Travel Team & the Big Field

by Mike Lupica

Two of New York Times bestseller and legendary sportswriter Mike Lupica's best loved and bestselling titles in one action-packed volume! The action is on the basketball court in Travel Team , when the underdogs get a second chance and prove that you can't measure heart. In The Big Field , the baseball league championship is on the line, but just how far is reluctant second-baseman Hutch willing to bend to be a good teammate?

Genres: Sports, Fiction

544 pages, Paperback

First published May 12, 2011

About the author

Michael Lupica is an author and American newspaper columnist, best known for his provocative commentary on sports in the New York Daily News and his appearances on ESPN.

Reviews

[Truman Belknap · Rating 4 out of 5]

I though the book was all around good, it wasn’t slow and the story is very good.

[Nicholas Bhatia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like this was a very entertaining book to read because not only does it teach people that they should never give up it also helps people believe that height does not matter in basketball because even the smallest players can be the most skillful players on the court. This book has chapter about failure and success which makes it even more interesting to read.

[Payton Hille · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the novel Travel Team, by Mike Lupica, The main characters are Danny Walker, Richie Walker, and Tess Hewitt. Danny Walker is the best basketball player at St.Pats and the second best player in the whole Middletown. Middletown is a small town where everybody knows everybody. The main characters face several conflicts on the way on their journey to the national championships. The person who had the most problems was Richie walker.

Richie had the perfect career as a kid and had a promising future. He played for the Middletown Vikings and lead them to the national championship for the first time in history. He was a town legend. He ended up being a first round draft pick for the Golden State Warriors. One day after a game he was driving home and lost control of his car on a rainy night. The accident ended what was a promising career. The book never said why but he left his wife and kid.

Throughout the story Danny faces obstacles on his path to the playoffs with his own team since he got cut by his dads former team, the Vikings. During the rising action of the book, Danny's team started to get good and they won their first game. After their win, they went out to go celebrate and his dad got into a car crash. The team couldn't find a adult to coach them so the looked to Danny to coach them.

At first everybody thought that was going to be easy for him, since he knows basketball more than most people in Middletown but he struggled at first. At the end of the book they solved the problem by making it all the way to the national championships but they were down by one point. Danny hit Ty Ross with a dime and Ty made the layup to win the game. And everybody including his dad who got out of his hospital bed to watch this was so happy.

This book is intended for readers who love the game of basketball. Also for short people who need help to realize that the smallest players can make a big impact on the game. This book grabbed my attention from the start and I was hooked all the way until the end. Also it shows that you can have your life going good and your future is set, but that can all change in an instant. All in all this was a great book to read and I am hoping to read the sequel to this book.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first time I layed eyes on this book, I somehow felt like I was gonna like it. I knew I was gonna like it because I love basketball but I wasn't entirely sure about the baseball part because I haven't been that exposed to the sport. When I threw this book in my basket I didn't bother to read the description because the cover was already a dead-giveaway. And so I was in utter disbelief when I picked up the book from my tbr pile so I could read it, and found out that this book was about twelve year old kids and fourteen year old whatnots. I was very reluctant in reading it but I was like... you brought this onto yourself, so face it. And I did. My, was I surprised. This book is just terrific! I was having second thoughts if I would come to liking this book because it's been said that this book is for 8 years old and above and I felt like I'm way too old for an eight year old book. But this proved me wrong. I really appreciate how Travel Team developed as a story and it was a big bonus that I'm a fan of basketball so it was easy for me to understand the way the games were played in the book. And for the Big Field, God, I had a hard time getting into the story at first because I had no idea what the rules were, how the game was played, so I was lost. Completely LOST. But then I came to adjust, I then understood, and I just loved the story and how Hutch came to be. It was sad, very sad, his circumstances, and I just loved how he dealt with things. I was surprised that I liked The Big Field more than I liked the Travel team, when I understood Basketball better. But the Big Field's story just captured my heart and made me cry, and that was the last thing that I expected to do. Mike Lupica is a genius.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a father and a son. The Dad was a professional basketball player before a car accident. Danny who is the son followed his fathers footsteps and played on an AAU team. He was too short to play on their team. Danny becomes depressed and his father shows up to talk to him. His father then decides to make his own team for the "misfits" who didn't make it. They play the team that dropped Danny and they lost but Danny's best friend broke his arm. Danny believes it was caused by him. His best friend's dad is the coach of the team that dropped him. In the next game against that team Danny's best friend came and joined the team. They win because they had him.

