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Plot Summary
Twelve-year-old Danny Owens lives in the small Texas town of Crooked Creek, where football dominates daily life. His father, Daniel Owens, is a former Super Bowl champion running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers who now works at a farm equipment dealership. Danny and his two best friends, Cupcake (real name Eugene Wills), an enormous boy, and Janey, a smart, athletic girl who plans to become a doctor, spend their summers in a tree house dreaming about futures in the NFL and medicine. Danny bristles whenever anyone compares him to his famous father, longing to be recognized as his own person.
Danny's father decides to train him for seventh-grade football, declaring this season the critical year. Before dawn, they run together and share a rare hug at the top of a hill overlooking Crooked Creek. As they push onward, Danny's father clutches his chest and collapses from a heart attack. Paramedics cannot revive him.
Danny does not cry at the funeral. He goes numb, spending the rest of the summer avoiding any discussion of what happened. His mother, Sharon, cries behind closed doors. Danny is so disconnected he does not realize football practice is starting until Cupcake reminds him. After missing the first day, Coach Kinen, the head football coach, visits and encourages Danny to return. Janey tells Danny people would make less fuss if he just played. Danny decides to dedicate the season to his father.
At practice, Danny dominates and earns the starting running back position. Cupcake wins a starting offensive line spot, both seventh graders claiming roles usually reserved for eighth graders. John Markle, an aggressive eighth grader displaced from the starting role, resents Danny. After a scrimmage confrontation, Markle disparages Danny's dead father. Danny tackles Markle and pummels his face so severely it takes two coaches and Cupcake to pull him free.
On the first day of school, the principal, Mr. Trufant, warns Danny that some want him suspended. Danny agrees to attend counseling with Bob Crenshaw, the school counselor, an easygoing young man who lets Danny set the pace of their sessions. Danny also enters Ms. Rait's English class. Ms. Rait, a new teacher who uses a forearm crutch, discovers Danny cannot read when he scores 28 percent on a solo retest and misidentifies simple words on the board. She gently tells him the truth. Danny storms out, insisting he can read.
A power struggle erupts. Ms. Rait refuses to pass Danny along as previous teachers have done, insisting he earn a genuine grade. When Mr. Trufant produces a class transfer form, Ms. Rait pleads with Sharon not to sign, warning she would be "signing Danny's whole life away" (87). Sharon hesitates but eventually signs the form at home. Ms. Rait then arrives unannounced at their door, explaining that Danny's inability to read is the school's fault and that a football career can end with a single injury. Sharon tears up the form and commits Danny to Ms. Rait's program.
Tutoring begins at Ms. Rait's farmhouse. She gives Danny a Playaway, a small audiobook device loaded with Bud, Not Buddy, and Danny connects immediately with the story. Ms. Rait confirms he has gaps in phonetic awareness and introduces sight word lists and vowel rules. Danny sounds out words he could never read before. He also meets Ms. Rait's pregnant cat, Mrs. McGillicuddy, who has made a den in an old chicken coop behind the house.
Before the season opener, Markle unexpectedly hugs Danny in the locker room, signaling reconciliation. Danny runs for 243 yards and five touchdowns against Froston. That evening, Sharon dumps her vodka bottles down the drain, announcing they are taking control of their lives. But when she tries to cancel Danny's postgame reading session, Ms. Rait refuses, saying making exceptions is what created the problem. Sharon takes Danny home instead. That night, when Sharon says Danny sounds just like his father, Danny explodes. He sneaks out and sleeps in the tree fort, feeling desperately alone. Over the following days, Sharon arranges to move Danny to a different English class.
Everything changes when Danny suffers a stress fracture in his fifth metatarsal, the bone along the outer edge of his foot, during sprints at practice. Five weeks on crutches force Sharon to reconsider. She apologizes to Ms. Rait, saying the injury reminded her of the end of her husband's career. Ms. Rait agrees to resume tutoring but warns this is the final restart. Mr. Crenshaw explains to Sharon that trauma can freeze a person's heart in self-protection and that Danny needs patient warmth rather than pressure.
