#1 New York Times Bestseller A People Kid Pick of the week From the mind of basketball legend and Academy Award-winning storyteller Kobe Bryant comes this radically original portrait of five young basketball players, one enlightening coach, and the awesome transformative power of the game. Filled with insights about the mental stamina and emotional clarity that peak performance requires, this is an indispensable story for young athletes, coaches, educators, and anyone interested in the astonishing potential of team sports to unlock individual growth. THE GAME WILL NEVER BE THE SAME Magic doesn't seem possible for the West Bottom Badgers. They're the lowest-ranked basketball team in their league, and they live in the poorest neighborhood in Dren. Nobody expects them to succeed at anything. Plus, every kid on the team has secret struggles of his own. When a new coach named Professor Wizenard arrives on the first day of training camp, the Badgers can't explain the magical-seeming things they see and hear. Every player experiences unique and strange visions-visions that challenge everything they thought they knew about basketball, and about their lives and their secrets off the court. To survive the increasingly intense ordeals of training, the Badgers will need to take unimaginable risks, learn to trust their teammates, and confront the darkness within themselves.

From New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Wesley King comes a tender and grounded middle grade mystery about brothers, basketball, and a young boy on the autism spectrum. Eleven-year-old Green loves his devoted older brother, Cedar, a popular basketball star, but that doesn't mean he wants to follow in his footsteps. He doesn't really care about sports or making friends. Still, eventually Green caves to pressure to try out for the basketball team. He may be tall like Cedar, but he's nowhere near as skilled. And when a confrontation with the coach spurs Green to flee the court, his flight coincides with a priceless necklace going missing--making him the number one suspect. To clear Green's name, the two brothers team up to find the necklace, and along the way, they learn to appreciate their differences...and the things that bring them together.

"It's the vivid, insightful depiction of Sara's internal struggles that readers will remember." -Booklist In this prequel to the Edgar Award-winning OCDaniel, fan-favorite Sara quests for "normal" and finds something even better along the way. Sara's Rules to Be Normal 1. Stop taking your pills 19. Make a friend 137. Don't put mayonnaise on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Sara wants one thing: to be normal. What she has instead are multiple diagnoses from Dr. Ring. Sara's constant battle with False Alarm-what she calls panic attacks-and other episodes cause her to isolate herself. She rarely speaks, especially not at school, and so she doesn't have any friends. But when she starts group therapy she meets someone new. Talkative and outgoing Erin doesn't believe in "normal," and Sara finds herself in unfamiliar territory: at the movies, at a birthday party, and with someone to tell about her crush-in short, with a friend. But there's more to Erin than her cheerful exterior, and Sara begins to wonder if helping Erin will mean sacrificing their friendship.

#1 New York Times Bestseller A USA TODAY Bestseller A People Magazine pick Reggie has never felt destined for greatness. He dreams about basketball brilliance all day and night, but the hard truth is that he's a benchwarmer for the West Bottom Badgers, the worst team in the league. Even their mysterious new coach, Rolabi Wizenard, can't seem to help them end their losing streak. Reggie is willing to train tirelessly to improve his game, but the gym itself seems to be working against him in magical ways. Before Reggie can become the player he dreams of being, he must survive the extraordinary trials of practice. Basketball legend Kobe Bryant presents this illuminating follow-up to the #1 New York Times bestseller The Wizenard Series: Training Camp-a story of strain and sacrifice, supernatural breakthroughs, and supreme dedication to the game.

The next installment in Kobe Bryant's #1 New York Times bestselling Wizenard series is now available in a limited deluxe edition! This edition has an incredible velvety texture that perfectly matches The Wizenard Series: Training Camp. Reggie has never felt destined for greatness. He dreams about basketball brilliance all day and night, but the hard truth is that he's a benchwarmer for the West Bottom Badgers the worst team in the league. Even their mysterious new coach, Rolabi Wizenard, can't seem to help them end their losing streak. Reggie is willing to train tirelessly to improve his game, but the gym itself seems to be working against him in magical ways. Before Reggie can become the player he dreams of being, he must survive the extraordinary trials of practice. Basketball legend Kobe Bryant presents this illuminating follow-up to the #1 New York Times best seller The Wizenard Series: Training Camp-a story of strain and sacrifice, supernatural breakthroughs, and supreme dedication to the game.

EDGAR AWARD WINNER FOR BEST MYSTERY BANK STREET BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR SILVER BIRCH AWARD WINNER "Complex and satisfying. Written from Daniel's point of view, this perceptive first-person narrative is sometimes painful, sometimes amusing, and always rewarding." -Booklist (starred review) From the author of Incredible Space Raiders from Space! comes a brand-new coming-of-age story about a boy whose life revolves around hiding his obsessive compulsive disorder-until he gets a mysterious note that changes everything. Daniel is the back-up punter for the Erie Hills Elephants. Which really means he's the water boy. He spends football practice perfectly arranging water cups-and hoping no one notices. Actually, he spends most of his time hoping no one notices his strange habits-he calls them Zaps: avoiding writing the number four, for example, or flipping a light switch on and off dozens of times over. He hopes no one notices that he's crazy, especially his best friend Max, and Raya, the prettiest girl in school. His life gets weirder when another girl at school, who is unkindly nicknamed Psycho Sara, notices him for the first time. She doesn't just notice him: she seems to peer through him. Then Daniel gets a note: "I need your help," it says, signed, Fellow Star Child-whatever that means. And suddenly Daniel, a total no one at school, is swept up in a mystery that might change everything for him. With great voice and grand adventure, this book is about feeling different and finding those who understand.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger PublishingAcentsa -a centss Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for e

"X-Men" meets "The Breakfast Club" in this darkly humorous adventure
The Vindico are a group of supervillains who have been fighting the League of Heroes for as long as anyone can remember. Realizing they're not as young as they used to be, they devise a plan to kidnap a group of teenagers to take over for them when they retire--after all, how hard can it be to teach a bunch of angsty teens to be evil?
Held captive in a remote mansion, five teens train with their mentors and receive superpowers beyond their wildest dreams. Struggling to uncover the motives of the Vindico, the teens have to trust each other to plot their escape. But they quickly learn that the differences between good and evil are not as black and white as they seem, and they are left wondering whose side they should be fighting on after all . . .
With fast-paced action, punchy dialogue, and sarcastic humor, this high-stakes adventure from a talented new YA voice pulls you in from the first page.