Their lives every day -- both on and off the field. Book jacket.

Some might think Jay was cheated. By his mother, who walked out when he was 9. By his dad, who took a job a couple thousand miles away and let him stay above a bar in a one-room apartment. By the basketball coach, who saw his talent but chose youth over determination. And even Jay’s not sure whether this last year of high school in the small town of Sturbridge, Pennsylvania, will add up to anything. But just when senior year seems a waste–kissing the wrong girls, offending the right ones, playing basketball on a church league with other “rejects”–life begins to click again. The church league gives him some of the best basketball he’s ever played, and the right girl gives him a second chance. Jay may not know what he wants next out of life, but he’s beginning to get a clue about how to play the game.

Anthropologist John Fox sets off on a worldwide adventure to thefarthest reaches of the globe and the deepest recesses of our ancientpast to answer a question inspired by his sports-loving son: "Why do we play ball?" From Mexican jungles to the small-town gridirons of Ohio, frommedieval villages and royal courts to modern soccer pitches andbaseball parks, The Ball explores the little-known origins ofour favorite sports across the centuries, and traces how a simpleinvention like the ball has come to stake an unrivaled claim on ourpassions, our money, and our lives. Equal parts history and travelogue,The Ball removes us from the scandals and commercialism of today'ssports world to uncover the true reasons we play ball, helping us reclaimour universal connection to the games we love.

On April 15, 1947, Matt Romano and his father watch the Brooklyn Dodgers season-opener, during which Jackie Robinson, a twenty-eight-year-old rookie, breaks the "color line" that had kept black men out of Major League baseball. Includes facts about Jackie Robinson's life and career.

Renowned NFL analysts' tips to make football more accessible, colorful, and compelling than ever before More and more football fans are watching the NFL each week, but many of them don't know exactly what they should be watching. What does the offense's formation tell you about the play that's about to be run? When a quarterback throws a pass toward the sideline and the wide receiver cuts inside, which player is to blame? Why does a defensive end look like a Hall of Famer one week and a candidate for the practice squad the next? These questions and more are addressed in Take Your Eye Off the Ball 2.0, a book that takes readers deep inside the perpetual chess match between offense and defense. This book provides clear and simple explanations to the intricacies and nuances that affect the outcomes of every NFL game. This updated edition contains recent innovations from the 2015 NFL season.

An inspirational and insightful guide for women who want to get it all by doing less. For women, a glass ceiling at work is not the only barrier to success - it's also the increasingly heavy obligations at home that weigh them down. Women have become accustomed to delegating, advocating and negotiating for themselves at the office, but when it comes to managing households, they still bear the brunt on their own shoulders. A simple solution is staring them in the face: negotiate with the men in their personal lives. In Drop The Ball, Tiffany Dufu explains how women can create all-in domestic partnerships that protect them against professional burn-out.

Welcome to Sturbridge, Pennsylvania, a small, dead-end town with nothing to do and no way out. At least that's how Ben, a high school senior and the second-best 135-pound wrestler in school, sees it. But Ben's fed up with being stuck on the bench, watching as his friend Al, the state champion, gets all the glory. If Ben doesn't get his life in gear, he could end up like his father and the other men in Sturbridge--working on the line in the cinder block factory. Spurred on partly by a wise, intense young woman, and partly by a strength found deep within himself, Ben looks for a way out--his whole life depends on it. In the words of Newbery medalist Jerry Spinelli, "Wrestling Sturbridge isn't just an outstanding first novel; it's an outstanding novel, period."