Teen Athletes

Pinned follows Ivan Korske and Bobby Zane, two high school seniors, as they embark on the most important winter of their lives in a quest for the New Jersey state high school wrestling championship.

Back in his old basketball league, before the car accident, 13-year-old Carlos Cooper owned the court, sprinting and jumping and lighting up the scoreboard as his opponents (and teammates) watched in amazement. But now, Carlos feels completely out of his league on his new wheelchair basketball team, the Rollin’ Rats. After all, how can he make a layup when he’s still struggling to learn how to dribble? But when the city’s crooked mayor threatens to tear down the Rollin’ Rats’ gym, Carlos realizes that he can’t stay on the sidelines forever.

The inspirational manual 350 Mental Models on Developing Mental Toughness: A Handbook for Young Athletes by Boris Mullayev gives young athletes the mental tools they need to excel in their sports and overcome difficulties with resiliency and determination.

Cody Parker may be overweight (he prefers the word "burly"), but he plays third base like a dream. Too bad no one knows it yet, because he’s new to Baltimore, where he’s a target - okay, a big target - for brutal teasing. Even worse, he’s competing for the starting job on the Orioles of the Dulaney Babe Ruth League against budding hoodlum Dante Rizzo, who vows to squeeze Cody’s head like a grape if Cody beats him out. Life gets even more complicated when York Middle School is beset by a rash of mysterious thefts, a crime wave that threatens to sideline Cody....

Seventeen-year-old Meg Barnes is all about control. However, the only kind of control she can find is with a razor. As if life wasn't hard enough, an accident has forced her to view everything from a wheelchair. Then a promise to an old friend forces her to resume her martial arts training and save the Little Ninja Program. While relearning self defense and pushing the limits of her body, new friends drag her to church

Thirteen-year-old Tansy has a chip on her shoulder the size of the skateboard that left her a paraplegic. No matter how she tries, she can't get excited about starting junior high. She has to watch as her friends realize their dream of making the Angel cheer squad - without her. She can see no happy ending for someone like her. Her best friend and the one-armed assistant cheer coach keep preaching about their God and his love until she wants to throw her chair at them. But there's something about the two of them - something peaceful and happy.