Leaves begin to change color. Pumpkins dot the landscape at roadside stands. The temperature drops. Fall has arrived. With it, millions of fans will flock to football stadiums and television screens to cheer on their favorite teams. To enhance their enjoyment of the sport, readers may want to turn to the following selections for middle grade readers selected by the editors at Junior Library Guild. FREDERICK, Shane. The Technology of Football. Capstone. 2013. ISBN 9781429699532. JLG Level: C68 : Series Nonfiction: Science 6–8 (Grades 6–8). More than 150 years ago when the first college football game was played, technology was in the distant future. Today’s games cannot only be seen by millions through live television, but the game itself has changed thanks to new inventions. Modern football helmets have sensors to measure impact, providing doctors on the sidelines with instant data regarding a player’s head injuries. Stadiums use technology to keep grass green and to amplify crowd noise, creating the twelfth player. Video cameras record games and practice so that the team can analyze plays, skills, body movement, and technique. Even television stations use extra video cameras for the fans outside the stadium. During Super Bowl XLVI, NBC used 57 cameras. Frederick’s high-interest, low vocabulary text offers amazing facts from the locker room to the production booth about the impact of technology on one of our most popular sports. Punctuated with clear pictures and fact boxes, fans of both football and technology will not want to miss this selection. HELDRING, Thatcher. The League. Delacorte. 2013. ISBN 9780375990250. JLG Level: SM : Sports Middle (Grades 5–8). As summer looms closer, Wyatt Parker plans to do what he always does―whatever is expected of him. He’s a good friend to his neighbor Evan, though he has a crush on her. He doesn’t fight back when school bully Spencer picks on him. His parents are making him go to golf camp, but he really wants to play football. When an opportunity to do the unexpected arises, Wyatt steps forward and tells his first lies. He skips golf camp and joins the League of Pain. As lies begin to grow larger and more frequent, his conscience takes a back seat until the web of deceit causes him to lose everything he once had. Can he do what he wants without hurting everyone he loves? Will the League of Pain be his downfall? Heldring’s novel believingly handles bullying, good-child syndrome, and the pains of maturity in a humorous, but thought-provoking journey. KLASS, David and Perri. Second Impact. Farrar/Foster. 2013. ISBN 9780374379964. JLG Level: SM : Sports Middle (Grades 5–8). A year after his drunk driving incident, high school quarterback Jerry Downing takes on co-blogging for the school newspaper, writing about the team’s practices and games. Carla Jensen, his partner, is a star soccer player who takes her job seriously, even staying awake during her ACL surgery so that she can write about the procedure. When Jerry’s best friend takes a hard hit at a game, Carla follows the story―right into Danny’s emergency room. Blogging about her conversation with the injured player, Jerry argues that she crossed the line, causing trouble for the football team. Carla’s indignation about being able to write about what she learns and the dangers of brain injuries leads her principal to suspend her from the blog. In current controversies, the questions she poses have value, but how will they impact the star quarterback? Will a town that lives for football tolerate anything derogatory? Does Carla have a right to report her findings? Readers will find themselves waffling back and forth between the sides of the issue, just as the blog and email format of the book present characters who struggle with the same decisions. LUPICA, Mike. QB 1. Philomel. 2013. ISBN 9780399252280. JLG Level: SM : Sports Middle (Grades 5–8). In Granger, Texas, if you’re a Cullen boy, you’re a quarterback. Jake’s dad played professionally and his older brother Wyatt is starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns―as a freshman. Now that Jake is in high school, he struggles while following in their footsteps, afraid of drowning in their shadows. Known by his mom as the “pleaser” of the family, the young starting quarterback swallows his personal feelings and fears, doing what everyone expects him to do. When last year’s back-up QB challenges his worth to start the games, Jake struggles with his own doubts, but works hard not to disappoint anyone―especially his father. His coaches give each boy time on the field, though it has the potential to divide the team. As the state championship comes closer to being reality, can they learn to work together or will pride put an end to everyone’s hope? Lupica’s latest novel blends the legacy of Texas football and the suspense of a team’s dreams into a tale as gripping as a blockbuster movie. MCCLAFFERTY, Carla Killough. Fourth Down and Inches: Concussions and Football’s Make-or-Break Moment. Carolrhoda. 2013. ISBN 9781467710671. JLG Level: SM : Sports Middle (Grades 5–8). In 1905, 19 college age boys and younger died in football-related incidents. In 1909 the number was twenty-eight. During those early years, scientists and doctors didn’t know the effects that impacts have on the brain. Today’s researchers are learning more about how the brain works and reacts to trauma. Though modern helmets are built to protect the brain, it still moves inside the skull on collision. In a concussion, the brain is wounded and needs time to heal. Current practice has standard procedures for player treatment and recovery if he has a concussion. McClafferty’s gripping nonfiction tour through the history of head injury introduces readers to data that indicates that brain damage can occur without the player having a concussion. Fans and players alike will find an account full of college and NFL player stories that will touch their hearts, while delivering the facts. Informative without sermonizing, readers may find much on which to reflect. For audio/video versions of these booktalks, please visit JLG’s Shelf Life Blog. Junior Library Guild is a collection development service that helps school and public libraries acquire the best new children's and young adult books. Season after season, year after year, Junior Library Guild book selections go on to win awards, collect starred or favorable reviews, and earn industry honors. Visit us at www.JuniorLibraryGuild.com.