Reaching reluctant readers is a nagging concern for anyone involved with children’s literature, but, contrary to popular stereotypes, reluctant readers of fiction come in every possible configuration of advantage, intelligence, and social skills. Just to provide two examples: Our future scientists are not reading novels for pleasure. Nor are intensely social children, who regard sitting alone with a book as a form of punishment. Bringing literature to this amorphous group is not easy.

The Sports Stories series from Lorimer, now numbering more than 30 titles, is clearly aimed at reluctant readers. The books are all less than 100 pages, have vibrant covers and titles, Canadian settings, and clean, accessible layout. In appearance, they are books that reluctant readers interested in sports could be persuaded to pick up. But if these two titles are representative, the series is wildly uneven in quality.

The Winning Edge by Michele Martin Bossley is narrated in first person by 12-year-old Jennie Brewster, a figure skater beginning to show remarkable talent. Confident and skillful on the ice, Jennie is shy and awkward at school. She struggles with the pecking order of junior high and the sudden hostility of Amy, another skater who was her best friend. The demands of her sport make it difficult for Jennie to make new friends or even have a normal social life. Bossley does a good job of communicating the gritty reality behind the moments of glamour on the ice. She also shows the pressures that those with exceptional talent must face from even well-intentioned parents and coaches. Jennie is a sympathetic character, so unspoiled by her gifts that she is able to see the flaws in her parents’ view of her future. Winning is never as important to Jennie as perfecting her skills, and she faces the loneliness of her talent without self-pity. This is a fine book.

Mikayla’s Victory, by first-time author Cynthia Bates, is another story. Twelve-year-old Mikayla Lamoureux faces many troubles. Her mother’s poor health has kept her in foster care since her younger sister was born seven years before. Mikayla is a talented track athlete who competes to be the school pentathlete against popular Amelie while her family situation deteriorates. Her mother has a heart attack on the first day of a city-wide track meet and dies on the second day. There is a great deal of telling in this book, with long passages that read like a plot summary. The action is also bogged down by complex sentences such as “Mikayla, who, at least compared to Victoria, had experienced some fairly rough times in her own young life, was nevertheless aghast at Amelie’s story.” First-time authors make these mistakes, but they are easily corrected. With only a little extra care, Mikayla’s Victory could have been a much better book, but signs of editorial guidance are missing.

A serious reader will recognize a badly written book, but a reluctant reader is more likely to be left with an inchoate feeling that reading is not much fun. That makes the badly written book for this audience particularly undesirable. Because of the wide range of quality found here, it’s advisable to vet books in this series before entrusting them to young readers.