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'Summer Ball'
No one is more surprised by Mike Lupica's current position as one of the most popular young-adult novelists in America than the man himself.

The nationally syndicated columnist for The New York Daily News and ESPN "Sports Reporters" panelist is in the middle of his national media campaign for "Summer Ball" (Philomel Books), the sequel to his hugely successful "Travel Team."

The young-adult division of Penguin Books shipped a 200,000 copy first printing of "Summer Ball" on May 15 and the writer has signed to produce a series of similar books that will take him through 2011.

"My wife says that me writing from inside the mind of a 12- or 13-year-old is perfect casting," Lupica joked, during a recent phone interview from his New Canaan home.

The sports journalist crossed over to adult novels several years ago with great success, including the best-sellers "Wild Pitch" and "Bump and Run."

The author never would have guessed 10 years ago, however, that he would now be doing school appearances where young readers greet him "like I'm a rock star."

"Travel Team" struck a chord with underdog kids — and those who root for them — with its story of a basketball-crazy kid who is cut from a team because he is too short. The story was inspired by Lupica's own experiences with one of his children, Zach.

"What I didn't know when I wrote (the first book) was that every parent had a similar story about that point in their life where sports broke their child's heart for the first time," the writer said.

The novelist was stunned when he put together a brief outline for "Travel Team" and it was sold to a publisher almost immediately ("Now I have to write a book!," Lupica realized).

"Writing the first chapter, it seemed completely natural to be inside that boy's head," the novelist said of his feisty hero, Danny Walker, who lives, breathes and eats basketball, but fears he will never have that growth spurt that will enable him to play the game in high school and college.

Lupica knew he was on the right track when Zach and his brother Alex would hover over the printer as their dad completed each chapter of "Travel Team."

The book went to number one on The New York Times best seller list and a new young adult fiction star was born.

Although the protagonist in "Summer Ball" is a boy, Lupica gives Danny a sweet and savvy girl friend in the form of Tess, who keeps pushing Danny to be as good as she knows he can be.

Tess is like a much younger version of the smart female charmers who were the women-behind-the-men in the movies of Frank Capra and Howard Hawks. Without Tess guiding him along, Danny might not be in a position to help lead his friends and teammates to victory.

"You cannot live in a house with the wife I have and the daughter I have and not write cool women," Lupica said of his wife Taylor and his daughter Hannah.

"Tess is the way I imagine my wife was at 12 or 13& I married just about the coolest girl ever," the writer added.

Lupica says the feedback from his young readers is so strong and he enjoys writing these books so much that he might not ever return to adult fiction.

The author is finishing next spring's novel, "The Big Field," and this fall a new series of books, "Mike Lupica's Comeback Kids," is being launched for middle school kids.

"It's funny. I'm always working but it doesn't feel like work," the author said of his commitment to two books a year for the next five years.

"It really does feel like what I am supposed to be doing," Lupica added.

"Getting kids to read is just about the best thing you can do," the writer said of being part of a growing pool of popular young adult authors that includes his friend, the Florida journalist and novelist Carl Hiaasen.

The pleasure of writing such successful books is boosted even higher by the tours that bring Lupica into contact with hundreds of his readers at every stop.

"In an age of video, Internet, and iPods, kids still have a passion to read," he said.