Friday Night Lights: Football Fiction for Teens

Books about football for teen readers.
Updated September 19, 2022
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Friday night lights : a town, a team, and a dream
Bissinger, Buzz
Paper Book
Named Sports Illustrated's best football book of all time and a #1 NYT bestseller, this is the classic story of a high school football team whose win-loss record has a profound influence on the town around them. Return once again to the timeless account of the...
Inexcusable
Lynch, Chris
Paper Book
"I am a good guy. Good guys don't do bad things. Good guys understand that no means no, and so I could not have done this because I understand." Keir Sarafian knows many things about himself. He is a talented football player, a loyal...
Fat boy vs the cheerleaders
Herbach, Geoff.
Paper Book
From Geoff Herbach, the award-winning author of the hit young adult novels Stupid Fast and Nothing Special, comes a tale that will resonate with fat kids, nerds, dorks, gamers, geeks and teen outcasts of all kinds-an authentically funny story for anyone who has suffered from teasing and bullying at...
Dairy queen : a novel
Murdock, Catherine Gilbert.
Paper Book
When you don’t talk, there’s a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said. Harsh words indeed, from Brian Nelson of all people. But, D. J. can’t help admitting, maybe he’s right. When you don’t talk, there’s a lot of stuff that ends up...
Dare me : a novel
Abbott, Megan E.
Paper Book
From the award-winning author of The Turnout and Give Me Your Hand: the searing novel of friendship and betrayal that inspired the USA Network series, praised by Gillian Flynn as "Lord of the Flies set in a high-school cheerleading squad...Tense, dark, and...
Call me by my name
Bradley, John Ed.
Paper Book
"Heartbreaking." --Laurie Halse Anderson, acclaimed author of Speak "John Ed Bradley skillfully shines a beam of humanity through the prism of the game, revealing to us the full spectrum of its colors, from love to hate, bigotry to tolerance, and devotion to betrayal."...
Pop
Korman, Gordon.
Paper Book
Pop delivers suspense, humor, sports action, and a compelling look at the damage those "pop"s in football can cause Gordon Korman's books appeal to a wide range of kids and adults and can pull in even reluctant readers. Share Pop in your home or classroom; sports fans in particular won't...
The off season
Murdock, Catherine Gilbert.
Paper Book
Life is looking up for D.J. Schwenk. She's in eleventh grade, finally. After a rocky summer, she's reconnecting in a big way with her best friend, Amber. She's got kind of a thing going with Brian Nelson, who's cute and popular and smart but seems to like her anyway. And then there's the fact she...
Stupid fast
Herbach, Geoff
Paper Book
ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults * YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults * 2011 Cybils Award Winner, Young Adult Fiction * Junior Library Guild Selection * ABA Best Books A moving yet hilarious coming-of-age teen comedy about a reluctant athlete just trying to make it through high school,...
Leverage
Joshua C. Cohen
Ebook
A timely book about bullies, their victims, and a high school football team where winning is the only thing that matters This intense sports novel will strike a chord with those who followed the tragic football stories that broke in 2011. In this heart-pounding debut, Joshua C. Cohen...
Payback Time
Carl Deuker
Ebook
Through the eyes of a distinctly non-athletic protagonist--a fat high school journalist named Mitch--veteran sports novelist Deuker reveals the surprising truth behind a mysterious football player named Angel.  When Angel shows up Lincoln High, he seems to have no past--or at least not one...
Gym Candy
Carl Deuker
Ebook
"Look, Mick," he said, "you're going to find out from somebody in the gym, so you might as well find out from me. Those supplements you're taking? They might get you a little bigger, but just a little. If you're after serious results, there's other stuff that produces better results much faster,...
Football genius
Green, Tim
Paper Book
New York Times bestselling author and former NFL player Tim Green scores a touchdown with this exhilarating and action-packed story about an ordinary boy who becomes a hero you can really root for. Perfect for fans of Mike Lupica. Twelve-year-old Troy White has a phenomenal gift: He can...
Jake, reinvented
Korman, Gordon.
Paper Book
Korman reinvents The Great Gatsby for teens in this story about Jake Garret, the mysterious new student at Fitzgerald High. Told through the eyes of Jake's friend, readers get to know Jake and, eventually, his secret.
The league
Heldring, Thatcher.
Paper Book
The League "will keep sports fans reading" when all one boy wants is to play in a summer football league even though it's the roughest and most secretive rogue league in town (Kirkus Reviews). And don't miss Thatcher Heldring's newest novel, The Football Girl-...
The walk on
Feinstein, John.
Paper Book
"Alex Myers is a triple-threat athlete great at football, basketball, and baseball. But he'll have to fight for a spot on the varsity team. Alex is a quarterback, but from the first day of football practice, it's clear that that position is very much filled by the coach's son, Matt. Alex has the...
The football girl
Heldring, Thatcher
Paper Book
For every athlete or sports fanatic who knows she's just as good as the guys. This is for fans of The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen, Grace, Gold, and Glory by Gabrielle Douglass and Breakaway: Beyond the Goal by Alex Morgan.   The summer before...

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