Spring 2026

For the Win

Poems Celebrating Phenomenal Athletes

  • Interest Level: Grade 2 - Grade 5
  • Reading Level: Grade 3

Love sports? This is the book for you!

This action-packed poetry anthology, edited by award-winning poetic collaborators Irene Latham and Charles Waters, features twenty contemporary athletes who have overcome obstacles, broken records, and inspired fans around the globe. Poets zoom in on a meaningful moment from each athlete’s career—including Juan Soto’s father predicting on his tenth birthday that one day he’d play in the World Series and Simone Biles coming back to compete after getting the twisties during the Tokyo Olympics. The collection includes JaNay Brown-Wood writing about LeBron James, Jaime Adoff writing about Mookie Betts, and Kao Kalia Yang writing about Suni Lee. It’s a slam dunk, a home run, and a perfect 10!

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979-8-7656-6799-6
On pre-order until 03/03/2026
$20.99
979-8-7656-9167-0
On pre-order until 03/03/2026
$25.99
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Interest Level Grade 2 - Grade 5
Reading Level Grade 3
Genre Social Studies
Category Reading/Language Arts, Sports
Copyright 2026
Publisher Lerner Publishing Group
Imprint Carolrhoda Books ®
Language English
Number of Pages 48
Publication Date 2026-03-03
Text Type Poetry
BISACS JNF042000, JNF054000
Dewey 811/.6
Dimensions 8 x 10
Features Author/Illustrator biography, Reviewed, and Table of contents

Author: Irene Latham

Irene Latham is the author of more than a dozen current and forthcoming works of poetry, fiction, and picture books. Her work includes Charlotte Huck Honor Book and ALA Notable Children’s Book Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship (co-written with Charles Waters) and the Caldecott Honor Book The Cat Man of Aleppo(co-written by Karim Shamsi-Basha). In 2016 she won the ILA Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award. Visit her at www.irenelatham.com.

Author: Charles Waters

Charles Waters is a children’s poet, author, anthologist and actor based in Georgia. His book Mascot (co-written with Traci Sorell) has received an American Indian Youth Literature Award Honor and a Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Honor. His other books (co-written with Irene Latham) include: African Town (winner of the 2023 Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction), Dictionary For A Better World: Poems, Quotes and Anecdotes from A—Z, Be A Bridge, and the Charlotte Huck Honor book Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes and Friendship. You can visit him at: www.charleswaterspoetry.com

Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

“Successfully utilizes poetry to illuminate athletic excellence.”—Kirkus Reviews