Daniel “Danny” Walker is the protagonist of this novel. He is 55 inches tall, smaller than many of his classmates. At the beginning of the story, Danny has just been rejected from the Middletown Vikings, the seventh-grade travel team made popular by his father, Richie Walker, who went onto become a professional basketball player. Mr. Ross, the coach of the Vikings, wants a team that is tall, ruling Danny out from the start.

However, Danny is a very talented player, practicing in his driveway often as a way of honing his skill and processing his emotions. Tess calls it his “own little basketball world” (240). Danny is a good passer, believing that “[o]ne good passer changes everything,” as he uses his size as a strength to move around the court and get the ball where it needs to go (3). His mom calls him her “streak of light,” a reference to how quick he can move (14).

Throughout the novel, Danny matures emotionally, if not physically. He becomes the coach of the team when his father sidelined after a car accident. He sees the struggles of being a coach, a

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