Frisco-based YouTube sensation and sports entertainment company Dude Perfect is looking to go beyond showcasing viral trick shots on kids’ screens and aiming for their bookshelves—with a new middle grade fiction series from Tommy Nelson, a children’s book imprint of HarperCollins Christian Publishing.

Aimed at readers ages 8-12, the Dude Perfect + Panda series brings the popular Dude Perfect personalities to middle school for new adventures featuring tricks, flips, fist bumps, and more. The first book in the series, titled Operation Trick Shot, releases May 12, 2026, with a follow-up planned for September 2026.

“Creating epic stories together has always been at the heart of what we do, and this series lets us expand the Dude Perfect universe in a new direction,” said Dude Perfect member Cory Cotton. “For a lot of us, that started with reading, especially mystery books that kept us curious as kids.”

Image: Dude Perfect

“This series is built around the same values our fans love—fun, teamwork, and imagination—just told through an all-new adventure that kids and families can enjoy together,” Cotton added in a statement. “We know our fans and their families trust us for high-quality, family-friendly entertainment, and we’re excited to deliver that now to readers.”

In 2009, Cory Cotton, Coby Cotton, Garrett Hilbert, Cody Jones, and Tyler Toney—former college roommates at Texas A&M University—founded Dude Perfect, which has grown into a leading entertainment company producing high-quality family friendly content spanning digital, live, publishing, and theatrical platforms.

The Dudes have reached more than 115 million fans in a global franchise by creating experiences that bring families together to watch, play, and explore both on and off screen, from sold-out arena tours like Dude Perfect: The Hero Tour, to their bestselling books, Dude Perfect: 101 Tricks, Tips, and Cool Stuff and Good Night, Dude Perfect.

Combining ‘sports, hilarity, adventure, friendship’

Each book in the Dude Perfect + Panda series follows the Dudes as they encounter global sports-related mysteries and adventures where they believe they’re saving the day through their special talents. They are unaware that, behind the scenes, their trusty sidekick Panda is helping them succeed. Filled with clean humor, loyal friendship, and lots of sports action, this series kicks off with the five best friends trying to save their local gym from a mysterious businessman who wants to close all the free gyms in town.

Featuring bold, comic-style illustrations in each chapter, Operation Trick Shot combines sports, mystery, clean humor, and old-fashioned teamwork in a fast-paced, entertaining story for middle grade readers, while also sharing practical guidance for navigating sticky situations, Tommy Nelson said.

“This next step in our publishing partnership with Dude Perfect is very exciting and offers the best of Dude Perfect’s appeal—sports, hilarity, adventure, friendship—in the pages of a chapter book ideal for their fan base,” said Tommy Nelson publisher Shannon Marchese. “Operation Trick Shot is the first entry in the Dude Perfect + Panda series, and we can’t wait for kids to fall for these books.”

Members of Dude Perfect will celebrate the upcoming publication of Operation Trick Shot at a TalkShopLive pre-sale event LIVE at 5:00pm CST on Monday, March 9. Attendees who purchase a copy of the book during the TalkShopLive event will receive a signed book. For more information, you can go here.

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