During his weeks on crutches, Danny continues daily reading sessions and progresses to reading his first book independently. Meanwhile, Markle thrives in Danny's absence, and Danny's celebrated status evaporates. In a pivotal counseling session, Mr. Crenshaw asks what the history of Jericho, Crooked Creek's high school football program, makes Danny think of. Danny answers: his dad. He breaks down, sobbing that he hates his father for dying and confessing his belief that he caused the death because his father was training him when the heart attack happened. Mr. Crenshaw holds Danny and assures him repeatedly that his father's death was not his fault.
After his doctor clears him, Coach Kinen is reluctant to give Danny playing time, preferring to preserve him for next season. Danny's chance comes in a rain-soaked game at Layton Forks, where Markle fumbles four times and the team falls behind 20-0. Sent in reluctantly, Danny hears his father's voice telling him to run straight ahead in the mud, advice from a youth game years ago. He takes over the huddle, calls inside runs, and leads a comeback, scoring the winning touchdown through a hole opened by Cupcake.
With the championship approaching, Danny faces a dual crisis. He scores only 57 percent on a practice reading test, short of the 65 percent needed to pass. At a Friday bonfire, Danny learns that Bug, a massive teammate obsessed with fire, has left to burn the chicken coop behind Ms. Rait's house. Realizing Mrs. McGillicuddy and her newborn kittens are inside, Danny sprints to the scene and kicks through the jammed coop door. Inside, his foot breaks through the rotten floor, trapping his leg. He manages to shove the cat and kittens to safety but cannot free himself. Overcome by smoke, he loses consciousness and experiences a vision of his father, who hugs him and says, "I'm here. I'm right here with you. Always" (291).
Mr. Crenshaw rescues Danny from the fire. Danny wakes in the hospital and tells his mom he saw his dad. He refuses to name the arsonists. At a school hearing, Coach Kinen argues Danny should be exempted from the reading test. Ms. Rait accuses Danny of involvement and describes how the fire spread across a neighbor's corn. Mr. Trufant proposes suspending Danny from her class while allowing him to play. Ms. Rait insists Danny take the test like everyone else. Mr. Crenshaw later explains that Ms. Rait has always been in Danny's corner, pushing him hard on Crenshaw's own advice.
Bug voluntarily confesses to the arson, and Ms. Rait offers not to press charges if Bug receives counseling. Danny takes the test and earns a 72 percent, a solid passing grade achieved on his own. On the day of the county championship against Dillon Junior High, Danny stands on the field with his mom, Janey, Ms. Rait, and Mr. Crenshaw in the stands. The novel ends on the cusp of the game, with Danny having begun to process his grief, shed his guilt, learned to read, and reclaimed his place on the team.
Danny's father decides to train him for seventh-grade football, declaring this season the critical year. Before dawn, they run together and share a rare hug at the top of a hill overlooking Crooked Creek. As they push onward, Danny's father clutches his chest and collapses from a heart attack. Paramedics cannot revive him.
Danny does not cry at the funeral. He goes numb, spending the rest of the summer avoiding any discussion of what happened. His mother, Sharon, cries behind closed doors. Danny is so disconnected he does not realize football practice is starting until Cupcake reminds him. After missing the first day, Coach Kinen, the head football coach, visits and encourages Danny to return. Janey tells Danny people would make less fuss if he just played. Danny decides to dedicate the season to his father.
At practice, Danny dominates and earns the starting running back position. Cupcake wins a starting offensive line spot, both seventh graders claiming roles usually reserved for eighth graders. John Markle, an aggressive eighth grader displaced from the starting role, resents Danny. After a scrimmage confrontation, Markle disparages Danny's dead father. Danny tackles Markle and pummels his face so severely it takes two coaches and Cupcake to pull him free.
On the first day of school, the principal, Mr. Trufant, warns Danny that some want him suspended. Danny agrees to attend counseling with Bob Crenshaw, the school counselor, an easygoing young man who lets Danny set the pace of their sessions. Danny also enters Ms. Rait's English class. Ms. Rait, a new teacher who uses a forearm crutch, discovers Danny cannot read when he scores 28 percent on a solo retest and misidentifies simple words on the board. She gently tells him the truth. Danny storms out, insisting he can read.
A power struggle erupts. Ms. Rait refuses to pass Danny along as previous teachers have done, insisting he earn a genuine grade. When Mr. Trufant produces a class transfer form, Ms. Rait pleads with Sharon not to sign, warning she would be "signing Danny's whole life away" (87). Sharon hesitates but eventually signs the form at home. Ms. Rait then arrives unannounced at their door, explaining that Danny's inability to read is the school's fault and that a football career can end with a single injury. Sharon tears up the form and commits Danny to Ms. Rait's program.
