Authors: Jon Scieszka

Guys Read: The Sports Pages (22 page)

BOOK: Guys Read: The Sports Pages

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“This,” I said, “was all Jon Lester's fault!”

Nate just stared at me.

“Yeah, this has all been Jon Lester's fault all along! That idiot kept throwing Jeter fastballs. I mean, who does that when you're up 0â2 in the count? It was Jon Lester who sparked the chain of events that ruined my social standing and made me the laughingstock of an entire country!”

I decided right then and there that Jon Lester must die.

I even announced it loudly with my finger pointed in the air to let everyone know I was serious, “I will destroy you, Jon Lester!”

ABOUT GUYS READ

Guys Read sports stuff. And you just proved it. (Unless you just opened the book to this page and started reading. In which case, we feel bad for you because you missed some pretty awesome sports stuff.)

Now what?

Now we keep goingâGuys Read keeps working to find good stuff for you to read, you read it and pass it along to other guys. Here's how we can do it.

For ten years, Guys Read has been at www.guysread.com, collecting recommendations of what guys really want to read. We have gathered recommendations for thousands of great funny books, scary books, action books, illustrated books, information books, wordless books, sci-fi books, mystery books, and you-name-it books.

So what's your part of the job? Simple: try out some of the suggestions at guysread.com, try some of the other stuff written by the authors in this book, then let us know what you think. Tell us what you like to read. Tell us what you don't like to read. The more you tell us, the more great book recommendations we can collect. It might even help us choose the writers for the next installment of Guys Read.

Thanks for reading.

And thanks for helping Guys Read.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

JON SCIESZKA
(editor) has been writing books for children ever since he took time off from his career as an elementary school teacher. He wanted to create funny books that kids would want to read. Once he got going, he never stopped. He is the author of numerous picture books, middle grade series, and even a memoir. From 2007â2010 he served as the first National Ambassador for Children's Literature, appointed by the Library of Congress. Since 2004, Jon has been actively promoting his interest in getting boys to read through his Guys Read initiative and website. Born in Flint, Michigan, Jon now lives in Brooklyn with his family. Visit him online at www.jsworldwide.com and at www.guysread.com.

SELECTED TITLES

THE TRUE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS

(Illustrated by Lane Smith)

THE STINKY CHEESE MAN AND
OTHER FAIRLY STUPID TALES

(Illustrated by Lane Smith)

The Time Warp Trio series,
including
SUMMER READING IS KILLING ME

(Illustrated by Lane Smith)

The Spaceheadz series

DUSTIN BROWN
(“Against All Odds”) is the captain and right wing for the NHL's Los Angeles Kings. Dustin was drafted in the first round (13th overall) by the Kings in the 2003 draft, when he was just eighteen years old. Over the course of his nine-year career, Dustin has played for the US Olympic team, been named an NHL All-Star, and became the youngest captain in the history of the Los Angeles Kings organization. He lives in California with his wife and three sons.

JAMES BROWN
(“The Choice”) has been a sports anchor and broadcaster for almost twenty years. He is best known as the host of
The NFL Today
on CBS and the acclaimed
Inside the NFL
on Showtime. Prior to this, J. B. was a college basketball star at Harvard, achieving All-Ivy League honors in three of his four seasons. J. B. lives in Maryland with his family.

SELECTED TITLE

ROLE OF A LIFETIME:
Reflections on Faith,
Family, and Significant Living

(With Nathan Whitaker)

JOSEPH BRUCHAC
(“Choke”) is a Native American poet, novelist, and musician. He has written more than 120 books for children and adults, and has been honored with the Virginia Hamilton Literary Award and the Jane Addams Book Award, among others. He lives in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains in New York State. Find out more at www.josephbruchac.com.

SELECTED TITLES

WOLF MARK

CODE TALKER:
A Novel About
the Navajo Marines of World War Tw
o

THIRTEEN MOONS ON TURTLE'S BACK

(With Jonathan London;
Illustrated by Thomas Locker)

CHRIS CRUTCHER
(“The Meat Grinder”), a recipient of NCTE's National Intellectual Freedom Award, the ALAN Award, the ALA's Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement, and the CLA's St. Katharine Drexel Award, is the author of fifteen books for young readers. Prior to writing, Chris taught school in Washington and California. He lives in Spokane, Washington. You can find him online at www.chriscrutcher.com.

