.

Whale Talk tells the story of a group of misfits who come together to form a swim team. Together they prove to their athletically competitive school that they are just as able and more than deserving of the schools greatest prestige, the exclusive letter jacket. Along the way they grow to trust each other enough to tell their secrets.

This book is about redemption, pushing boundaries, truth, abuse, racial tension. While I feel that T.J. is almost too perfect, I feel this novel captures the complexities of teens. The themes of child abuse, anger, and racial tension are masterfully woven into the story. This demonstrates that anyone can be a victim of abuse, even people you would not expect.

Eminem. �Lose Yourself.� 8 Mile Soundtrack. Shady Records. 2002. CD.

This is a rap song by Eminien featured in his semi-autobiographical movie called 8 Mile. While this rap song is about Eminem�s struggle to become a rapper, I find it to be very reminiscent of pre-game jitters. The question posed before the song could be easily applied to sports: �Look, if you had one shot or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted, one moment, would you capture it or just let it slip?�

Finding Forrester. Dir. Gus Van Sant. Perf. Sean Connery, Rob Brown, and F. Murray Abraham. Colombia Pictures, 2000. DVD.

Finding Forrester is an American movie about a young Black man named Jamal Wallace who is able to get into a private high school on a basketball scholarship. While attending his new school Jamal bonds with an old man, a reclusive writer named William Forrester, he makes deliveries to. With the help of Forrester, Jamal is able to refine his already gifted writing ability and come to terms with his own identity.

I find this movie to be insightful because it is about a boy who struggle to find acceptance in both his poor school and the private school he gets accepted into. People misjudge him because of the way he looks and where he comes from. Sports scholarships are a common dream for high school athletes, at least they were at my school. This movie demonstrates that scholarships can be a mixed blessing.

Jones, V.M. Juggling with Mandarins. Auckland: Harper Collins, 2003. Print.

Pip McLeod has been forced into playing soccer by his father. The game has lost all appeal for Pip because of his father�s obsession with it. By chance, Pip discovers he enjoys rock climbing and secretly pursues it. After he gains the confidence and skills he needs from rock climbing, Pip is able to confront his father.

This is a coming of age story that deals with the complex love-hate relationship between a father and son. I chose this novel because of this stereotypical conflict between a parent and a teenager. This novel demonstrates that when parents don�t understand there is always other adult figure to turn to, ready to help. It is a novel about accepting the people in your life for who they are and not who you want them to be. I also chose this novel because it is about a reluctant athlete instead of the driven or desperate-to-fit-in athlete.

Marston, Elsa. �Lines of Scrimmage� First Crossing. Cambridge: Candlewick Press, 2004. Print. 110-135.

�Lines of Scrimmage� is about a Palestinian teen named Ameen who gets the chance to play quarterback for his high school football team when the star quarterback and second quarterback are unable to play. Ameen�s fellow teammates resent his presence and do all they can to shun him, even if it means losing their games. With the help of Jeremy, a Native American boy, Ameen is able to let go of his resentment and prove he belongs.

I am intrigued by the themes of immigration and racial tension in this short story. Many of the White�s Ameen comes into contact with are prejudiced against him for being an immigrant. Ironically, these same White�s are the children of immigrants, no matter how far they can trace their ancestry, something Jeremy points out. This short story also shows how deeply racism can go as this team is willing to lose rather than to accept him on their team.

Neiman, LeRoy, and Ernest Thayer. Casey at the Bat. New York: Harper Collins, 2002. Print.

�Casey at the Bat� is a poem that was originally published in1888 by Ernest Thayer. The poem is one of the most famous baseball themed poems, telling the story of a fictional baseball game. The outcome of the game is to be made by Casey, a mighty baseball player, who ends up striking out.

I find this poem compelling because of the themes of sportsmanship, fanaticism, and the intensity of the game. I am not a fan of baseball, but the general tone of the poem is reminiscent of games I have seen. It captures the culture around baseball. Being from 1888, the poem also gives me a sense of baseball�s history in the United States.

Peters, Julie Anne. Far from Xanadu. New York: Little, Brown Book Group, 2007. Print.

Far from Xanadu is the story of Mike Szabo- a small town softball champion, tomboy, and lesbian. When the beautiful, straight Xanadu arrives in town, Mike falls instantly in love with her. While Mike�s community more or less supports her sexual orientation, Mike struggles with her identity and her unrequited feelings for Xanadu.

From my study of sports novels and my small knowledge of sports, I have drawn the

conclusion that women sports are often undervalued beside male sports. Because of this I was determined to find a sports novel with a lead female character. What I find interesting about this novel is that although the lead is female she is a tomboy and a lesbian- basically a boy. I also

chose this novel because it deals with homosexuality, a theme I have not found in many sports novels.

Tunis, John R. All-American. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1989. Print.

During a football game, Ronny Perry and one of his fellow players severely injure a member of the opposing team. Ronny, guilty for what he has done, visits Meyer Goldman, the boy he hurt, and becomes his friend. During his visits, Ronny learns that Meyer has had to deal with a lot of anti-Semitism throughout his life. Ronny is shocked when he discovers how racist his own school is. He drops out and enrolls in Meyer�s school where he finds himself an outsider for the first time in his life and must prove himself more than he ever had to.

This novel is a great historical sports story. It was published originally in 1942 during a time of racial prejudice towards both Blacks and Jews. While racial prejudice towards African Americans is a theme in many novels, the theme of racial prejudice towards Jews in sports is not, or at least not that I could find. This novel captures a very tense time in the United States history and has a very accessible storyline.

Van Draanen, Wendelin The Running Dream. New York: Random House, 2011. Print.

The Running Dream is about a girl named Jessica who thinks her life is over when she loses a leg in an accident. She will be able to learn to walk with the help of a prosthetic leg and crutches, but she will not be able to run. Without her leg, Jessica gets a taste of what it is like to be both ignored and placed in the spotlight because of the way she looks. With the help of her family, friends, and track teammates, Jessica is able to run again.

I was thrilled to find another novel about a female athlete. I find that many sport novels have characters who follow the heroes quest. This novel, I feel, particularly captures this. Jessica is on her heroic journey to become a track star when she falls from grace, or loses her leg. She has to battle demons, her own, and prejudice, from others, to make her way back to the top. Along the way she is helped by unlikely individuals along with dear friends.

Murdock, Catherine Gilbert. Dairy Queen. Boston: Graphia, 2007. Print.

Dairy Queen is about a girl named D.J. Schwenk who ends up taking over her family�s dairy farm after her father suffers a heart attack. D.J. must learn to juggle school, work, her friendship with the rival high school�s quarterback, her best friend coming out to her, her own desire to join her school football team, and her uncommunicative family.

I chose this book because it has a female lead who is determined to join a male dominated sport. Also, this novel is an opposite of Far from Xanadu because it is about a straight girl whose best friend, a girl, is in love with her. Communication, or a lack of, is a major theme in this novel, and possibly a major theme in teenage lives.