Tutoring begins at Ms. Rait's farmhouse. She gives Danny a Playaway, a small audiobook device loaded with Bud, Not Buddy, and Danny connects immediately with the story. Ms. Rait confirms he has gaps in phonetic awareness and introduces sight word lists and vowel rules. Danny sounds out words he could never read before. He also meets Ms. Rait's pregnant cat, Mrs. McGillicuddy, who has made a den in an old chicken coop behind the house.
Before the season opener, Markle unexpectedly hugs Danny in the locker room, signaling reconciliation. Danny runs for 243 yards and five touchdowns against Froston. That evening, Sharon dumps her vodka bottles down the drain, announcing they are taking control of their lives. But when she tries to cancel Danny's postgame reading session, Ms. Rait refuses, saying making exceptions is what created the problem. Sharon takes Danny home instead. That night, when Sharon says Danny sounds just like his father, Danny explodes. He sneaks out and sleeps in the tree fort, feeling desperately alone. Over the following days, Sharon arranges to move Danny to a different English class.
Everything changes when Danny suffers a stress fracture in his fifth metatarsal, the bone along the outer edge of his foot, during sprints at practice. Five weeks on crutches force Sharon to reconsider. She apologizes to Ms. Rait, saying the injury reminded her of the end of her husband's career. Ms. Rait agrees to resume tutoring but warns this is the final restart. Mr. Crenshaw explains to Sharon that trauma can freeze a person's heart in self-protection and that Danny needs patient warmth rather than pressure.
During his weeks on crutches, Danny continues daily reading sessions and progresses to reading his first book independently. Meanwhile, Markle thrives in Danny's absence, and Danny's celebrated status evaporates. In a pivotal counseling session, Mr. Crenshaw asks what the history of Jericho, Crooked Creek's high school football program, makes Danny think of. Danny answers: his dad. He breaks down, sobbing that he hates his father for dying and confessing his belief that he caused the death because his father was training him when the heart attack happened. Mr. Crenshaw holds Danny and assures him repeatedly that his father's death was not his fault.
After his doctor clears him, Coach Kinen is reluctant to give Danny playing time, preferring to preserve him for next season. Danny's chance comes in a rain-soaked game at Layton Forks, where Markle fumbles four times and the team falls behind 20-0. Sent in reluctantly, Danny hears his father's voice telling him to run straight ahead in the mud, advice from a youth game years ago. He takes over the huddle, calls inside runs, and leads a comeback, scoring the winning touchdown through a hole opened by Cupcake.
With the championship approaching, Danny faces a dual crisis. He scores only 57 percent on a practice reading test, short of the 65 percent needed to pass. At a Friday bonfire, Danny learns that Bug, a massive teammate obsessed with fire, has left to burn the chicken coop behind Ms. Rait's house. Realizing Mrs. McGillicuddy and her newborn kittens are inside, Danny sprints to the scene and kicks through the jammed coop door. Inside, his foot breaks through the rotten floor, trapping his leg. He manages to shove the cat and kittens to safety but cannot free himself. Overcome by smoke, he loses consciousness and experiences a vision of his father, who hugs him and says, "I'm here. I'm right here with you. Always" (291).
Mr. Crenshaw rescues Danny from the fire. Danny wakes in the hospital and tells his mom he saw his dad. He refuses to name the arsonists. At a school hearing, Coach Kinen argues Danny should be exempted from the reading test. Ms. Rait accuses Danny of involvement and describes how the fire spread across a neighbor's corn. Mr. Trufant proposes suspending Danny from her class while allowing him to play. Ms. Rait insists Danny take the test like everyone else. Mr. Crenshaw later explains that Ms. Rait has always been in Danny's corner, pushing him hard on Crenshaw's own advice.
Bug voluntarily confesses to the arson, and Ms. Rait offers not to press charges if Bug receives counseling. Danny takes the test and earns a 72 percent, a solid passing grade achieved on his own. On the day of the county championship against Dillon Junior High, Danny stands on the field with his mom, Janey, Ms. Rait, and Mr. Crenshaw in the stands. The novel ends on the cusp of the game, with Danny having begun to process his grief, shed his guilt, learned to read, and reclaimed his place on the team.
