Sports/Games/Chess

Now comes Bananagrams! The Official Book, which translates the brain-twisting word fun of the game onto the page, and adds much, much more. Even if you've never dipped your hand into the Bananagrams pouch, the book stands on its own with hours of challenging play. Written by the only three-time National Scrabble Champion, Joe Edley, Bananagrams! offers sixteen clever puzzle types, including Banana Trees, where the object is to build word grids based on a theme; Banana Splits, a collection of four quick anagram puzzles to be solved in rapid-fire style; Banana Leaves, with its four-, five-, six- and seven-letter words; Banana Filling--what happens when you add a K?; and more. The puzzles have four levels of difficulty, from one banana to four bananas. Plus, there are glossaries; special strategies for Bananagrams: The Game; a list of Weords--weird words that are cool to play; two- and three-letter words to take your game to the next level; fun banana facts; and, of course, an answer key.

A New York Times bestseller, David Halberstam's The Breaks of the Game focuses on one grim season (1979-80) in the life of the Bill Walton-led Portland Trail Blazers, a team that only three years before had been NBA champions.

A Pulitzer Prize-winner for his groundbreaking reporting on the Vietnam War, Halberstam wrote more than 20 books, almost all of them bestsellers. His work has stood the test of time and has become the standard by which all journalists measure themselves.The tactile authenticity of Halberstam's knowledge of the basketball world is unrivaled. Yet he is writing here about far more than just basketball. This is a story about a place in our society where power, money, and talent collide and sometimes corrupt, a place where both national obsessions and naked greed are exposed. It's about the influence of big media, the fans and the hype they subsist on, the clash of ethics, the terrible physical demands of modern sports (from drugs to body size), the unreal salaries, the conflicts of race and class, and the consequences of sport converted into mass entertainment and athletes transformed into superstars -- all presented in a way that puts the reader in the room and on the court, and The Breaks of the Game in a league of its own.

1st edition. Signed by author. Dust jacket in protective cover; small creases along top of front cover; one closed tear front spine edge; black cloth over gray paper boards; small area at top of spine and along front edge scuffed; binding tight; text clean and bright. G/G

The behind-the-scenes story of the wild twenty-five year odyssey of the New York Mets, including their 1986 championship season, as well as an account of the broadcaster's own baseball career.

New York: Arbor House, 1987. Signed first edition.  Dust jacket in protective cover; white cloth spine over blue boards with blue and red lettering on spine; binding tight; text clean. VG/VG

Nicknamed the "Isolation Assassin," Irving has earned the distinction as the most incredible isolation player in the league, outperforming rivals such as Stephen Curry and Russell Westbrook with his crossover dribble, drives to the basket, stop-and-go moves, and smooth, feathery jumpers, a distinction borne out, moreover, by his championship-clinching shot against Curry's Golden State Warriors in 2016. Yet while he speaks of maximizing his talent, he has shown reluctance to maximize the production of his teammates by passing the ball, as well as his overall defense. Irving expresses his desire to win championships yet demanded a trade away from the franchise best suited to deliver him a second.

Off the court there is no one like Irving either. An educated individual who claims that the earth could be flat and that dinosaurs perhaps never existed, Irving is a man of puzzling contradictions who seeks self-actualization and contentment through a variety of pursuits, including reflection, music, and acting. Gitlin, a veteran writer who has followed Irving's career from the beginning, has much to tell about one of the most mysterious and sensational athletes of our time whose appeal transcends his sport.

The riveting story of four men--Larry Doby, Bill Veeck, Bob Feller, and Satchel Paige--whose improbable union on the Cleveland Indians in the late 1940s would shape the immediate postwar era of Major League Baseball and beyond.

In July 1947, not even three months after Jackie Robinson debuted on the Brooklyn Dodgers, snapping the color line that had segregated Major League Baseball, Larry Doby would follow in his footsteps on the Cleveland Indians. Though Doby, as the second Black player in the majors, would struggle during his first summer in Cleveland, his subsequent turnaround in 1948 from benchwarmer to superstar sparked one of the wildest and most meaningful seasons in baseball history.

In intimate, absorbing detail, Luke Epplin's Our Team traces the story of the integration of the Cleveland Indians and their quest for a World Series title through four key participants: Bill Veeck, an eccentric and visionary owner adept at exploding fireworks on and off the field; Larry Doby, a soft-spoken, hard-hitting pioneer whose major-league breakthrough shattered stereotypes that so much of white America held about Black ballplayers; Bob Feller, a pitching prodigy from the Iowa cornfields who set the template for the athlete as businessman; and Satchel Paige, a legendary pitcher from the Negro Leagues whose belated entry into the majors whipped baseball fans across the country into a frenzy.

Together, as the backbone of a team that epitomized the postwar American spirit in all its hopes and contradictions, these four men would captivate the nation by storming to the World Series--all the while rewriting the rules of what was possible in sports.

No wires. No screens. No batteries. Just pick a few cards and let them lead you into a story. How you tell it is up to you. Write it, draw it, sing it! Play by yourself or in groups. Perfect for early writers, parents who need some fresh bedtime stories, teachers who want to nurture creativity, and grandparents who want to play with the kids. 

• 360 cards = gazillions of stories (includes 20 blanks so you can invent your own prompts)
• Content is appropriate for children and anyone who's a kid at heart
• Comes with a booklet filled with prompts, games, and suggestions
• Light and portable with a vintage design
• Wild cards prompt you to go in all kinds of fun ways 
• Cards have rounded edges––easy for small hands to hold, fun to "build" stories
• Made in U.S.A.

May your Storymatic Kids bring you countless hours of fun and inspiration!

• "Such a great choice for improving storytelling skills." –– Forbes
• "These 360 cards can take you in an endless number of directions." –– TIME for Kids
• "Inspire young bards with fun creative-writing prompts. Will your next protagonist be a jump-rope champion or the tooth fairy's silbing? Pick a card and find out!" –– Scholastic