Ultimate Sports: Short Stories by Outstanding Writers for Young Adults

by Donald R. Gallo (editor)

A knockout collection of 16 original stories featuring young adults playing basketball and football, running track and cross-country, and training for the triathlon. Challenges abound in water sports, racquetball and tennis, boxing and wrestling, and the "ultimate" sport of the future.

Genres: Short Stories

333 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1995

About the author

Donald R. Gallo, often called the godfather of YA short stories, is the editor of more than a dozen acclaimed anthologies, including Sixteen, Destination Unexpected, First Crossing, and What Are You Afraid Of?. A former English teacher and professor, he began championing short stories written specifically for teens in 1980, addressing a gap in school curricula. His groundbreaking work has earned numerous accolades, including the ALAN Award for Outstanding Contributions to Young Adult Literature. Gallo now writes, edits, and presents workshops, while also enjoying photography, cooking, and travel from his home in Solon, Ohio.

Reviews

[Courtneyasuncionbyrd]

I thought that this story was very interesting. It was about a line backer on a highschool football team, wishing he could be a running back just once. He mourned to score a touchdown. He wanted more than anything to hear the crowd cheer his name. This short story taught a small lesson of perserverance and the relentless drive he had to achieve his wish, his goal.

[Luis Avila · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of the book is called Ultimate sports by Ronald R. Gallo, are you interested in finding out what sports fits you? If so this book is about how teenagers and sports are often closely linked, also these stories look at how sports build self-esteem and teamwork, but can cause physical and psychological injuries as well. The major plot of the book for me was the story about soccer because that was the one that caught my attention and I really enjoyed reading that part the most. My opinion on the book is that it's a really great book because it talks about all the sports you could think of and each story is very interesting, and the target audience for this book would be people that love sports and are really dedicated to it and what to make it professional at that sport they prefer.

[Peter Jacobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superboy by Chris Crutcher and Joyriding by Jim Naughton are two excellent short stories with strong messages about overcoming obstacles and finding passion for living deliberately. Perfect essays for working with reluctant readers and for teaching lessons about motivation (also perfect for coaches to assign to their players before a season starts).