Kobe Bryant sets ambitious plan for books in 2019-2020

NEW YORK — Kobe Bryant, Oscar winner and former NBA great, has big plans for books in the next few years.

Bryant's Granity Studios plans to release five middle grade and young adult novels in 2019 and 2020. According to a press release issued Thursday, each novel was "conceptualized" by Bryant and written with a "notable" fiction author.

Projects for next year include "The Wizenard Series: Training Camp" featuring a "diverse cast" of young males and "Legacy and the Queen," about a young black woman and her tennis match against a superstar known as "The Queen."

Earlier this year, the Granity film "Dear Basketball," Bryant's ode to the sport that made him famous, won the Academy Award for best animated short.