Created by Zach Simons
“ 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.
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.
“’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).’”
“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.
“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
“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).”