Are you ready for the Sweet Sixteen?
Chips? Check.
Cold drinks? Check.
Stack of nonfiction picture books?
Here are three great basketball books that every basketball fan–and every picture book fan!–will love.
Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball, by John Coy (Carolrhoda: 2013). The unlikely story of the beginnings of basketball and its first rule-maker, James Naismith. The book recently won a South Carolina PBA 2015-2016 library award, and their library system put out a lively book trailer.
Basketball Belles: How Two Teams and One Scrappy Player Put Women’s Hoops on the Map, by Suc Macy (Holiday House: 2011). The rollicking story of the first women’s intercollegiate basketball game, between Stanford and Berkeley.
Game Changer: John McLendon and the Secret Game by John Coy (Carolrhoda: 2015). Suspense-filled story of the first desegregated collegiate basketball game, played in secrecy in 1944. The story of the game was kept under wraps so that the coaches wouldn’t be arrested or lynched. It’s a triumphant, well-told story. 
Yes! I love watching the NCAA tournament, have no particular favorite, but it is exciting to see the games. These are all new to me, Annette. Thank you for sharing them. They all look good, and especially that last one. I wish that history books would have told us such great stories.
I’d never thought about that! Sports play a huge part in our day-to-day lives, but I’ve never seen them mentioned in history textbooks.
I’ve read the other two and enjoyed them. I hadn’t heard of Game Changer. I’ll have to get that one. Thanks!