Saturday Night Dirt by Will Weaver
163 pages; 2008

It's a sizzling summer Saturday, and Headwaters Speedway has suddenly become the place to be. Thanks to rainouts across the state, this small-town dirt track is drawing both big-time stock cars and local drivers. There's Trace Bonham, whose Street Stock Chevy is acting up in a big way. And Beau Kim, whose "stone soup" Modified has been patched together from whatever parts he could scrape up. And no one could forget Amber Jenkins, a strawberry blonde who has what it takes to run rings around them all. Keeping everyone on track is Melody Walters, who knows that the impending rain might be exactly what they need to keep her father's speedway afloat-or sink it for good. (The first book in the Motor series.)  ~ Publisher's Description

The Comeback Season by Jennifer E. Smith
246 pages; 2008

The last place Ryan Walsh should be this afternoon is on a train heading to Wrigley Field. But for once, Ryan isn't thinking about what she should be doing. Because she's finally returning to the place that her father loved. And on this -- the fifth anniversary of his death -- it feels like there's nowhere else in the world she should be.

Good luck is often hard to come by at a place like Wrigley Field, but it's on this day that she meets Nick, who seems to love the Cubs nearly as much as she does. But Nick carries with him a secret that makes Ryan wonder if anyone can ever really escape their past.  ~ Publisher's Description Excerpt