Return to the Page for Tommy Greenwald and Charlie Greenwald at East Bradford

From the award-winning author of Game Changer, Tommy Greenwald, comes a gripping sports novel about basketball, ambition, and the pressures young athletes face when winning starts to matter more than doing what’s right.

In basketball-crazed Walthorne, the rivalry between Walthorne North and Walthorne South is more than a game–it’s a way of life. As the season begins, two star players find themselves under increasing pressure. Austin Chambers struggles to live up to his father’s legacy, while Carter Haswell hopes his success on the court might help ease his family’s financial burdens.

Meanwhile, student reporter Alfie Jenks discovers that the real drama isn’t always happening during the games. As she investigates the stories unfolding behind the scenes, tensions rise throughout the community and the entire season is thrown into jeopardy.

Told through interviews, newspaper reports, social media posts, flashbacks, and multiple perspectives, Rivals delivers a fast-paced reading experience that will appeal to sports fans, mystery lovers, and reluctant readers alike.

Thought-provoking and timely, Tommy Greenwald’s novel explores sportsmanship, integrity, pressure, loyalty, and the difficult choices young athletes face on and off the court. As the rivalry intensifies, readers will be left asking an important question: When everyone wants to win, what happens when doing the right thing comes at a cost?

“Scenes of action on the court are vivid and exciting. . . . Give to fans of Jason Reynolds and Kwame Alexander’s sports novels.”
–School Library Journal

Aimed at ages 10-14.