Summer Ball

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2007

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Chapters 11-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 11 Summary

Confronted with Coach Powers’ assessment, Danny reflects on his course of action as he chucks rocks into Coffee Lake. Danny considers whether Coach Powers is being objective: “What if he was somebody telling him the truth, somebody not afraid to hurt little Danny Walker’s feelings? What if he was an adult who didn’t think it was his job to make Danny go through life feeling special” (106). Despite his mother’s constant advice to pursue his dreams and aim high, Danny begins to see the downside to continuing to try.

The next day in practice, Danny commits to another plan. He works hard in practice, determined to take another fall on his knee. This way, Danny believes he can leave Right Way with an injury and save some of his pride. Rasheed knocks Danny down and Danny exaggerates the injury. As the doctor helps Danny to his feet, his teammates cheer, which makes Danny feel like a bigger fraud.

Chapter 12 Summary

The doctor examines Danny and finds nothing seriously wrong with his knee, but he offers Danny further treatment. Danny declines, opting to call his parents for advice. Unable to reach his mother, Danny heads back to his cabin, Gampel, purposefully ducking everyone. He runs into Nick Pinto, who knows Danny rolled when he fell, protecting himself from injury. Well-accustomed playing with taller, bigger guys, Nick says, “‘You know how it is with us little guys, worrying somebody might take our spot. I get knocked down, I bounce right back up’” (116). When he finds out Danny’s plan, Nick guilt-trips Danny for wanting to leave, suggesting it will break Zach’s heart, as Zach considers Danny a hero. For the reminder of the afternoon session, Danny uses a computer, signing on to hear his first bit of good news while at Right Way: Tess Hewitt tells him that she is staying right across the lake from his camp.

Chapters 11-12 Analysis

Danny decides to fake an injury: when the pressure gets too high, some people back out, but want to do it gracefully, and an injury allows Danny to leave camp with his pride intact. He would not have to admit he lacks the skill or the dedication to continue. However, in sports, particularly to an ethical player like Danny, faking an injury becomes the worst thing a player can do. This issue of cowardice and guilt plays a significant role in Danny’s big decision in these chapters. Faced with a hero’s dilemma, Danny’s decision will define him; readers sense staying at camp, even if it means losing, has more integrity than faking an injury to go home early.

To save face, Danny goes to practice and plays almost too hard. When his friends question him, he replies, “‘You know what the great coaches say, right? You can’t coach effort’” (107). He throws himself into the game until he positions himself to get knocked down by Rasheed. Once Danny falls, Rasheed makes it clear this incident is not purposeful, but the last one was, dealt out as revenge for a perceived slight when the two faced each other in the travel team championship. Rasheed tells him, “‘The other day, when I knocked you down? In my mind? We were even after that, for the flop in the finals’” (111). Rasheed emphasizes the difference between a hit Danny has coming versus a dirty hit (something Rasheed would not do). However, Danny uses Rasheed’s size and grudge against Danny to execute his plan. When he stands up with the doctor, his teammate cheer, which makes Danny feel worse. Danny’s integrity causes this guilt.

Danny reveals his guilt when the doctor examines him, too quick to point out that he is not faking when the doctor fails to find anything wrong with Danny’s knee. His friend, Will, also questions the severity of Danny’s injury. In addition, Nick Pinto, Danny’s short but tough counselor, points out that Danny rolls when he falls, so the injury could not be too bad. Nick states, “‘It’s what little guys like us do. The big guys have to know how to sky. We have to know how to fall’” (117). He accuses Danny of cowardice and threatens to tell Zach about Danny’s plan. However, his father’s injuries affect Danny’s guilt the most. As he gets examined, Danny sits there,“thinking about his dad, all the pain he’d gone through in his life, not just in his knees, and felt worse than ever” (113). Ethically, Danny realizes that players really do get hurt; faking an injury takes away from those players’ actual struggle.