Play Ball With These Historical Sports Novels
With the Olympics winding down, it’s the perfect time to talk about sports fiction. I’ll be honest, it’s not a subject I’m typically drawn to. Then again, seeing incredible athletes like Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Stephen Nedoroscik, Rebecca Andrade (can you see my clear gymnastics bias?), Ilona Maher, and Katie Ledecky doing what they do best and making it look equal parts impossible and easy definitely has me more amped for sports than usual. That, and going to my first-ever roller derby game last week, has me unusually invested in the world of sports. For a woman who’s almost certainly referred to half-time as “intermission” at some point in my life (I was a theatre kid, what can I say?), that’s saying something.
And if you’re wondering, the world of sports novels is not missing from historical fiction, either. In fact, the classic baseball movie Field of Dreams was based on a novel by W.P. Kinsella. Historical sports novels don’t just focus on baseball, either. There are books exploring the history of football, hockey, tennis, basketball, wrestling, and so many others. Let’s find out just how wide the world of historical sports fiction is. But first! Some new releases.
Bookish Goods
Bookworm Bookmark from MHT Pins
I love a cute, novelty bookmark, and this one is so cute. A little bookworm sticking out of your book. Are you kidding me? I need 12. $18
New Releases
In a League of Her Own by Kaia Alderson
Release date: August 6, 2024
Do you know the name of the only woman inducted into the Baseball of Fame? Probably not. But you should. Effa Manley is an ambitious businesswoman in Harlem and an eager champion of civil rights. So when her husband buys up a baseball team for her to run, she’s not exactly thrilled about being thrust into this boy’s club. She’s able to whip them into shape, even so, leading them to the Negro Leagues Champions of 1946. But there are plenty of people who’d love to see this woman put back in her supposed place. Not that she’s about to let them.
The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Release date: August 6, 2024
A new Silvia Moreno-Garcia? Be still my heart. In her newest historical thriller, an unknown actress cast as the lead in a new big-budget Hollywood movie about the life of Salome finds her own story mixed up with a jealous rival actress and the very heroine at the heart of their movie.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
I was initially inspired to write about historical sports novels because of the new release, In a League of Her Own. The timing with the 2024 Olympics was just the icing on the cake!
The Sweetheart by Angelina Mirabella
In 1950s America, 17-year-old Leonie Putzkammer leaves her old life of waiting tables behind to attend Joe Pospisil’s School for Lady Grappling. She tag-teams for the legendary Screaming Mimi Hollander but soon decides she wants to make a turn from heel to hero, rebranding herself as The Sweetheart. Leonie finally has all the fans and fame she’s ever desired, but her new role complicates the relationships she’s built with her trainer and fellow wrestlers, including Mimi who’s now her biggest rival.
When the Men Were Gone by Marjorie Herrera Lewis
It’s no secret that Texans love football—and it’s not a modern phenomenon, either. When WWII takes most of the men and boys from Tylene Wilson’s Texas town, she sees a way to bring back a bit of normalcy and comfort. Tylene knows football more than most men, anyway, so why shouldn’t the vice principal become the coach? Despite pushback from the community, the school, the parents, and even the players themselves, Tylene coaches the boys to a season they will never forget.
The Sons of El Rey by Alex Espinoza
From 1960s Mexico to modern day, we follow a family of Luchadores from the height of Mexican wrestling fame to a son’s attempts to save his father’s struggling gym in Los Angeles. It’s a story of love and acceptance and finding your place in spite of stereotypes. But, it’s also a love letter to Mexican wrestling and a family’s determination to never stop fighting.
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
As a child, Saul Indian Horse’s family retreats to the woods to try to save their children from the authorities who have been kidnapping Ojibway youth. But violence finds them anyway. Soon, Saul has lost his family and his home, taken to the type of residential school that has now become infamous for their unspeakable violence and cruelty. The one point of light in this horrific place is hockey. In early morning practices, Saul finds solace and hope. Hockey provides his ticket out of this place. But even on the all-Ojibway amateur circuit, the racism and hatred of the world around him, forcing him to assimilate and refusing to accept him, drags on.
If that’s not enough historical sports novels for you, check out Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid, The Forbidden Temptation of Baseball by Dori Jones Yang, You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian, Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson, The All-American by Susie Finkbeiner, and Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella, the book The Field of Dreams was based on.
If you want to talk books, historical or otherwise, you can find me @rachelsbrittain on most social media, including Instagram, Goodreads, and Litsy.
Right now I’m reading The Phoenix Keeper by S.A. MacLean, a cozy fantasy book about a magical zoo and the shy phoenix keeper who works there.
