• Age: 8 to 12
• Grade: 3 to 6

Think soccer, baseball, basketball, and hockey are the only options in the world of sports? Think again! Weird Zone: Sports uncovers the "other" sports, from the local and hidden to the strange, bizarre, and downright crazy.  Playing football with over 200 people per team? (Just imagine the pile-up!) Chasing a giant wheel of cheese down an English hillside? Wrestling with your toes? This book contains all the funny facts about these sports — and many, many more! With science and history sidebars, pop quizzes, and tons of amazing photographs and hilarious illustrations, Weird Zone: Sports is the ultimate addition to every sports addict's library.   

MARIA BIRMINGHAM is a longstanding contributor to OWL and Chickadee magazines, and the award-winning author of several books for young people, including Acting Wild, Biometrics, and A Beginner's Guide to Immortality: From Alchemy to Avatars. Maria lives in Brampton, Ontario.

Maria Birmingham's profile page

JAMIE BENNETT is an illustrator and artist who lives and works in Toronto. She studied Graphic Deign at Sheridan College. Her art appears in magazines, on book covers, posters, web sites, CD covers, corporate brochures, advertising, and postage stamps. Publishing clients include Esquire, American Health, Travel & Leisure, GQ, the Boston Globe, Travel Holiday, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone, the New Yorker, Marie Claire (France) and Elle (British Edition).

Jamie Bennett's profile page

• Commended, A TD Summer Reading Club Selection
• Short-listed, A Junior Library Guild selection
• Short-listed, Ontario Library Association Silver Birch Non Fiction Award
• Short-listed, Hackmatack Children's Choice Awards
• Commended, Canadian Children's Book Centre, Best Books for Kids and Teens, Starred Selection
• Commended, OLA Best Bets Top 10 Junior Non-Fiction List

"Very entertaining!"

Resource Links

"This will definitely grab attention."

"Maria [Birmingham] has outdone herself..."

Canadian Review of Materials

"If you love sports, you are going to love this book!"

Sal's Fiction Addiction

"Any sports aficionado will easily be lost in these pages."

Kirkus Reviews