Travel Team By: Mike Lupica

Created by Zach Simons

The Four Conflicts …

“ Except this was as far from a good night as he’s ever known. Basically, this was the worst night of his whole life(4) .”

He says it’s the worst night of his life because he didn’t make his travel basketball team. This upsets Danny because he knew that he was better than most kids that made the team, and he also knew he didn’t make the team because he was small. As a result of this, Danny wants to take a break from basketball.

“Finally a member of the NBA’s All-Rookie Team, even though his rookie season was cut short by the famous car accident on the San Francisco side of the Bay Bridge after a warriors-Spurs game.”(24)

Danny is feeling sad because he didn’t make the team, and feels like he’s not good enough. Danny thinks back to what his dad used to be as a basketball player, before he got in a car accident. This revealed to me that Danny respects his dad and is inspired by his dad, and as a result, works harder to be better.

“ Danny watched his mom take the receiver. Watched the smile leave her face. Saw her free hand come to her mouth. ‘Not again,’ he heard her say. She nodded hard a couple of times, placed the receiver back in its cradle, walked over to where Danny was sitting between Will and Tess. ‘Its your father,’ she said. ‘There’s been an accident(166).’”

Once again another tragedy hits the Walker family. Danny’s dad had bad hips before, and again he gets in a car crash. What is different about this crash is that Danny’s dad wasn’t drunk, like he was the first time he crashed. This reveals that Danny is a strong and supportive character. When Danny’s dad Richie Walker is in the hospital, Danny goes to visit whenever he gets the chance.

During this conflict, Danny’s basketball team doesn’t have a coach since Richie is in the hospital. Danny has no other option but to coach the travel team himself. This shows me that Danny is extremely brave for coaching the team because he is only in 7th grade, and he is also a player on the team. It also show’s me Danny is a leader for coaching his team.

“’No really, Wills right,’ Danny said. ‘Mrs. Harden’s going to be out of town on a case for the next month, Michael was talking about that at the party. Oliver’s only got his mom. Bren’s dad is all jammed up coaching his brothers in hockey. Mr. O'Brien's got that Wall Street job that has him in London, England, half the time. Colby said that the only time Mr. Danes ever coached her was in soccer, that he gave up coaching anything after that because he’s on call so much on the weekends(171).’”

Setting

Danny always goes out to his drive way to practice basketball. This is like his sanctuary, and a place where he can relax and get away from the world. It is like Danny’s own little world. It reveals Danny’s hard work and effort.

“Like a special club with a membership of one, the place where he could come out at this time of night and imagine it up good, imagine it big and bright, even with just the one floodlight over the backboard and the other light, smaller, over the back door. His mother had done everything she could to make the driveway wider back here, even cutting into what little backyard they had the summer before last(3).”

“ He and his mom were in the kitchen having breakfast, both of them already dressed for school, him for the seventh grade at St. Patricks, his mom for her eighth-grade teaching schedule there. He went there because she taught there. They could afford Danny going there because she taught there, and his tuition was free(24-25).”

Danny’s school is important for many reasons. First, because everyday after school, Danny plays ball in the gym, and he considers it as his gym. Also, all of Danny’s basketball team and his best friend, Tess, all attend this school. This setting reveals that Danny cares for his friends, and that he’s passionate about basketball.

The hospital is a an important setting in this book because Danny gets to know who his dad really is. Danny finds out how much his dad does care about him, and why his dad’s career ended so early. I think Richie and Danny, become closer from Richie being in the hospital.

“Danny sat in the waiting room looking at pictures in the front of sports illustrated, just so he had something to do while his mom talked to the doctors. When they finally got into his dad’s room, all he could see were tubes, coming out of Richie Walker’s arm and stuck in his nose. There was a thick bandage covering his forehead(168).”

Narrator

The author knows he is small, but he plays bigger than his size. With everyone teasing him about his size only drives the narrator to prove he is good even though he’s small.

“He knew he was small. He just didn’t think he was small. Big difference. Danny had known his whole life how small he was compared to everybody in his grade, from the first grade on. How he had been put in the front row, front and center, of every class picture taken(1).”