Stories that remind us that to be a great champion it is not only the result that counts but above all how it has been achieved and the example you want to give.
1- A GIRL OUT OF WATER by Nat Luurtsema
Piemme
What happens if your best friend and eternal swimming partner is selected for the national team and you stay in a school where you don’t seem to know anyone … It could also happen that, due to a series of unexpected events, you start dating older kids cool from school?
For 12 years
To read because:
Plan B is often much, much more exciting than Plan A …
2- WE HAVE TOUCHED THE STARS by Riccardo Gazzaniga
Rizzoli
Many stories, very true, to remember the men and women who through sport have been able and wanted to bring universal messages and testimonies. Starting with the protagonists of the historic photo taken at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics; three guys on the podium, two African-Americans and one Australian who paid for the courageous gesture of that day for the rest of their lives.
For 10 years
To read because:
Not to forget great athletes who were also great men
3- SILVER SHOES by Mary Mapes Dodge
Gribaudo
In a very cold Holland at the end of the nineteenth century, two very poor children work hard, helped by some, opposed by others, to be able to participate in the great skating competition that takes place on the frozen canal.
From 8 years
To read because:
A super classic to remind us again of the things that really matter and that you can be a person full of dignity even when you are very young.
4- ‘O MAÈ – HISTORY OF JUDO AND CAMORRA by Luigi Garlando
Piemme
The beautiful story of Filippo who from sentinel of the shop at Vele di Scampia becomes a judo champion and enters the musical high school thanks to the support of master Gianni Maddaloni. The “imaginative” version of many true stories that have been going on for years in the ‘O Maè gym.
For 10 years
To read because:
Pino, the son of Maestro Gianni, who still fights through sport to help the young people of Scampia, won the gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
5- RUN by Jason Reynolds
Rizzoli
A diligent young girl with real reasons for being full of repressed anger looks for a reason for serenity and balance in the race in the second story dedicated to the world of athletics by Reynolds after the already award-winning Gost.
For 12 years
To read because:
For all those who think they are unlucky …
6- THE MANUAL OF THE 50 CHALLENGES TO BECOME A CHAMPION by Pierdomenico Baccalario and Massimo Prosperi
The Beaver
Beautiful “instruction booklet” to become a champion in sport but above all in the spirit, exercises for every day that include real physical efforts together with great daily suggestions (see paragraph “Wash!”). With the testimonies of great athletes, great people.
From 8 years
To read because:
To learn how to manage and know both parts of our brain: the swat and the champion.
7- FELIX AND THE PERFECT SUMMER. FUORICLASSE by Enrico Brizzi
By Agostini
The fictionalized biography of Felice Placido Borel, a great Juventus player who also played for the national team during the 1934 World Cup won by Italy. In a magical summer in Turin, an awake high school student grows up playing football and discovering love.
From 8 years
To read because:
Felix and his friends also manage to discover a very skilled thief, thus foiling the first of many injustices.
8- THE OPPOSITE by Mauro Scarpa
Read Red Road editore
A difficult role on the pitch for a boy who is in a very difficult phase of life and who, thanks to sport, his beloved volleyball, will be able to overcome insecurities and fears and face the world.
For 12 years
To read because:
Accepting those who feel different is not easy but it is also not easy to accept being yourself.
9- STARS IN BALANCE by Daria Bertoni
Mondadori
The first encounter with the artistic gymnastics of a normal child, with everyone’s problems and the great myth of the champion Nadia Comaneci. A busy mom and a dad who can’t comb her hair but also many friends and the excitement of the first night away from home for a mini-champion.
From 8 years
To read because:
Even Stella to be able to train must do well at school …
10- ZÁTOPEK. THE HUMAN LOCOMOTIVE by Marco Franzelli
Biancoenero Publisher
He ran in an absolutely inelegant way and out of every rule but he was the strongest in the world. The true story of Emil Zátopek, the first man in the world to win 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and a marathon in the same sporting event. A Czechoslovakian athlete who trained in the woods and paid hard for his accession to the Prague Spring.
From 8 years
To read because:
Young Emil, forced to run for the first time, swore that it would also be the last …
Francesca Paola Rampinelli Rota
