Customer Reviews

Danger Zone

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Jimmy is a star in his hometown, but can he play with All Stars in the U.S? Jimmy is from Minnesota where he is the star in small town Granham. He can play Basketball, but can he compete with international teams as he joins the U.S. Teen Dream Team? They first travel to Los Angeles to practice with the team before the tournament. The top ten teen players in the country make the team and Jimmy is one of the two white players. Does his color make him look bad in the first practices? "Danger Zone" published in 1996 by David Klass shows Augustus' (black player on Jimmy's team) life in L.A. is very different from Jimmy's small town life. After Jimmy puts that and other conflicts behind him the U.S. Teen Dream Team flies to Italy for the tournament. There are more conflicts and a death threat is sent to them. Racism and loyalty take over the tournament.

Racism collides with teammates and others, as they meet for the first time in L.A. and Italy. In the first practices, Jimmy cannot make a shot to save his life. Augustus thinks his cousin should have made the team instead of some no name. His thoughts turn into fists as he says to Jimmy, "You only made the team, because you're some rich white boy." Then it becomes Jimmy vs. Augustus in a fist fight. As the U.S. team flies to Italy some of the fans don't like Jimmy's teammates or the color of their skin. The dark skinned people in Italy are treated differently, as Augustus sees black people poor and living on the streets and he discusses this issue in a press conference. Fans from other teams think he and his black teammates should not be in this tournament.

Are you loyal to your team and teammates though the whole tournament? Some players on Jimmy's team are loyal to their team in hard times, but one is loyal to them all the time. Augustus is that one. He toughened up and put the death threat behind him when others worried about what was going to happen during the tournament. Augustus was accustomed to being treated differently because of his childhood in L.A. and kept the team alive in the tournament. He is concerned about his teammates and when Jimmy is having a rough time sleeping, Augustus tells him "You're not helping us win and you look like death warmed over." Augustus is thinking about the team as a whole and for Jimmy's welfare.

"Danger Zone" by David Klass is successful at showing anyone can overcome different types of obstacles when they have a goal. This book shows not to judge a book by its cover and "Danger Zone" shows racism plays a part even in a basketball game. This book has thrilling hoop action and is excellent to read. I would recommend this book to anyone, because it's story on how a teen copes with racism in a team environment. You won't want to put this book down; you'll just keep turning the pages. I give this book nine out of ten stars.

Danger Zone was the best sports book I have ever read. It was about Jimmy Doyle, a kid from a small town in Minnesota. He's just a normal guy, but he has a great shooting touch. His life is turned topsy turvy when some basketball scouts come and decide to put him on the American Teen Dream Team, to play in an international basketball tournement in Europe. However, he finds it hard to gain acceptance on the team which is almost exclusively black. Things then become very complicated when a death threat is sent to them by white supremists because of racial comments by the team's star player, Augustus LeMay. Jimmy struggles to survive in this envirnment of racism and hatred.

LIFE IN THE DANGER ZONE by Drew Carson Language Arts 2-20-06

In this story written by David Klass, published by Scholastic, is a character by the name of Jimmy Doyle. Doyle is an all-star high school basketball player in Minnesota, probably the best where he comes from, but what about the rest of America? When Doyle is invited to join a 17 and under Olympic team he is almost instantly bombarded with issues.

Would racial issues break up the team? Doyle is faced with those when Augustus Lee May, an African American team member, who refuses to become Doyle's friend just because he's white and he thinks he stole his "homies" spot on the team. Augustus says that "The rich white politicians are the reason my people are living in poverty. Throughout the story Augustus allows Doyle to get closer to him but he'll still "Never accept him as a friend".

Doyle is also faced with internal conflicts like the fear of death. A Nazi guy makes a death threat against the basketball team as their staying in Italy and Doyle is petrified. Doyle knows what it is like to be in this deep of fear because he watched the daily decline of his fathers mental health do to fear up until he died. Doyle tries his best to get out of it.

I don't really think the book resolved the issues very good at all, Augustus still won't shake Doyle's hand and the fear of death just disappears after a spontaneous event ( I won't give it away though). Although the issues weren't resolved it was a very entertaining book. I don't even like sports but I found this book very entertaining because it's not all about basketball. It has some cool adventures in it. I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Jimmy can play basketball...but can he survive in the real world? Danger Zone is a book that shows how a person can overcome obstacles in their path in order to reach their dreams. Danger Zone was written by David Klass in 1996. It's about a kid named Jim Doyle whose dream is to become a star basketball player. When Jimmy's in the zone, he's unstoppable, something that earned him a valuable spot on the Teen Dream Team USA basketball team. Jimmy has to learn how to play like the pros, but also how to deal with difficult people and situations, learning about truth and loyalty along the way. One of Danger Zone's main themes, truth, shows that the truth is often covered up by an act. To his other teammates, Jimmy looks like a rich white kid from Minnesota, but truly, Jimmy and his family suffer financially (their mother owns a small hardware store) and emotionally from the death of Jimmy's father. Another main theme of Danger Zone is loyalty. Jimmy stays loyal to his team and to his country by playing basketball in Europe, even when European terrorists in Italy threaten his life. David Klass wants you to know that a person can seem on way on the outside, but on the inside, they are a completely different person.

