Celebrate the Olympics

The Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held in Paris this year. Go for the gold with these books about Olympians and Paralympians past and present, real and fictional

Updated May 29, 2024
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Beneath the surface : my story
Phelps, Michael
Paper Book
Eight medals, including six gold and two bronze. Michael Phelps used the Olympic Games in Athens as his breakout event. Already known in the swimming world for the summer of 2003 when he set seven world records in 41 days, Michael's record-tying medal haul made him a mainstream name. He's well on...
The boys in the boat : nine Americans and their epic quest for gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
Brown, Daniel
Paper Book
Now a Major Motion Picture Directed by George Clooney The #1 New York Times-bestselling story about the American Olympic rowing triumph in Nazi Germany--from the author of Facing the Mountain. For readers of Unbroken, out of the depths of the...
The end of August
YÅ«, Miri
Paper Book
From the National Book Award winning author, an extraordinary, ground-breaking, epic multi-generational novel about a Korean family living under Japanese occupation. In 1930s Japanese-occupied Korea, Lee Woo-cheol was a running prodigy and a contender for the upcoming Tokyo...
The games
Patterson, James
Paper Book
In the #1 bestselling series, Private's Jack Morgan must hunt down a killer before the Olympic games begin in Rio. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil knows how to throw a party. So it's a natural choice to host the biggest spectacles in sports: the World Cup and the...
The games : a global history of the Olympics
Goldblatt, David
Paper Book
The definitive sports and social history of the modern Olympic games--by a New York Times best-selling sportswriter. A Boston Globe Best Book of 2016 A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2016 For millions of people around the world, the...
Games of deception : the true story of the first U.S. Olympic basketball team at the 1936 Olympics in Hitler's Germany
Maraniss, Andrew
Paper Book
*"Rivaling the nonfiction works of Steve Sheinkin and Daniel James Brown's The Boys in the Boat....Even readers who don't appreciate sports will find this story a page-turner." --School Library Connection, starred review *"A must for all library collections." --...
The Hard Parts: A Memoir of Courage and Triumph
Masters, Oksana
Paper Book
A 2024 Christopher Award Winner "A gut-wrenching, wildly inspiring story about overcoming the most daunting obstacles through steely tenacity, sheer will, and a great big dose of motherly love." --Jeannette Walls, #1 New York Times bestselling author of<...
The horsewoman : a novel
Patterson, James
Paper Book
This "hugely entertaining, riveting page-turner" (Louise Penny) follows the complicated relationship between mother and daughter as they face off in the Olympics--and into a ride they can barely control. Maggie Atwood and Becky McCabe, mother and daughter, both champion...
The longest race : inside the secret world of abuse, doping, and deception on Nike's elite running team
Goucher, Kara
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In "one of the most important athlete memoirs of its generation" (Kate Fagan, #1 New York Times bestselling author), Olympian Kara Goucher reveals her experience of living through and speaking out about one of the biggest...
Path lit by lightning : the life of Jim Thorpe
Maraniss, David
Paper Book
A riveting new biography of America's greatest all-around athlete by the bestselling author of the classic biography When Pride Still Mattered. Jim Thorpe rose to world fame as a mythic talent who excelled at every sport. He won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon...
The race of the century : the battle to break the four-minute mile
Bascomb, Neal
Paper Book
Highly acclaimed author Neal Bascomb brings his peerless research and fast-paced narrative style to a young adult adaptation of one of his most successful adult books of all time, The Perfect Mile, an inspiring and moving story of three men racing to achieve the impossible -- the...
Work with what you got
Clark, Zion
Paper Book
Elite wheelchair racer, wrestler, and America's Got Talent contestant Zion Clark joins with New York Times best-selling author James S. Hirsch for a stunning memoir--recounting childhood adversity, awe-inspiring perseverance, and self-invention. When a baby named...

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