Summer Ball [Hardcover]

Mike Lupica (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

When you’re the smallest kid playing a big man’s game, the challenges never stop—especially when your name is Danny Walker. Leading your travel team to the national championship may seem like a dream come true, but for Danny, being at the top just means the competition tries that much harder to knock him off. Now Danny’s leaving Middletown for the summer and heading to Right Way basketball camp, where he’s out of his element and maybe out of his league. The country’s best ballers are in attendance, and Danny will need to raise his game if he wants to match up. But it won’t be easy. Old rivals and new battles leave Danny wondering if he really has what it takes to stand tall.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5–8—This novel continues the story of Danny Walker, the basketball-obsessed hero of Travel Team (Philomel, 2004). In the interval between the two books, the 13-year-old and his friends went on to win the travel-team championship. Now that they are heading off to summer basketball camp, Danny is feeling the pressure of being number one. He plays as well as ever, but he's still the smallest boy on the court and anxiously hoping for a growth spurt. As the story begins, things quickly go wrong for him. He fights with his girlfriend before he leaves; at camp, he's separated from his friends and assigned a berth in the younger boys' cabin. There are many familiar elements and few surprises here, yet Lupica breathes life into both characters and story. Danny is a classic sports-story underdog, but he's also sympathetic and engaging. He is surrounded by a cast of supporting characters who add humor and whose interactions ring true. When Danny befriends Zach, who is a younger version of himself, readers see the protagonist grow in empathy and self-awareness. Sports fans will relish the on-court action, expertly rendered in Lupica's taut prose. This worthy sequel to Travel Team should earn a wide audience.—Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Danny Walker is back in this sequel to Travel Team (2004). This installment takes Danny to a summer basketball camp, where the scrappy hero faces some of the country's best players in his age group. Early on, Danny finds himself spending a lot of time on the bench because his coach (a retired college coach) determines that he is too short for the game. Danny suspects, however, that the coach's antagonism may have more to do with an old grudge the coach holds against Danny's dad, a former basketball star. Eventually, though, Danny's tough-minded determination wins the day as he helps lead his team to victory. Lupica is at his best when he puts the reader right in the center of the action on the court. His game descriptions are fast, accurate, and exciting. Young sports-fiction fans will eat this up. Todd Morning
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Philomel; 1St Edition edition (May 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399244875
• ISBN-13: 978-0399244872
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #852,189 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mike Lupica is one of the most prominent sports writers in America. His longevity at the top of his field is based on his experience and insider's knowledge, coupled with a provocative presentation that takes an uncompromising look at the tumultuous world of professional sports. Today he is a syndicated columnist for the New York Daily News, which includes his popular "Shooting from the Lip" column, which appears every Sunday. He began his newspaper career covering the New York Knicks for the New York Post at age 23. He became the youngest columnist ever at a New York paper with the New York Daily News, which he joined in 1977. For more than 30 years, Lupica has added magazines, novels, sports biographies, other non-fiction books on sports, as well as television to his professional resume. For the past fifteen years, he has been a TV anchor for ESPN's The Sports Reporters. He also hosted his own program, The Mike Lupica Show on ESPN2. In 1987, Lupica launched "The Sporting Life" column in Esquire magazine. He has published articles in other magazines, including Sport, World Tennis, Tennis, Golf Digest, Playboy, Sports Illustrated, ESPN: The Magazine, Men's Journal and Parade. He has received numerous honors, including the 2003 Jim Murray Award from the National Football Foundation. Mike Lupica co-wrote autobiographies with Reggie Jackson and Bill Parcells, collaborated with noted author and screenwriter, William Goldman on Wait Till Next Year, and wrote The Summer of '98, Mad as Hell: How Sports Got Away from the Fans and How We Get It Back and Shooting From the Lip, a collection of columns. In addition, he has written a number of novels, including Dead Air, Extra Credits, Limited Partner, Jump, Full Court Press, Red Zone, Too Far and national bestsellers Wild Pitch and Bump and Run. Dead Air was nominated for the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best First Mystery and became a CBS television move, "Money, Power, Murder" to which Lupica contributed the teleplay. Over the years he has been a regular on the CBS Morning News, Good Morning America and The MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour. On the radio, he has made frequent appearances on Imus in the Morning since the early 1980s. His previous young adult novels, Travel Team, Heat, Miracle on 49th Street, and the summer hit for 2007, Summer Ball, have shot up the New York Times bestseller list. Lupica is also what he describes as a "serial Little League coach," a youth basketball coach, and a soccer coach for his four children, three sons and a daughter. He and his family live in Connecticut.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't wait for the next book!, May 23, 2007

By 

L. Crosby "Book lover" (Northeast) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Summer Ball (Hardcover)

I am writing on behalf of my 10 year old son who has read everyone of Mr. Lupica's books...and is his #1 fan. When we picked up his newest book - the sequel to the already amazing Travel Team - my son could barely wait to read it! To say I had to literally tear the book from him so he'd sleep is not a lie. He literally finished the book in 3 days and could not wait to tell me all about it. He now bugs me to read his books - and I definitely will since my husband also is a big fan. Mr. Lupica's book speaks to all ages - everyone can relate to them - even if you are remembering from your past - or experiencing something like it right now. Keep writing - you are a master storyteller for both the young and young at heart.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, the Travel Team sequel, May 23, 2007

By 

jbird (NY, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Summer Ball (Hardcover)

Just finished Summer Ball and it exceeded my expectations. I was of the opinion that Travel Team was the best book ever written....WRONG! Summer ball grabs you at the beginning and never lets go. Mr Lupica has displayed in his artful way what freindship and loyalty is all about. You want to stand and cheer for a basketball player that anyone would pull for. This is a must read, enjoy!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Slammin'' story for the class!, May 29, 2007

By 

Nora A. Thompson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Summer Ball (Hardcover)

I just read Summer Ball to my class, and let me tell you it was phenominal! My class was so excited to read this story every day. I started out reading a chapter a day but my class could not get enough! One day during a rainy recess my student's requested that we read the story as our activity for recess. The story is of a 13 year old boy who goes to a basketball summer camp. He has the stigma of being short, however it seems to have gone away by when he mentors a younger camper. Lupica captures the nerves of leaving home and the desire to be the best. Reading this to my homeroom has been a Slam Dunk!