Danger Zone shows how a person can overcome issues like racism. When Jimmy first meets his teammates in Los Angeles, they don't think he can play basketball because he's white. Jimmy's main rival, Augustus LeMay, feels that the only reason that Jimmy is on the team is because he, Jimmy, is white. Jimmy tries to prove himself to his teammates by playing his best in practice and in games. He also tries to avoid all conflict with Augustus, an unsuccessful attempt. After Augustus insists that Jimmy is only on the team because he's white, Augustus and Jimmy get into a fistfight. In the end, Jimmy learns how to deal with Augustus by trying to talk to him and convince him that not everything deals with race.

Another idea that Danger Zone presents is not to judge a book by its cover. On the cover of Danger Zone, it shows a kid playing basketball against another team. After reading the novel, many signs of symbolism are found on the book. For one point, the teams are 1 white kid (representing Jimmy) against 3 black kids (representing Jimmy's other teammates), something that symbolizes Jimmy's struggle with race during his time on the Dream Team. Another sign is that the game is 1 vs. 3. This symbolizes that Jimmy had to face his struggles with Augustus alone. A third point is that the team against Jimmy is in front of the basket. This shows that Jimmy has to work hard to succeed on the Team Dream Team.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I thought that the situation was something that could happen in real life and I enjoyed reading how Jimmy overcame his struggles on the team. Anyone who enjoys reading exciting novels with good endings will definitely like this book. I give it 4.5/5 stars for its interesting story and good plot, but also for the way that it showed how a person can succeed even when the situation looks hopeless.

Danger Zone; A Book Of Truth By: Dylan From Canton

Have you ever wondered what lies underneath the cover? Well in the novel Danger Zone, written by David Klass and published in 1996 by Scholastic, not everything is shown beneath the cover. A boy named Jimmy Doyle who longs to be a professional basketball player ends up being invited to go play in the European competition on the "Teen Dream Team." But he realizes that not everything is shown as it appears and much more difficult to comprehend.

Danger Zone is a book that expresses many levels of truth. An case of truth from the novel is when Jimmy truly finds out "what's beneath the cover" in the city of Los Angeles." After seeing many million dollar houses about a mile away is the real city, the truth below the front cover...broken down buildings, bordered up stores, and burned down buildings; the "ghetto" or "hood" as Augustus said. He realizes that not everything is presented as true but is kept hidden.

The novel Danger Zone also reveals many real world conflicts that we still have to this day. Some of these conflicts are racism, terrorists/terrorist attacks, relationship problems, and making tough decisions, such as the decision Jimmy had to make...to help his mother who was widow with two young children and a hardware store to take care of, after Jimmy's father had died or to go play in the European competition with the "Teen Dream Team."

David Klass, the author of this novel, Danger Zone, has shown forms of truth, loyalty, and race in an enjoyable yet clear way. This book in my opinion is well written and will entertain many young adults. I would absolutely recommend this book because of the many things it teaches you. If you like books that show many levels of symbolism then you will definitely enjoy this book.

My over all rating:

4/5 Stars : A

I thought this was an all round good book. It had action and conflict working together all throughout the book. One thing I would have changed was that I would have put more detail into the characters description. I had a hard time picturing the chatacters in my mind. Other than that i think it is a good book.

I just read Danger Zone over the summer and really enjoyed it. I was up half the night reading because I got caught up in the book. Besides being about basketball I really thought it was a good story about becoming a better friend and knowing about people unlike you. The book was amazing and I would recomend it to anyone who wants to read a good book!

The novel, Danger Zone, was intreaging and creative mystery. I liked this book because it started out with a bang and the action never seized. I think the best part was when Jimmy came out of the locker room at half time and came back to win the game. I also liked the ending, it was great the way the author arranged Jimmy and Angus to become friends. Danger Zone would be a good book for people to read that like basketball, it isn't just a sports book though it has a great story line. It also has a very exciting terrorist act, which keeps you reading to find out what the terrorist is going to do.

Danger Zone by David Klass is an exciting and adventurous book. In this book Jimmy Doyle, the main character, is a star basketball player. Jimmy is asked to play on an All-Star team. The team is suppose to play in Italy for a month. Jimmy says no to this amazing offer. The reason Jimmy says no is because his mom is a widow with 3 kids. When Jimmy was young, his dad died, and ever since Jimmy has had to help his mom in the hardware store. Jimmy decides to go with a little help from his mom. In Italy Jimmy has to survive racism, his teammates, and Beautiful Italian ladies. I reccomend this book to anyone who likes adventure and sports.

I thought the book title went well with the book. The danger stood for the player's lives because in Danger Zone the character's lives are in danger. The zone stood for when the main character, Jimmy Doyle, and a supporting character, Augustus LeMay, were on fire during the last game. This basically means they made every shot they put up. Firstly, the book kept me on my toes. During the games the U.S. team played the author would write everything in detail. It was like every shot and every basket was another point for the good guys. That was one thing I like when an author rights in great detail. Secondly, all the characters came to life. It was like when the reader read the book the characters came out of the book and were performing the scene right from the book in front of the reader's eyes. Every new chapter brought another piece of the puzzle to the puzzle. Thirdly, I thought the book was just great. It had everything in a book that I qualify for a great time. One main quality that was good was that the plot was different. It had a twist of solving the conflict. Also it threw in some other little problems to take the players off their game. I thought that was perfect because it made the characters come over something that was troubling them. For one of the characters, Jimmy, he had to overcome the fear of his father that haunted him. That was smart on the author's part. In conclusion, I would recommend this book almost to everybody. I would definitely recommend this book to sports fans. I wouldn't recommend this book to people who despise sports. Lastly, Danger Zone was excellent.