The only thing I would change about this would be not focusing on Danny's romance as much as they did. She was a great character but I don't feel that she was as important to the story as Danny's dad. I did like that they put her in so that Danny would feel better but they are both in 6th grade. One thing that I also (but not completely) might change would be Danny's dad showing up drunk to a practice. I probably wouldn't make him show up to a practice but maybe I would bring him into Danny's house drunk. I just felt really bad for Danny's dad. You lose millions of dollars because of another driver, then you leave your wife and kids, and now you are barely holding on to your life. Those are the only two things I would change.

[Sam Seckman]

Short review
This book is a great book because not only is it about basketball it is also about real life problems. It starts off with danny not making it on his 8th grade travel basketball team. He trys out and then he gets a call from the coach that night that he didn't make it on the team cause he was to small. So he goes outside and burns his anger by shooting hoops and then a car pulls in his driveway and who gets out is his dad that played for the same travel team growing up and his dad eventually goes to the NBA and plays for the golden state warriors but then something happens so then danny's dad puts together a basketball team in the same league as the team he didn't make. But then something happens to danny's dad so now danny becomes the new coach while he's playing on the team. But in a tough game against the kirkland blue devils when that have only scored by 8 points somebody shows up at halftime to coach the game. Read this book if you would like to find out.
Some pros and cons of this book
Pro- It is a great book for teenage boys that love basketball. It's a quick read.
con-Sometimes get boring and not fun to read.
Rating
I would rate this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars because I personally enjoyed this book.

[Zach Marshall]

In the novel Travel Team, by Mike Lupica, the main characters are Danny Walker, Richie Walker, and Tess Hewitt. Danny Walker is the best basketball player at his high school, St. Pats, and the second best player in all of Middletown. The story takes place in Middletown, a small town where everybody knows everyone.
The main characters face several conflicts on the way to the national championships. The person who had the most problems was Richie Walker. Richie had the perfect career as a kid and had a promising future, but he had conflicts with his parents. Throughout the story, Danny faces obstacles on his path to the playoffs with his own team, since he got cut by his dad’s former team, the Vikings. Tess was the motivator and provided the support that kept Danny going when he was feeling down.
During the rising action of the book, Danny's team started to get better and they won their first game. After their win, they went out to celebrate and Danny’s dad got into a car accident. The team couldn't find an adult to coach them, so they looked to Danny to coach them.
Mike Lupica writes sport’s novels for kids that all sport’s enthusiasts would enjoy. I recommend this book to anyone who likes the thrill of sports.

[Luke Sclamberg]

I loved this book. It was amazing. It is a story of a kid just like me. He is even short just like me. It has the right amount of drama, and a subjct and a setting that I can relate to on a regular level. My dad may not be an ex-NBA player, but the shortness, IMing, and everything. If this book had been about tennis, it would pretty much have been my life story.

In the book, Danny Walker's dad is a former point guard from Middletown. Danny tries out for his town travel team, and gets cut. His dad and his mom got divorced, and his dad is back in town. The reason that Danny got cut is that the coach hates his dad. Danny's dad creates the Middletown Warriors, because his dad played for golden state. They ended up beating the 1st travel team.

I made a connection at the part where Danny is on his driveway for hours, practicing. He does that every night, practices for hours. What I had a connection to is me. Every night for hours. I get into a mode where I feel like its just me, my racquet, and the garage.

[Garrett Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book because I like baseball. All sports in general. This book takes place in modern day Florida. Hutch, as team captain is trying to get his team to the state championship. Hutch and his father never really talk. His dad played in the minor leagues and he thinks he will never be as good as his father was. The new shortstop Daryl, doesn't like Hutch and stole his position. Hutch is a good leader, smart, and determined. He really wants to win the state championship. In this book Hutch isn't happy with his dad because he doesn't talk to him, but he comes to his games when he can. On the other hand, Daryl doesn't even know his father and he is just grateful that he has a mother and can play baseball. I play baseball too. My dad cant always make it my games but I'm thankful that i know who he is. And I'm thankful i have the chance to play baseball. This was a great book. I recommend it to all sports player

[Andres Fulgencio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hello my name is Andres and I am here to tell you on how much i love the book called travel team by mike lupica. The book is about a boy who is really short and plays basketball. This book really inspired me because of how danny walker which is the really short boy that did not make the basketball team how him and his dad made their own basketball team for the kids who did not get picked on the team for a small reason so danny and his father gave them a second chance. Now what actually inspired me in the book is that danny is really a short kid for basketball but he has the biggest heart in the game more than anybody, danny never gave up on himself or neither on his team and guess what ? it turns out as dannys team actually becomes one of the best teams in the league. I want to give a thank you to Mike lupica because this book that he wrote really inspired me and it will inspire you to never give up on your dreams and to bring hope.


by: Andres Fulgencio

[Jacob Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

My book is called Travel Team,its a good book and its about basketball . Its reminds me of me and my brother Cameron.We play basketball every day and its really fun.He's teached me how to shoot threes, do a layup, and he teached me how to dunk a 8 foot basket.