SELECTED TITLES

WHALE TALK

CHINESE HANDCUFFS

RUNNING LOOSE

TIM GREEN
(“Find Your Fire”) was a star linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons and an NFL analyst for FOX Sports before turning his talents to writing. He has written more than twenty books for kids and adults, including the
New York Times
bestseller
FOOTBALL GENIUS
, about which football legend Bill Parcells said, “as close as you can come to NFL action without putting on the pads.” He lives with his wife and children in upstate New York. You can read more about Tim at www.timgreenbooks.com.

SELECTED TITLES

FOOTBALL GENIUS

BASEBALL GREAT

UNSTOPPABLE

DAN GUTMAN
(“How I Won the World Series”) has written eleven baseball-card adventure novels, including
HONUS & ME, JACKIE & ME
, and
BABE & ME
. He has also written about sports in
THE MILLION DOLLAR SHOT, THE MILLION DOLLAR KICK, THE MILLION DOLLAR GOAL, THE MILLION DOLLAR PUTT
, and
THE MILLION DOLLAR STRIKE
. You can visit him at www.dangutman.com.

SELECTED TITLES

THE KID WHO RAN FOR PRESIDENT

THE HOMEWORK MACHINE

The Genius Files, including:

Book One:
MISSION UNSTOPPABLE

GORDON KORMAN
(“The Trophy”) has written more than seventy middle grade and teen novels. Favorites include the
New York Times
bestselling The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers, Book One:
THE MEDUSA PLOT
. Gordon lives with his family on Long Island, New York. You can visit him online at www.gordonkorman.com.

SELECTED TITLES

UNGIFTED

POP

SCHOOLED

SHOWOFF

CHRIS RYLANDER
(“I Will Destroy You, Derek Jeter”) is the author of the Fourth Stall saga. He is a fan of pointy wizard hats, blind squirrels, and the Chicago Cubs. He lives in Chicago with his wife and dog. Check out more at www.chrisrylander.com.

SELECTED TITLES

THE FOURTH STALL

THE FOURTH STALL PART II

THE FOURTH STALL PART III

ANNE URSU
(“Max Swings for the Fences”) is the acclaimed author of
BREADCRUMBS
, as well as the three middle grade novels that comprise the Cronus Chronicles trilogy. Anne is also a professor of writing for children at Hamline University and a lifelong Minnesota Twins fan. She lives in Minneapolis with her son and three cats. Visit her at www.anneursu.com.

SELECTED TITLES

BREADCRUMBS

The Cronus Chronicles:

Book One:
THE SHADOW THIEVES

Book Two:
THE SIREN SONG

Book Three:
THE IMMORTAL FIRE

JACQUELINE WOODSON
(“The Distance”) is the author of more than twenty books for young readersâpicture books, middle grade books, and teen novels. Her books have received numerous honors, including a Coretta Scott King Honor, National Book Award finalist, Newbery Honors, and a Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement. Read more about her at www.jacquelinewoodson.com.

SELECTED TITLES

LOCOMOTION

MIRACLE'S BOYS

FEATHERS

DAN SANTAT
(illustrator) is a writer and illustrator of many, many things. In addition to writing and drawing many books for kids, he has provided artwork for the
Wall Street Journal, Esquire
, and
Time Out Kids
. He also created the hit Disney Channel cartoon
The Replacements
. Dan lives in California with his wife, two kids, and many pets. Find out more at www.dantat.com.

SELECTED TITLES

SIDEKICKS

GUILD OF GENIUSES

OH NO! OR, HOW MY SCIENCE PROJECT DESTROYED THE WORLD

(Written by Mac Barnett)

Visit
www.AuthorTracker.com
for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors and artists.

OTHER WORKS

Also available in the Guys Read Library of Great Reading

V
OLUME
1âG
UYS
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EAD
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UNNY
B
USINESS

V
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2âG
UYS
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: T
HRILLER

CREDITS

COVER DESIGN BY AMY RYAN & JOEL TIPPIE

COPYRIGHT

Walden Pond Press is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Walden Pond Press and the skipping stone logo are trademarks and registered trademarks of Walden Media, LLC.

G
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: T
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AGES

Portions of James Brown's story “The Choice” were previously published in
Role
of a Lifetime: Reflections on Faith, Family, and Significant Living
, by James Brown. Copyright Â© 2009. Used by permission of Faithwords, a Division of Hachette Book Group USA, Inc.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

www.harpercollinschildrens.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

12 13 14 15 16 LP/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First Edition