Baller Boys

Shay and Frankie are best friends and football crazy! They eat, sleep and breathe football (even when they're at school!). They dream about playing football, love a kick-about in the park, watch all the big games on TV... all that's missing in their lives is the chance to play for a real football team. All Cultures United is the best club around for miles and all the footie fans want to on their team... including Shay and Frankie. Are they good enough to impress Coach Reece at the AC United trials? Can their friendship survive the competitiveness of football? Will they ultimately fulfil their goal to become Baller Boys?

It's a new season for Nick and Kia and once again they have to prove they've got what it takes to make the Mississauga Magic rep team. There is no free ride on Coach Barkley's team. The tryouts are tough but fair and it looks like the nucleus of last yearís team will be together once again. But there is one new player who seems to have the skills to impress the coach. Though Ashton has great skills, he's not much of a team player. On top of that he's not even sure he wants to make the team. Unable to imagine that anyone wouldn't want to play for the Magic, Nick and Kia set out to solve this dilemma and learn some tough lessons along the way.

Before he was the legendary MJ, Michael Jordan was just a kid who loved to play basketball. Follow along as he dribbles, shoots, and score his was to fame, armed with a determination that hasn't been matched! Introduce little one to the life of a true game changer in this adorable board book perfect for baby ballers!

They say there's no such thing as second chances... Troy: I'm a country-boy at heart. The only thing I ever wanted to do - the only thing I could do - was play football. So when I made it to the top I lived the way any other guy with a multi-million dollar contract and a bumper crop of willing women would. Sure, I knew the party wouldn't go on forever. I just didn't know it would end so abruptly - or that I would be the one ending it. I didn't know I was going to fall in love...Anna doesn't know the truth. She doesn't know I only did what I did to protect her. Now all I have to do is break down the brick wall she's built around her heart and make her understand that my life doesn't mean anything without her in it. Easy, right?Anna: I didn't even know who Troy Beckman was when I met him on that chilly autumn night in New York City. All I knew was I'd just gotten the worst news of my life and I needed something - anything - to take my mind off the fact that all those brutal hours in the ballet studio might have been for nothing. I should have paid more attention. I should have known. Maybe I could have avoided having my face splashed all over the tabloids and my reputation ruined? All I know is he made me feel things I'd never felt before and he met needs I didn't even know I had...And then he abandoned me. Now I've got a broken heart, a phone full of unanswered calls and a belly getting bigger by the day. Do I dare trust the man who caused all three? A novel about big city ambitions, broken dreams and the healing power of love. Author's note: 'The Ballerina and The Baller' is a full-length (60k), standalone romance novel with a guaranteed HEA. It contains adult themes and language and is intended for readers over 18.

My name is Grace, not "Kyle's little sister!" Having a good-looking, friendly, outgoing older brother sucks—especially when you're the total opposite, someone who likes staying home and playing video games. Your parents like him better (even if they deny it!), and everyone calls you "Kyle's little sister" while looking disappointed that you're not more like him. I was really hoping I'd get to go to a different middle school, but no such luck. At least I have my friends...until he finds a way to ruin that, too...! Argh! What do I have to do to get out of his shadow?!

S is for soccer. F is for football, and fútbol, and fußball... No matter what you call it, everyone loves the beautiful game! The creators of B is for Baller return with a vibrant, stylish parade of soccer legends. Featuring dozens of international superstars like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Pelé, Diego Maradona, Marta, Mia Hamm, and Abby Wambach, G is for Golazo is the ultimate ABC book for budding soccer fans.

"Wheatle has delivered a definitive narrative steeped in cultural philosophy and human sensibilities. Despite the foibles of his tragic characters, a redemptive quality is present--persevering--a testament of the human will to survive against all odds...Highly recommended." --Kaieteur News (Guyana) "With a tough exterior and brash attitude, Naomi is an authentic character in an unfortunate yet accurate picture of modern-day foster care in the UK...The ending is neither predictable nor sugarcoated, leaving readers rooting for this determined heroine." --School Library Journal Included in In the Margins's 2020 Recommended Fiction List Included in Publishers Weekly's African-American Interest Young Readers's Titles, 2019–2020 Included in Booklist's Fall 2019 Youth Preview Included in Publishers Weekly's Fall 2019 Children's Sneak Previews "As politicians might only see the population's day-to-day lives in terms of statistics rather than experiences, (knowing how many people work on minimum wage doesn't say anything about what the experience is like), they might benefit from more of an insight. A useful contemporary novel they should pick up is Alex Wheatle's Home Girl, focusing on the experience of a girl in the foster care system who is constantly shifted around and can never find a permanent home. Wheatle's other books might be just as beneficial, as he draws on his own experiences of Brixton and the social system." --The Boar, included in The Politicians' Required Reading List "Wheatle returns to the world of his award-winning Crongton books with what Atom is calling his most powerful and personal novel yet. Naomi Brisset is a teenage girl growing up too fast in the UK care system. Her journey through a series of foster homes exposes the unsettling, often heartwrenching truth of this life. Yet despite the grit, Wheatle's writing is as rich and warm as ever, bringing courage and hope to an unforgettable heroine's story." --Bookseller (UK), Editors' Choice "Teenager Naomi, old before her time and as vulnerable as she is fierce, is growing up in the care system. Foster homes and pupil referral units revealing the unsettling, often bewildering reality of this existence. Wheatle's empathy, authentic characters, and rich dialogue illuminate the dark." --Observer Magazine (UK) "Another powerful and poignant novel deftly created by one of the most prolific master novelists on either side of the pond. Home Girl is a page-turner, with not a dull moment. Loved it from the rooter to the tooter." --Eric Jerome Dickey, New York Times best-selling author of Before We Were Wicked "Alex Wheatle's latest novel offers no unrealistic fairy tale happy ending. But the award-winning writer, who draws on his own experiences of a childhood in care, does offer some hope for Naomi, a sometimes difficult but very likeable heroine." --Irish News, Children's Book of the Week This isn't my home. Haven't had a proper home since...This is just somewhere I'll be resting my bones for a week and maybe a bit. This time next year you'll forget who I am. I haven't got a diddly where I'll be by then. But I'm used to it. New from the best-selling black British author Alex Wheatle, Home Girl is the story of Naomi, a teenage girl growing up fast in the foster care system. It is a wholly modern story which sheds a much-needed light on what can be an unsettling life--and the consequences that follow when children are treated like pawns on a family chessboard. Home Girl is fast-paced and funny, tender, tragic, and full of courage--just like Naomi. It is Alex Wheatle's most moving and personal novel to date.

The perfect gift for baseball fans, now with a new epilogue by author R.A. Dickey, winner of the 2012 Cy Young award. "An astounding memoir—haunting and touching, courageous and wise."—Jeremy Schaap, bestselling author, Emmy award-winning journalist, ESPN In 1996, R.A. Dickey was the Texas Rangers’ much-heralded No. 1 draft choice. Then, a routine physical revealed that his right elbow was missing its ulnar collateral ligament, and his lifelong dream—along with his $810,000 signing bonus—was ripped away. Yet, despite twice being consigned to baseball’s scrap heap, Dickey battled back. Sustained by his Christian faith, the love of his wife and children, and a relentless quest for self-awareness, Dickey is now the starting pitcher for the Toronoto Blue Jays (he was previously a star pitcher for the New York Mets) and one of the National League’s premier players, as well as the winner of the 2012 Cy Young award. In Wherever I Wind Up, Dickey eloquently shares his quintessentially American tale of overcoming extraordinary odds to achieve a game, a career, and a life unlike any other.