Summer Ball Mike Lupica 2007 Realistic Fiction Meagan P. Period:4

Setting The setting of my story is mostly at Right Way Basketball Camp. It is important because it’s a basketball book. It adds meaning because it shows how they want to improve at basketball even though they are great at playing basketball. Everything in the story wouldn’t make sense if the setting wasn't at Right Way Camp. Pretty much the whole story’s setting is at Right Way. So the story would change a lot if Right Way wasn't the primary setting of the book.

Characters Character Physical Characteristics Adjectives of Personality Text Evidence /Explanation of Adjectives Character 1: Danny Walker Strong 1. Clever 1. He figures out different ways to psych out his opponents when trying to score. 2. Short 2. Industrious 2. He fights for the ball when he plays, and he is always working hard. Plus he never gets tired when he plays. 3. Athletic 3. Tireless 3. Whenever he is playing with his friends and they are all tired. He is never tired, because playing basketball is like a hobby to him. Character 2: Zach Fox 1. Short 1. Loyal 1. Whenever Danny and his friends needed him, he was always there like a wall to hold them up when they fall. 2.Dramatic 2. Whiny 2. Whenever he was having a bad day at the camp, he would whine about it and say that he would want to go home, and that he hated it there, and that he never wanted to come to the camp in the first place 3. Scrawny 3.Judgemental 3. Within no more than a minute of meeting Rasheed, he was calling him a jerk.

Conflict The conflict in the story is that, Danny is one of the shortest kids at the basketball camp. He is trying to find ways to use his shortness as an advantage, since all of the other boys at the camp are much taller than he is. The types of conflict are man vs. self and man vs. society. Its man vs. self because he’s dealing with his issue personally and thinking of ways he can fix his dilemma. Its also man vs. society because he’s finding ways to best his opponents because they are a lot taller than him.

Summary of Plot Danny has always been the star of the basketball team. His dad was an NBA player for many years. Danny goes to a summer basketball camp called Right Way Basketball Camp, but realizes that’s he is physically the smallest one there. So he tries to find a solution to his problem. He’s out beat by the taller players on the court. To add more onto it, his coach at Right Way doesn’t like him. Later on, Danny fakes an injury to get out of camp. But his friends encourage him to stay and play basketball. So he practices to beat the taller boys. All his hard work pays off in the end, and Danny’s team ends up going to the championships. They win by one point against the other team.

Theme When you have great dedication to something, you will always succeed. Text Evidence: Danny’s team beats the Baltimore travel team with only a couple seconds left on the clock. Text Evidence 2: Danny is wanting to beat Rasheed again at a game of basketball. Text Evidence 3: Danny practices and works hard to outsmart his taller opponents.

Point of View The point of view is 3rd person omniscient. Third person omniscient helps the reader understand the emotions of all characters. The author can describe the story from the vantage point of any character. The story would have been different if it were in another point of view because the author or writer wouldn’t be able to express his feeling like he does with the characters in the book.

Symbolism In the book, Danny’s heart starts to pound heavily when he sees Tess ( the girl that he really likes) come walking towards his way. The symbolism is him (Danny) being nervous when he sees or is around Tess. His heart pounding heavily equals him being nervous when he sees or is around Tess.

Recommendation If you are a fan, you’ll probably understand the book better than others. If you dint like basketball this is this a good book to read. If you want to read a book that will inspire you to try your hardest, then this is the book for you. This whole book is mainly about going through difficulties’ and hardships’. But I the end, you find your way out no matter what. This is definitely a good book to read.