David Klass is a screenwriter and novelist whose work for young adults deals with contemporary themes from ecology to coping with loss. In books such as the award-winning Wrestling with Honor, California Blue, and Danger Zone, Klass also employs the microcosm of high school athletics as a matrix for teens who are in crisis or faced with difficult decisions. Baseball, soccer, wrestling, track, and basketball all form a backdrop for Klass's young, mostly male protagonists who must learn to deal with personal traumas and dislocations. Divorce or the death of a parent, as well as racial, gender, and environmental issues, all become part of the stew of a Klass novel.

"I'm not writing about sports so much as I am about character," Klass told Authors and Artists for Young Adults (AAYA) in an interview. "You write about what you know, and when I think back to my high...