Showing results by author "Jake Maddox" in All Categories

Jae Cho isn’t very good at games. Whether it’s board games, card games, or anything else, she usually doesn’t have much luck. But when she watches her brother, Dal, playing Castle Crusaders 5, she’s fascinated by the strategy of destroying the opponent’s forces and taking out the enemy’s castle. When Dal rushes off and leaves the game running on his computer, Jae can’t resist the temptation to try playing for herself. Before long she’s hooked on the game and secretly playing against others on her brother’s computer whenever she can.

Jasmine Lopez and her brother Arjun love exploring the coral reefs around Fiji, where their marine biologist parents are stationed. Jasmine, already a certified scuba diver, dreams of following in her parents' footsteps and wants to help Arjun do the same. Unfortunately, her younger brother is sure he already knows everything. That attitude gets them into danger when Arjun drifts too far from the group during a dive—and straight into a reef shark.

Davalyn “The Daredevil” Hart may be a new rider in the sport of wheelchair motocross, but this adrenaline junkie is ready to push herself. When she gets a new WCMX chair designed to take a beating at the skate park, she turns her stunts up to the next level.

Valentina loves playing video games, and she’s really good at them. When a local esports team asks her to join them for an upcoming tournament, she’s thrilled. There’s just one problem—Valentina has great skills in first-person action games, but winning Kings and Castles relies on teamwork and strategy.

Nothing can stop star running back Harris Weathers—until he takes a jarring hit, narrowly escaping injury. Harris is fine, physically, but his nerves are rattled. He can’t shake the idea that he could get hurt playing football. After faking illness to get out of a game, Harris realizes he has a decision to make. Does he love football enough to risk a big hit again?

When Kendall receives a surprise email, he can hardly believe his luck. He’s been invited to compete in an esports tournament for his favorite game, Ooze Escape! He loves battling his way to the top level in the game and trying to escape the deadly ooze that burns up everything—and everyone—in its path. There’s just one problem—Kendall spends too much time battling enemies and looking for awesome loot. He always gets knocked out by the ooze before he can make his escape.

When twins Lydia and Marco are approached to be on their dance studio's jazz team, Lydia is thrilled. She and Marco both love to dance and used to have fun dancing together as kids. But lately, it seems their relationship has grown more distant. Lydia can't wait to dance with her brother again, but Marco is worried. He's used to hip-hop and will be the only boy on the team. And when bullies start mocking Marco for doing "girl dances", it could spell trouble for the whole team.

When they were younger, Anya and her big sister, Marina, were an unbeatable catcher and pitcher duo on their slow-pitch softball team. But now, as Anya gets ready to join Marina on the U14 fast-pitch squad, things are different. Anya can’t stand her sister’s know-it-all attitude and ignores every piece of advice.

Anthony Duran has been Ricky Lau’s best friend and basketball buddy since they were little. But now that Ricky has moved schools, the boys find themselves on different middle school basketball teams. With few new friends, Ricky still wants to shoot hoops with his best bud. Anthony, on the other hand, doesn’t want to practice with an opponent. Ricky is willing to do whatever it takes to get his friend back.

Malcolm loves two things—baseball and science. He’s always studying the stats and coming up with ideas to help his team gain an advantage over the competition. But when Malcolm’s homemade glove oil causes a major blowup with his teammates, he must find a way to win back their trust.

Alejandro is a new high school quarterback with big shoes to fill—his brother's. But none of the plays that worked for his brother seem to be working for him. With Coach J threatening to bench him, Alejandro has to come up with something good fast. His sister Izzy just might be the secret weapon he needs!

Mina is a talented figure skater, but she's looking forward to trying a new challenge—pairs skating! Mina has second thoughts, though, when she starts practicing with Luke, a shy boy who she doesn’t know well. Can the pair overcome their trust issues and become a successful pairs skating team?

Fernando Higuera comes from a family of famous baseball players. And they show up to every game to cheer him on. But during one game, Fernando’s coach tells him to try to steal second base. But he’s never tried that move before. He hesitates and ends up getting tagged out. Fernando is embarrassed and feels he let his team and family down. Luckily, his family has his back and teach him everything they know about stealing second base.

It is never easy to be the new kid in school—or on the basketball team. But when Yasmin Jones faces racism from one of her new teammates, she insists on dealing with it on her own. Her solution is to prove to her new team that she is a star player. As pressure builds, though, Yasmin’s game suffers. How can Yasmin address her problems on and off the court?

Devante Briggs has gone from being an athletic trainer to being the sixth man off the bench for his school basketball team! How in the world did this happen? And will his free throw struggles cost him and his team a victory when they need it the most?

Matt wants to make the Evergreen racing team, but his chances are seriously threatened when a new boy moves to town and resorts to cheating in order to win.

Sondra and her best friend, Jonathan, have finally saved up enough money to attend the summer camp of their dreams—Camp Vert. In order to fit in at the competitive skateboarding camp, the two friends decide to learn a challenging trick, the frontside 180 heelflip. When the friends’ cabins go up against one another in competition, will they both master the trick? And more importantly, will they stay friends in the middle of the rivalry?

Hank Watson enjoys helping his basketball team win big games. However, his true passion is cooking. Hank doesn't tell his team that he likes to cook because he's afraid they'll make fun of him. When an opportunity arises to meet celebrity chef Brenton Spooner, Hank jumps at the chance. But while practicing a difficult dish to impress his idol, he accidentally burns his hand. The injury isn't serious, but it affects his performance both on the court and in the kitchen.

Blake Easton loves playing wiffle ball with his friends, so when they encourage him to try out for the local traveling baseball team, he decides to give it a shot. Blake has never played organized sports before, and the tryouts are tough, but he makes the team as a second-string player.

Devon Rosario has played basketball his whole life, and he's great at it, so great, in fact, that his dad, team, and community in the Bronx can't imagine him doing anything else. And while Devon loves his team, he's not so happy with the rigid structure his success in the sport and his father's expectations has created. So when he sees Jamal, a Yemeni refugee and new kid at school, doing BMX tricks on his bike one day, he's intrigued. Can Devon keep his newfound love of BMX under wraps? Or will he be busted when his BMX secret comes out?