Summer Reading: Movies

Movies are an easy program for the summer - and they can help form a bond with teens. It's the perfect place for them to cool down on a hot afternoon/evening. And there are SO many great sports movies. Here are a few of my favorites:

About Me: Sports

One of my resolutions this year (and to be honest almost every year) is to talk more about myself on the blog. Me in a nutshell: I'm a Librarian. I'm a blogger. I'm a reader. Here's a little bit about me outside the bookish world.

I've been sporty as long as I can remember. Everyone in my family is sporty. And my family was very supportive to sports - coming to watch the games/events or picking me up from practice or dropping me off at those dreaded 5 am practices (thankfully we didn't have many of those).

I've tried my hand at lots of sports - some just for fun, but others on a team.

In elementary school, I played midget league. Finally 5th grade came and after school sports became reality. I played soccer, but mostly I lived for the basketball days.

Me in Midget League - my grandfather is to the right of me.

In the spring in middle school, I played softball and summer softball. In the summer league, during all the years, I think I played every position except for shortstop. For most of the years, I was on the team with my sister. When we both stopped playing, we used to organize pick up games in high school with our friends. I don't play softball much anymore, but I'm not opposed to a game of catch or a trip to the batting cages.

Last year at the cages

I'm 5' 8" now, which meant I was one of the tallest girls in the class (and that was hard for some reasons, but not for basketball.) I loved it when winter rolled around. I played in elementary school, middle school, and through 2 years on the JV team in high school. I wasn't the best scorer, but I added a few points to the score. I wasn't good enough to make the Varsity team and I wasn't going to play for the Varsity coach, so I stalled out after my sophomore year.

And afterwards I lost heart for the other sports. By my junior year in high school, I wasn't interested anymore.

But I was still sporty. When my husband and I moved into our second apartment, there was a sports field nearby. We played basketball, tennis, and threw a Frisbee in the fields. We'd take our cute puppy on long hikes.

I've been kayaking and snow shoeing

Just last year, I learned to do a crossover!

But we also watch sports. Chris got me into the Celtics and now I too bleed green. I miss Paul and KG something fierce. I'm glad to see that Rondo's back on track. The rebuilding years are hard, but the young guys try hard. 

We've been to a few games, some preseason like this one where we got great seats thanks to spotting an upgrade on twitter.

Usually these are our seats:

And the boys I've watched the most games with:

I'm a New England girl, so I cheer for the home teams, even though I may not follow the sport too closely. 

And our course I like sporty books too! 

Are you sporty? What sports are your favorites?

Matt de la Pena

He's a favorite here in my library with his book

and his new book



Interview from Random Teen

Do you love sports? Find out how Matt de le Pena grew from an athlete into a writer, and why basketball will always be important to him.

Matt de la Pena

It’s raining in Brooklyn today, and I’m at a coffee shop, writing.

Man, I always seem to be writing these days. I’m here at a coffee shop, or I’m at the Writers Space, or I’m solo in my room late at night, in the dark, writing inside undecorated white walls, writing under a Brooklyn-style skylight that's more tar than starry sky.

Guess I've traveled a million miles from how I was as a kid. Used to be just me and basketball. Pick up games and talking head with the fellas. But these days hoop is a little smaller in the rearview mirror. The jumper isn't quite so trustworthy. The first step doesn't hurt as many feelings. Instead of hip hop and R&B, it's Sufjan Stevens, M Ward, Iron & Wine. Elliott Smith. These days come a little more literary, a little more solitary.

But early this morning I went back in my head for a sec. Went back to the face of the first girl who told me she loved me. Jen. This was way back in San Diego. We were both 15 and fresh-faced, sitting on my buddy's couch–his parents' couch. We were so awkward, so overwhelmed by having just kissed for the first time. Man, I hadn't seen her face in years. But there she was. In my mind. Every beautiful detail. Her eyes so big and brown and pure, dark hair so straight and long. And the look on her face . . . man, this girl actually dug me!

We were like that for a good 15 minutes. Silent. Unaware of how to act in our brand-new romantic skin. She circled a finger around my right kneecap, cleared her throat and brought her face up to mine. “Guess what,” she said.

“What?”

She took the basketball out of my hands and set it in her lap. She spun it around and pointed at the “I” in “Spalding.” She looked up at me and smiled, then pointed at the “L.” She shifted the ball around to the word “Official,” pointed at the “O.” She searched and pointed, searched and pointed, until she had completely spelled out the phrase “I love you.”

I felt something move in my chest and asked her if she wanted to be my girl. She blushed, nodded. We grabbed a hold of each other and kissed again, this time a little less awkward.

This morning, when I woke up remembering this, it hit me how deeply rooted the game has been in my life. Here I was holding my basketball while I kissed my first girlfriend. She used it to spell out that she loved me.

No matter how far I move away from the game, into this new life as an author, no matter what strange direction my literary interests lead me in next, or where I go, or who I meet, I will always carry the game of basketball in my chest. This game was my best friend growing up. It was my confidant. My passion. My ticket to college, to education, to books and words, the rhythms of poetry.

Soon the day will come when I can no longer dunk, when I can no longer scoot around the skinny kid at the Y with the big head. Eventually my skills will deteriorate to the point that a basketball court stops feeling like a haven and starts feeling more like a prison cell. But I will never forget you, Basketball. You were with me every step of the way. You gave me the confidence to try and be somebody (an author!). You gave me this incredible life.