Summer Ball

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2007

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Chapters 19-20Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 19 Summary

Jeff LeBow calls the boys to his office after the fight; he tells them Lamar complained about it. The boys receive punishment and a two-day suspension, while Lamar receives no punishment. While Danny tries to explain what really happened, Rasheed tells them how players like Lamar get away with bad behavior sometimes. He tells Danny, Zach and LeBow that during games, a “‘[g]uy hits you with a cheap shot, only the ref doesn’t see that one. All he sees is when you go back at him’” (171). The two boys leave the office and Zach heads to breakfast, leaving Danny with Rasheed. Rasheed says he wants to practice, instead of eating, and accepts Danny’s offer to accompany him.

After playing some games, the boys take a break and talk, just like Danny and his friends do between playing time. Rasheed opens up about his life, telling Danny “most people never got past the way he looked, the hair and the tats. That’s what they called him. Tats” (173). Rasheed says he must earn all As in school or his mother will not let him get tattoos. Danny also finds out Rasheed lost his father in a random shooting and his mother raises him on her own: “‘My mom says that’s the big cause of death where we live, being in the wrong place at the wrong time’” (174). Danny recognizes another similarity in the two boys; Danny’s mother raised him by herself, while his parents separated. He also believes that they both have cool mothers. Together, “They sat on a rock above the court, Rasheed telling Danny that basketball was going to be his way out the neighborhood for him and his mom” (174). After getting to know one another, Rasheed uncharacteristically smiles; despite their many superficial differences, Rasheed thinks he and Danny are the same in the ways that matter, particularly how they both feel about basketball.

Chapter 20 Summary

During the pair’s suspension, their team, the Celtics, lose two games. When Danny returns, Coach Powers blames Danny for getting Rasheed caught up in his drama and Powers also claims Danny’s actions cost the Celtics those games. Rasheed tries to interject, but Danny takes the blame, because “[h]e wasn’t going to let Rasheed fight his fight every day” (177). At game time, Danny resumes his role as “Mr. Spare Part” (178), while Rasheed plays brilliantly. Rasheed tells Danny he plans to help Coach Powers see how wrong he is about Danny; Rasheed wants to win, and he knows Danny possesses the talent and the integrity to help that happen.

Tess visits Right Way to take pictures with her beloved camera; Danny finds her talking to Lamar, showing him how to use the camera. Lamar feigns an interest in photography, toying with Danny and using Tess. Lamar leaves and Danny warns her to stay away from Lamar—that Lamar will hurt her to hurt Danny, but Tess tells Danny, “‘Don’t worry, big fella, I can take care of myself’” (183). Danny heads off for a game, leaving Tess to photograph the camp and watch his game.

Danny receives a surprise come game time; he finds out he will start . After Danny plays well, he advances to point and is given more control in the game. As his taller teammates foul out, Coach Powers calls their final time out with the Celtics down by two points. Coach orders Danny to bring the game into overtime, but Danny objects, believing Will, who is also playing his best game, can make the game-winning shot. Danny worries that pushing the game into overtime will break that momentum, causing the Celtics to lose.

The Celtics win the game when Danny ignores Coach Powers and passes to Will: Danny takes the ball and “[throws] it to the spot the way quarterbacks did before the receiver even made his cut” (187). Will catches the ball easily and makes the game-winning shot. Coach Powers cuts Danny’s elation short. Angry because Danny has run his own play, Coach Powers tells him, “‘Next year tell your father to send you to a camp where the boys get to coach the teams” (188). Torn between following orders and his own instinct, Danny knows he will probably never be good enough in the eyes of Coach Powers.

Chapters 19-20 Analysis

Appearance versus reality is the first significant theme in these chapters. After Rasheed steps in to help Danny against Lamar, Danny realizes he judged Rasheed without knowing him. Rasheed explains his background, revealing his tattoos and cornrows are part of him—one tattoo is a tribute to his deceased father—but those tattoos are not the entire story. Danny finds out Rasheed’s single mother raises him after his father dies in a random shooting; she makes Rasheed get all As and work hard in both life and basketball. Danny also knows what it is like to miss a father; he wants to mention it, but shies away, knowing he cannot compare his life to the hardships Rasheed faces.

These chapters also highlight the difference between where Danny comes from and Rasheed’s hometown. When the two venture onto the shabbier back courts, Danny “told [Rasheed] there was no such thing as a bad court as long as the rims had nets” (172). Rasheed promptly replies, “‘Maybe in Middletown,’ […] ‘Try coming to Baltimore sometime’” (172). For Danny, basketball is a passion;for Rasheed, basketball is a means to escape his dangerous neighborhood. Any time Danny goes out on the court, the stakes are Danny’s pride. When Rasheed takes the court, the stakes are his entire future. Regardless of their differences, the two boys form a kinship based on one thing: integrity as a player. For Rasheed and Danny, integrity as a ball player means integrity as a person. Rasheed admits, “‘we more alike than anybody’d ever think’” (175). Playing ball with integrity has a unifying effect that overcomes the differences in the boys’ backgrounds.

Rasheed uses his influence over Coach Powers to get Danny more playing time, or, as Tarik puts it, Rasheed helps Coach Powers “‘[t]he way you’d help some real old person cross the street. Along the lines of that’” (180). In these chapters, Danny really comes into his own, finally breaking free of Coach Powers’ mind games. He even ignores Coach Powers’ game plan and runs his own, allowing Will to make the game-winning shot. Danny pretends to agree with Coach, “only he didn’t agree. Will was on fire, and Danny knew their best chance was to win the game right here” (186). Coach Powers cannot see Will’s strengths because he discounts Will as a valuable player. Danny, on the other hand, shows knowledge of the players and the game that puts Coach Powers to shame, despite his many years of experience. The players begin to look at Danny as more of a coach: he knows the players, and their strengths, and he understands the game, while Coach Powers only cares about winning, making many short-sighted calls in the process.