This book is about Danny Walker hes just a small kid playing basketball. Danny led the team to the “National ESPN Championships”they lost but Danny won't give up so he practiced every day and night.Then a year past and they were at the championships they fought their hardest then they went to the finals and they won from a last minute 3 point shoot and the Travel Team won.

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like basketball, this is the book for you. This book is about a boy name Danny, he is 12 years old, and he loves basketball. His dad was the star on his Travel Team and they made it all the way to nationals when he was Danny's age. He is too short to make the Travel Team, but that doesn't stop him. Him and his parents start a new Travel Team and they start off rough but by the end it is the perfect experience for Danny. Although there were some rough and hard times during this Danny figures out how to stick through it and stay strong.

[Madel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Travel team is a good book but I also love this book because I love mike lupicas books.Mike lupicas books might be boring at first but then it start getting very exciting.This book is about a kid named Danny Walker.Danny Walker is really good at basketball even better than the best kid in sports at the school.I recommend this book to anyone who like the books by mike lupica.

[Rodrigo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think is a good book to read because sometimes inspired you to work harder. The book is about this boy that is the smaller guy in the basketball team. His father was a good player, at the point that he went to the NBA. He get a car accident and literally he lost his career and his son want to be like his father and work hard instead of crying because he is too small.

[Ace · Rating 4 out of 5]

A couple novels for kids. I read a lot of them when I was a kid, Chip Hilton, mostly. These were on a par with those, perhaps a little deeper with exploration of family problems. If you're looking for reading material for sports-loving kids, this book would be a good pick.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

GREAT BOOK!!!, with some of my favorite sports awesome just awesome

[Horace Mann Family Reading Challenge · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is about basketball. A.C.

[Kanza · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you like basketball then read this book this kid doesn't make the travel team.Meanwhile his parents divorce.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

if you like sport themed book well you will definitely like this one especially if you like basketball

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Danny Walker, a twelve year old basketball star doesn’t feel like much of a star at all when he’s cut from his town’s travel team – the same team his father, Richie led to victory years before. Danny is tired of being underestimated and thought of as small. He brings friends Colby and Ty to form his own team and, with the help of his dad and best friend Ty, Danny finds that great things do come in small packages as he brings his underdog team to victory in the championship.
Overall, I liked the book. I like sports fiction and the characters were my age. I could relate to a lot of the conflicts Danny faced. The book did start out a bit slow and it took me awhile to get into it.
I would recommend this book to other boys or sports fans like me that are about my age.

[Zach Rutherford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. I'm not the biggest reader but this book interested me. In this book it was predictable but kinda not like some parts you could predict and others you couldn't.

The book is about a kid who loves basketball who wants to play on the travel team. He didn't end up making the travel team because he was small. So him and a bunch of other kids who didn't make the team made their own travel team. They scrimmaged the team they got cut from and they lost the kid who was on the other team didn't like the small boy but they ended up becoming friends. The team of small kids ended up beating the team they got cut from during the season. So I would recommend this book.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose this book because I really like this book. It´s one of my favorites because I play basketball. My favorite part was when The main character hit the game-winning shot in the championship game. I would recommend anyone who likes basketball to read this book.

[Maddox Dejuras · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is for all the short people that get discouraged by their height, I know I'm one of them. This book is about a short kid named danny walker, people expect a lot from him because his dad was an NBA star, Danny was very fast and he had average ball handling skills, he had a funny looking shot where he heaved the ball on his shoulders and used all of his might to get it into the rim. His dad broke up with his mom leaving them very little money. Then His Dad richie started t come over and teach danny how to play and then danny made the team. I think this book is a very inspiring book for other short people like me.

[Gregory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read w B

[Tony]

it about a kid name danny and he try to join a basketball team but they talk about michael jordan all the time, and yes i like the book because it talk about mj

[Maxwell Verigo · Rating 4 out of 5]

pretty good story about a boy who is trying to prove himself by coaching his team while also playing and proving his father that he can do it, also ended off in a good way of father and son uniting

[Sergio Tristan]

it was cool. it was very realistic and relatable for a basketball player like me

[Lilli Roth]

good

[Armin Cehic]

The book Travel Team & The Big Field by Mike Lupica is a entertaining fiction book about a sporty kid named Hutch. He has been one of the best baseball players out there right now for his team. In baseball he is a shortstop and the leader on his team. There is a problem when he gets put on a different team with an already good shortstop. Hutch is now put on second base which he fells was put there as a demotion which makes him feel like his dad which went pro but wasn't good enough. Throughout the book hutch and Daryl become great friends in the end which proves that even though your not as good as the other players you can still get along as one team and work together to win the championship as they did