T. L. SIMPSON

FICTION RECOGNITION

2026 Michael L. Printz Honor Book, Cope Field

Top 100 Books of 2025, Kirkus Reviews, Cope Field

2025 All Iowa Reads selection, Strong Like You

2024 Moonbeam Children’s Literature Award, Silver, Strong Like You

2025 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, Strong Like You

Top 3 TAYSHA’S READING LIST, Cope Field

Top 10 TAYSHA’S READING LIST, Strong Like You

An Indiana Read Aloud book, Strong Like You

2025 Arkansas Gem, Strong Like You

Children’s Book Council Favorites, Strong Like You

PRAISE FOR COPE FIELD

“A wise, emotionally rich tale of a young man finding his way through family trauma.” — Kirkus Reviews [Starred]

“Cope Field is a commanding novel in which a troubled student learns difficult truths about his family and chooses a new path forward.” —Foreword Reviews

“An intense, emotional, heartfelt read, Cope Field by T.L. Simpson perfectly captures the complicated feelings of adolescence when you know your problems are bigger than you but you don’t know what to do about it yet. Craw channels all of his anger into his 95mph heater, while Hannah turns up the volume on her punk music, but somehow they see each other in a way nobody else does. Populated with memorable characters like Craw’s hilarious younger brother Big Time and his generous-but-volatile father who has the whole town fooled, Cope Field immersed me in this world of the Ozarks and pick-up trucks and grass fields and plain speaking. I read the whole book like I’d watch any baseball game—with my heart in my throat, waiting for the ones I’m rooting for to triumph in the end.” — Alicia Thompson, USA Today bestselling author of The Art of Catching Feelings

“Simpson’s frank, unflinching portrait of two defiant teens struggling to transcend brutal violence is a crackling alchemy of baseball and punk rock that shook me, made me cheer, and kept me up all night. A rare, relentless, gorgeous gem of a novel, recommended for anyone who’s ever had something to fight.” — Sarah Lariviere, Riot Act

“Cope Field is a home run. A gripping modern classic, full of so much heart and grit and punk rock tenacity, each word refuses to leave you dry-eyed. T. L. Simpson fucking nails it.” —Freya Finch, author of Rise

“With a voice that grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go until its gut-wrenching final page, Simpson weaves a heartbreaking tale of the complicated nature of love, loss, and family. A beautiful, important novel.”—MK Pagano, Girls Who Burn

“I loved Crawford’s story and the lengths he goes through to protect the people he loves. Heartbreaking, relatable, and punk rock to its core; Cope Field is a grand slam of a book.” — author of Indie Next Pick Skater Boy

Simpson has a knack for delivering entertaining reads that take on important issues teens and young adults grapple with. Cope Field is a gripping and timely read. — Jeff Wooten, author of Kill Call

“T. L. Simpson writes with a dynamic balance of yesterday, today and where we’re headed as an audience in his sublime literary hands. Cope Field provides the reader with a stunning view from a box seat, close enough to the action to both revel and win.” —Paul Volponi, bestselling author of Black and White, The Final Four, Rikers High and Top Prospect

“T. L. Simpson shines a bright light on a subject too often relegated to the shadows. A baseball book about so much more than baseball. Riveting.” —Carl Deuker

“COPE FIELD will punch you in the gut, break your heart, and somehow put it back together again. T. L. Simpson writes an unflinching story about one teen boy’s reckoning with his anger issues and the insidious truth hidden behind his father’s perfect public image. It deserves to be an instant classic.” — Trish Lundy, author of THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY WITH MURDER

“Another heart-rending achievement! Cope Field delves into the unspoken yearnings of a teen baseball player whose father demands athletic greatness at a brutal cost. A dash of romance adds sweetness to this ultimately hopeful story. I will read anything T. L. Simpson writes. Bravo!” —Jennifer Lynn Alvarez, award-winning author of Lies Like Wildfire

“Timely and timeless, Cope Field is a viscerally impactful story about much more than baseball. I couldn’t put this book down.” — Sara Farizan, Here to Stay

SELECTED PRAISE FOR STRONG LIKE YOU

“A grim but not entirely hopeless picture of life in the Ozarks, threaded with tragedies both immediate and endemic.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A serious look at the legacy and impact of violence, especially around the toxic culture of football, along with a compassionate view of the struggle and frequent hopelessness of rural poverty, the novel makes for a compelling read with a mixed but ultimately hopeful conclusion. Recommended for libraries serving middle and high ­schoolers.” —School Library Journal

“Strong Like You is an engaging novel in which a high school football star is forced to confront his ideas of manhood and forge better ones.” —Foreword Reviews

“The ache and search for lost fathers drives this stirring addition to the contemporary literature of the Ozarks. Simpson offers an unflinching yet hopeful tale of hard-knock youth driven to the edge by their inherited and tragic lessons of what makes a man.” —Kelly J. Ford, Anthony-nominated author of Real Bad Things