Heat by Mike Lupica Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Heat
Book Review: A Story with Heart
Summary: 5 Stars
I LOVED LOVED LOVED Heat. It's about a twelve-year-old boy named Michael Arroyo, who is a baseball pitcher. And he's not just any pitcher. He has "the heat" in his arm that makes great pitchers stand out. His team has a chance to make it to the Little League World Series, in large part because of his pitching ability. Making it to the World Series is critically important for Michael, because it will fulfill a dream of his father's, and his own.
But Michael has problems, too. His mother died when he was younger, and his father has been absent for several months. Recently, some of the adults in the community have begun asking Michael and his older brother Carlos difficult questions. Carlos is working multiple jobs to support them, but if word gets out about their father, the brothers fear that they will be separated, and put into the foster care system.
Things get worse when a rival player accuses Michael of being older than his 12 years, and hence ineligible to play Little League. Michael can't prove his age because his birth certificate was lost when he emigrated from Cuba. And without his father to help, he and Carlos don't know where to turn. As the playoffs begin, Michael finds himself on the sidelines.
The story isn't all gloom and doom, of course. Michael has several things going for him. He has his love of baseball, his loyal best friend Manny, and a grandmotherly neighbor who cooks for him. And he meets a girl, a very special girl named Ellie. With help from his friends, Michael is able to confront his demons. The ending is heart-warming, and may require tissues.
I loved the characters in this book, especially Michael, whose loneliness in the absence of his parents is palpable. His usually empty apartment serves as an image of his solitude, when he's not with Manny. Manny is one of my all-time favorite sidekicks (though some have called him too good to be true). He's completely loyal to Michael, a catcher willing to take second place to his pitcher. Manny's optimism provides a nice counterbalance to Michael's angst. Here's an example:
"Michael mumbled his reply on purpose.
"I didn't quite catch that," Manny said.
"I said you're right."
Manny Cabrera, light on his feet as always, more graceful than all the people who called him No Neck knew, danced now on the Bronx street corner, Michael's catcher celebrating as if he'd just scored a touchdown."
Here's another example, after Michael has an experience that turns out expectedly well. Michael thinks:
"Maybe that was the way you should go through life, if you really thought about it. Maybe if you didn't expect good things to happen to you, well, when something did, it would seem much bigger and better than it actually was.
...
In Manny's view of the world, there was always another sundae coming along that needed another cherry, just because Manny believed every single day was going to be the best of his whole life.
Michael tried to remember the last time he had felt that way about stuff.
But he couldn't."
Thank goodness he has Manny! I also enjoyed Michael's romance with Ellie in this book. It's a very PG sort of romance, boy likes girl, girl runs away, girl comes back and torments boy a little bit, etc. Misunderstandings ensue. The way that the two circle around one another, approaching and retreating, feels real to me.
This book is also a love letter to baseball. People who aren't baseball fans might find that some of the play by play scenes describing games are too detailed (though they are skimmable). But if you enjoy baseball at all, then Heat is not to be missed. I haven't researched this, but I suspect that the names of many of the characters in this novel are deliberately chosen because they are the names of baseball players.
Heat touches on several themes, without ever feeling heavy-handed about it. Friendship, sportsmanship, loyalty to one's teammates, what it means to be a family, how hard it is for kids who don't have parents in our society, and the immigrant experience. Cops and social workers are portrayed as wanting to genuinely help kids, as are several other adults in the story. The family bonds between Michael and Carlos are strong.
What more can I say, without giving too much of the story away? This is a book with a lot to offer to any reader. Strong characters, humor, and a well-drawn plot. For baseball fans, it's not to be missed. But the main reason to read it is that Heat is a story with heart.
This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on February 15, 2007.
Book Review: Great Sports Story
Summary: 4 Stars
What would you think if you loved baseball and you happened to be one of the best little league players in the Bronx. But there is one problem. You are not eligible to play.
This is what happened to 12-year-old Michael Arroyo. Michael immigrated with his brother Carlos from Cuba. There is one big problem that is major in this book that is too good to tell. Michael's loyal friend Manny was on his baseball team as well.
It turns out that Michael's amazing arm was useful in the real world. From Yankee Stadium he threw a baseball and hit a person who stole a purse in the head with the ball. He was truly invincible.
I think that the biggest theme of this book is perseverance. It means don't stop trying even though times are bad and things aren't going to well.
The genre is sports fiction with also a little drama in it. This book is for anyone to read. All of Mike Lupica's books are sports books. He actually is part of the sports show called the Sports Reporters.
To find out more, read this book and I guarantee that you won't put it down.
-Wade Blair
Book Review: Teacher's Grade: 5-Star Enjoyment; 3-Star Prose
Summary: 4 Stars
Mike Lupica has written a page-turner of a sports book that any kid who ever picked up a Matt Christopher book or enjoyed watching any of the many kids' sports movies out there will read with rapt attention. That's the great part of this book!
The not-so-great part is the way that some of the rules of grammar are ignored by Mr. Lupica, as some of the sentences don't flow naturally off the tongue as they're being read aloud due to missing words. The story is written sometimes in what seems like an attempt at being cool instead of an attempt at being logical.
Overall, this is a story that will get kids to read. And that's the bottom line.
Book Review: Great Book for Older Kids
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book myself, and enjoyed it. For an adult, it's a cute, heartwarming story. However it's a good book for a young adult, short enough for them to complete it in good time. My 13-year-old boy, who doesn't always read much, finished this book over the course of a few days. He enjoyed it enough to read it on his own from cover-to-cover.
The book is about a 12-yr old boy from Cuba and touches on the struggles of immigrants, the working poor, family dynamics, caring neighbors, and adolesence. Oh yeah, and baseball too.....
Book Review: Heat
Summary: 4 Stars
Heat
By: Mike Lupica
The book Heat, Mike Lupica was a very good book in my mind. It had a very good storyline and it was a fast reading book. It is full of action and love. It was very unpredictable; you never knew what would happen next. The only part I didn't like was the ending, I didn't like how the book ended. It didn't really finish the story or answer some questions but I think it might be a set up for a sequel. If I squeal came out I would buy it and read it because I thought this book was very good and I like how the author writes books about sports.
Heat is about a boy that lives in New York with his family. He loves the Yankees and he is the hardest throwing kid on his team, the Clippers. He dreams of making it to the Little League World Series. He faces a lot of challenges on the road to the Little League World Series. He pitches so fast that some coaches don't think he is old enough to play. Once his father dies he has to survive with his brother, Carlos, until Carlos turns eighteen. They can't tell anyone and worst of all if anyone finds out they might get put into a foster home and even might get separated. Then he meets a mystery girl and he likes her she has a good arm just like him but she also had secrets just like him. In the playoffs there is a big surprise that changes the whole book, if you like suspense and baseball this book is the one for you. Even if you don't like sports or baseball I think you should read it because it is more that a sports book.