Summer Ball

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2007

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Chapters 9-10Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 9 Summary

As the Celtics begin scrimmages, Danny feels overwhelmed by the other players. Coach Powers offers him little playing time, except to relieve Rasheed every so often. Danny laments it is “like he was only here to give the star of the team a chance to catch his breath” (86). Rasheed also continues to dominate the team. Coach Powers, after Danny plays poorly, forces Danny to sit next to him while he lectures Danny. As the other team wins, Coach Powers reminds Danny and his teammates (everybody except Rasheed), “‘You all learned a lesson that boys learn the first week of camp every single year—that only the strong survive here’” (90). Since the team cannot pull out a win, Coach Powers puts Danny in the game.

Given the chance to prove himself, Danny drives toward the basket, breaking away from the other players and readying to shoot: “He kept his chin up, eyes on the basket like his dad had always taught him, in a lifetime of telling Danny to play the game with his head up, putting what he knew was the perfect spin on the ball as he released it” (90-91). Danny’s shot, while well lined up, never makes it into the basket. Instead of cheers, he hears laughter: a tall player from the other team blocks the shot, flaunting his height and highlighting Danny’s shortness while doing so. Danny leaves the game in disgrace.

Chapter 10 Summary

After his humiliating defeat, Danny considers his options. Normally, the old Danny would go out and practice all night, “com[ing] up with a new move so that nobody would ever grab one of his shots like that ever again” (92). This Danny, however, suffers a crisis of confidence. Even though the player apologizes for taunting him, Danny nurses his wounds and, while on a walk alone to clear his head, runs into Lamar Parrish. From other players, Danny finds out that a coach at a private school recruited Lamar, who is fifteen and in seventh grade. Annoyed by Lamar’s rude and selfish behavior, Danny engages him until the two are about to fight. Danny knows Lamar would kill him in a fight, “[b]ut some dumb part of him wouldn’t allow him to take even one step back” (97). After Lamar passes a ball hard into Danny’s chest, Danny walks away from the fight, even as Lamar continues to hurl insults at him.

Danny makes his way to Coach Powers. There, he tries to negotiate a trade; he feels Coach Powers would be happier without him and that he would get along better with another coach. Coach Powers does not accept this offer; rather, he offers Danny a bit of advice. He tells Danny after his defeat today: “‘And what you’ve seen, with your own eyes […] is that this sport is going to break your heart eventually’” (102). Coach Powers refers to Danny’s height, meaning Danny will never become a great player because he is short. He suggests Danny try out another sport that might cater more to his skills, like soccer. Dumbfounded, Danny responds, “‘You’re telling me to…to find another sport?’” (104). He walks back to camp feeling lower than he did before.

Chapters 9-10 Analysis

Danny’s size becomes the major issue for him as scrimmages start. When Ollie blocks Danny’s shot during a game, his subsequent celebration only emphasizes Danny’s lack of height. Danny laments that now“he was famous at Right Way for something else, for being the first kid at camp to get laughed right out of the gym” (93). Danny’s cockiness going into the shot amplifies his humiliation, given the relative ease with which a tall player blocks it. His embarrassment turns Danny into a different person: he almost ends up in a fight with Lamar, he looks for validation from Coach Powers, and he plans to fake an injury, rather than face his challenges.

The mind games continue in these chapters. Even though Danny does not particularly respect Coach Powers, when Coach tells him to find another sport, Danny begins to question his choice to play basketball. This is because Coach Powers plays on Danny’s insecurity about his height, telling Danny: “‘And if sports were fair, and you were even close to being the size of the other boys, I’m sure you could shine. But sports aren’t fair. And the other boys aren’t your size. They’re not just bigger, they’re a lot bigger” (103). With his worst fears realized, Danny concocts his fake injury plan.