Travel Team

FROM OUR EDITORS

For young Danny Walker, this cut was the deepest. Being dropped from the local travel team because of his shortness would have been bad enough, but knowing that he wouldn't be able to compete in the tournament that his father had won was downright humiliating. Fortunately, Danny wasn't the only kid cut for the wrong reasons, and these "runt rejects" have gained an unexpected advocate: Danny's ne'er-do-well dad. New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica has penned a basketball novel as exciting as any Hollywood sports film.

ANNOTATION

After he is cut from his travel basketball team--the very same team that his father once led to national prominence--twelve-year-old Danny Walker forms his own team of cast-offs that might have a shot at victory.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Twelve-year-old Danny Walker may be the smallest kid on the basketball court -- but don't tell him that. Because no one plays with more heart or court sense. But none of that matters when he is cut from his local travel team, the very same team his father led to national prominence as a boy. Danny's father, still smarting from his own troubles, knows Danny isn't the only kid who was cut for the wrong reason, and together, this washed-up former player and a bunch of never-say-die kids prove that the heart simply cannot be measured.

Travel Team is an inspirational tale in the tradition of The Bad News Bears and Hoosiers. It will leave readers of all ages cheering.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Sports columnist Lupica (Red Zone) clearly shoots from the heart in this appealing novel centering on a talented basketball player. Danny, after playing for two years for the Vikings, fails to make the seventh-grade travel team because he is "too small." The team is coached by the overly intense Jeff Ross who, as a boy, was always the second-best player on the Vikings-just behind Danny's father, Richie, who led the Vikings to a World Series victory. Richie went on to become an NBA star until a car accident ended his career. Now divorced from Danny's mother, the man returns to town and offers to organize and coach a second travel team, the Warriors. Lupica thus sets the scene for on-court action, and delivers play-by-play descriptions of the team practices and games that will thrill basketball buffs. The novel's emotional pitch intensifies when Richie is seriously injured in yet another car accident, Danny takes over as coach of his team, and Ross's son, Ty, the star of the Vikings, defects from his father's team to join the Warriors. Danny's budding romance with his long-time friend Tess adds a sweet, pleasingly corny sideline to the plot, which culminates with the showdown between the rival teams. To Lupica's credit, the narrative never lingers too long on the fathers' rivalry, instead keeping the focus on Danny, his teammates and his family. The novel includes some genuinely affecting moments, especially those depicting Danny's rapport with each parent. Ages 10-up. (Nov.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Tim Davis

Twelve year old Danny Walker, a talented basketball player, fails to make the cut for his seventh grade all-star travel team—the same suburban Middletown team that Danny's father had once led to the championship—and Danny's world begins to fall apart. Making matters worse, Danny has stopped growing at fifty-five inches tall. And who ever heard of a successful fifty-five inch basketball player? Things couldn't possibly get worse. But Danny's life is about to improve in ways that he could not possibly have foreseen. Richie Walker has not been involved in his son Danny's life for a few years, but he suddenly returns to Middletown. As a former professional basketball star, Richie has been struggling with estrangement from Danny and ex-wife Alison, with alcohol abuse, and with disability resulting from an accident years earlier. Richie, however, is now determined to make a positive difference in Danny's life, so Richie decides to organize and coach a new travel team with Danny and a few other talented players. With this as the premise, Lupica's commendable novel takes off at a fast-break pace and includes plenty of exciting twists and turns. Danny, his parents, his friends, and the folks in Middletown all learn something wonderful about friendship, family relationships, teamwork, and respect. Teachers, librarians, and parents should note, however, that profanities which may offend some readers occasionally intrude into the dialogue. 2004, Philomel/Penguin Young Readers Group, Ages 9 to 12.

KLIATT - Claire Rosser

This is Lupica's first YA novel; he is well known for his sports novels for adults and as a sports writer for The New York Daily News. He has four children and has coached youth basketball, so writing about a team of talented basketball players and their struggling season is not a big reach for him. The main character is 12-year-old Danny, small for his age, a smart, fast basketball player who understands the game better than most. He is the child of a successful basketball player (not so successful as a husband and father), whose career was cut short by an accident; Danny's father is staying around this season to coach Danny's team. So the story of basketball games, players' problems and injuries, family tensions, is also about fathers and sons, friendship, and competition. Fathers who use their sons to satisfy and fulfill their own dreams is a theme throughout. Lupica has great respect for the boys struggling to deal with their own skills, their fathers, their teammates, and their coaches. It's a fairly long story for a YA novel, but all the details of basketball games and practices will be welcome to true basketball fans. It's such a relief to have a sports tale written by someone who truly understands the game—and Lupica knows how to create believable characters as well. An excellent sports story. KLIATT Codes: J—Recommended for junior high school students. 2004, Penguin, Philomel, 274p., Ages 12 to 15.

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-Danny is a basketball fanatic. He is smart, talented, fast, and dedicated, but short. When he fails to make the seventh-grade travel team, he also fails to follow in the footsteps of his legendary father, Richie Walker, who led his own 12-year-old team to win the nationals and whose career was tragically ended by a car accident. Danny, who lives with his warm and supportive mom, has a somewhat stilted relationship with his less-reliable father. Danny did not make the squad because of the machinations of Richie's childhood nemesis, Mr. Ross, a controlling man who is determined to build a winning team. Although this text lacks only the stage directions and music cues to make the transition to the small screen as a Hallmark special, it really is a fun book for sports fans. Danny and the others cut from the travel team predictably form their own squad, coached by his father who battles alcoholism (and another car accident!) to lead them, with Danny's leadership, to the climactic game against their arch rivals. Although the kids compare themselves to the Bad News Bears, they are strictly old-school, harkening back to Stephen W. Meader's Sparkplug of the Hornets (Harcourt, 1968; o.p.). There's even a sweetly innocent romance with a wise-beyond-her-years girl who uses IM/chat to provide Danny with support just when he needs it most. A round-ball heart-warmer.-Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews