Heat by Mike Lupica is a great book. It really grabs your attention. If you love baseball or books about baseball, this is the book for you. Heat is about a 12 year old boy with a booming pitching arm. He is a Cuban immigrant. He now lives in the Bronx growing up all his life watching the Yankees play. Other teams don't believe this 12 year old boy named Michael is young enough to play because he is so good. The problem is, he doesn't have a birth certificate to prove it and he can not get one. Both of his parents have died and he is living with his brother, who is 17 years old. No one knows he is living with his brother alone. If they do find out, they will be separated from each other. The title, "Heat" could mean two things, either it's that Michael's pitching arm is sizzling fast or that both of his parents have died and he has to go through that heat.

This book was a great book. I think Mike Lupica, the author, did a great job writing about the situation Michael Arroyo is in and what he has to deal with. Throughout the book, I could easily visualize what was happening. I really liked this book. It wasn't all about baseball. It was also dealing with real life situations. This book also inspired me, because a 12 year old boy having to go through all of this without his mother or father. I couldn't imagine doing that at 12 years old. In the end, Michael solves all of his issues and gets to pitch at the Yankee Stadium. He even meets his idol, El Grande, along the way. This is a really good book. I would recommend it to many people. If you want a book that is hard to put down and is inspiring, I would grab this book off the shelves and start reading.

This book to me was absoultley amazing and inspiring from start to end. It made me want to keep reading wanting to know whats going to happen next,This book is about a 12 year old boy whos lives with his brother and doesnt have a mom or dad, and has to lie and say his dad his in Florida helping his sick uncle, with all this going on he doesnt have a birth certificate showing that hes from cuba and that he is 12. In this book I was always questiong my self if Michael and his brother Carlos were going to get caught by the authorites and if they did they would have to go to a foster home or worse back to cuba. I also loved this book because one its about baseball and two its about a 12 year old kid pitching under pressure on the field and dealing with all his issues off the field. Yet he just seems to perform on the field thats whats so inspiring, he just goes out and performs for his team. This book also inspired me by just thinking that a 12 year old kid has to grow up so fast because he doesnt have a mother or a father his mother died of cancer and his father dad of a heart attack after a few months of coming to America so he has to fend for himself and help his older brother to I couldnt even image that at 12 years old, and having to fend for yourself. In the end Michael gets through all of these issues and pitches at Yankee stadium and even gets to meet his idol El Grande along the way. I recommend this book to people who want to read a inspiring novel also a book that you never want to put down and of course if you love baseball.

This book was amazing! It was fun to read and I would read it again if I could! Some parts of the book were confusing, but that's because I don't do baseball. But I still loved reading it! It is about a boy named Michael, who plays baseball, and lives with his brother. They moved to America from Cuba and their father has gone missing and they are trying to survive on their own. Michael runs into problems with little league as well as problems with official people. Michael and his brother are trying to stay together, but they are worried they will be torn apart. This book was great to read! I would recommend it for people who know baseball, and who like realistic fiction.

Have you ever wondered how it feels to be the best at a sport. The novel Heat by Mike Lupica has a character that knows this feeling. This novel shows the reader to never stop trying even if you feel that it isn’t possible.
tIn Heat by Mike Lupica, a lot of the characters go through tough challenges. The main character, Michael Arroyo, is a baseball superstar who loves to pitch. Coming from Cuba, Michael was living a good life in the U.S. That is until his father died. With the arm of an 17 year old, this 12 year old kid has the talent to lead his team to the little league world series. The only problem is, he doesn’t have his birth certificate. Without his birth certificate, Michael will not be able to continue playing with his team. With his 17 year old brother, Carlos, and his neighbor Mrs. Cora, he will have to find his birth certificate in time to play with his team in the Little League World Series. Mike Lupica shows the reader that no matter how many times you fall, to always get back up and keep trying because one time, things might go your way.
tIn the novel, Mike Lupica clearly showed the feelings that the characters were having. For example, when the Social Services comes to the field to talk to Michael, he runs away like he was panicked and nervous. Mike Lupica could have talked more about Michael’s father so we know how close they were. All that the reader knows from the novel about his father is that he was a cab driver that would sometimes have a catch with Michael. If he described what Michael did with his father it would help the reader understand that what Michael was going through was bringing him down and that he was strong and was able to stay up.
tI recommend this book to young kids because it is an easy book to read. Along with being easy to read the language is simple. I also recommend this book to kids who like one of Mike Lupica’s other books, Summer Ball. I believe they are similar in the fact that both of the main characters are going through problems and have to face the challenges they go up against with little support. These two characters might have different problems to face, but they take them on in a similar manner.
tThe one characteristic that I would use to describe Michael is courageous. He does not give up or lose faith when it looks like his problems will not stop going downhill. Mike Lupica really shows that all you have to do is keep trying. If you never give up things will always go your way if you keep trying. Just because somebody looks like they are great at everything doesn’t mean they are not going through problems like others.

This book is one of my favorites because it has humour and crazy things in general and it digs deep into real world problems. 12 yearold Michale arroyo and his 17 year old brother Carlos who turns into his gaurdian after his father dies, just a few months after they migrated from cuba. While they are trying to hide from what they call ¨offical persons" or social survice workers so they don´t get seperated in a foster home or even worse get sent back to cuba. Michale Arroyo is on a little league baseball team and he is their number one pitcher because of the heat his arm throws and this has some other teams concerned and causes him to not be able to play until they have his birth certificate to prove he was 12 years old and he goes on this journey and rollercoaster with his friend Manny and Ms Corra and help from all around and on the ride he finds love in many unexpected ways. This book is aimed at young adults and maybe some baseball players because it does have a lot of base ball termonoligy. But also based on the genre you perfer. The apeal could be the cover because of the baseball player, this genre is a realistic fiction. Humour is shown through various scheems and jokes made by Manny and his friends and family. And it had crazy things happening throught the whole story like a love intrest Micale has. And it digs into real world problems because it talks about immigration and deportaion which is a serious matter and not to be taken very lightly and its kind o scary when you think about it.

In all, this book is one of my favorites because it has humour and crazy things in general and it digs deep into real world problems. The gist of this is that two brothers are facing the world and the crazy things life throughs at them and their problem of imigration social workers and Michael laying baseball. Over all this book has a prtty good plot and as for a theme I said that the theme was to never give up even in hard times, and I would rate this boo a 5 out of a scale of 1-5. I would recommend this book to any aseball fans and fans of realistic fiction. Have you read this book if you have what did you like about it and would you recommend it to anyone?

Ethan Simpson

Heat

Mike Lupica

Michael Arroyo is a 12 year old immigrant from Cuba. He has traveled to Bronx, New York to be a part of a local little league baseball team, the Clippers. Michaels father recently passed away, which means Michael and his 17 year old brother have to keep their secret as long as they can until he turns 18. Because of Michael's huge throwing arm, other teams suspect he's not 12 years old. Michael has no proof of birth and has to battle his way with friends to his clearance and the championship game. I really enjoyed this book because I could relate to the baseball part of it and you always wanted to find out what would happen next in Michael's life. This book was suspenseful when Michael would play ball against his toughest competition and have to fight his way to clearance. I would recommend this book to others that are interested in sports in general that want a good realistic fiction sports plot line. I would recommend this book is for middle school and high school students. This an overall entertaining book for students to read.

Title and Author:
Heat by Mike Lupica


Main Characters:
The main character is Michael Arroyo.
Michael is a 12 year old boy who loves to play baseball and has a fantastic pitching arm.
He lives with his 17 year old brother named Carlos.
Manny is Michael’s best friend and the catcher for their baseball team.
El Grande is a pitcher for the New York Yankees and Michael is a huge fan of him.
Ellie is El Grande’s daughter and always shows up to Michael’s games and practices.



Plot/conflict and resolution.
Throughout the book the brothers try to hide the fact that there is no parent living with them from Social Services.
Everything is going well for Michael, until someone wonders how a 12 year old can possibly throw a baseball eighty miles per hour.
The coaches in his league all banded together to force Michael to stop playing until he can prove his age.
The bad part is that there is now way to prove Michael is 12 years old.
No one can find his birth certificate, and Michael doesn’t have a parent to fight for his cause.
He learns that he may not need a parent when he can rely on his friends around him to support him through tough times.
By the end of the book, Michael learns that his friends have become the family that he needed.


The Book:
I loved this book because of the combination of baseball and drama in it.
This book kept me excited to find out what will happen next.
The author did a great job of making the book feel like the story actually happened in real life.
I recommend this book to everyone

This book was appealing to me because I like baseball, and I am a fan of Mike Lupica's work. The book is based on two brothers living together with no legal guardian in the Bronx, New York. The younger of the two brothers, Michael, is an extremely talented baseball player, and is a die hard New York Yankees fan. Michael's older brother, Carlos, is 17 years old and he has to work to support him and his brother. The boys face difficulty when Michael is invited to play in a baseball tournament that would require traveling, but he needs a legal guardian to sign off. The brothers fear that if anyone finds out they are living alone, they will be separated, so they are trying to get by until Carlos turn 18. Will they make it? Mike Lupica did a very good job crafting his writing to build up suspense and encourage the reader to keep reading. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys baseball.

Heat is a fictional book by Mike Lupica. The main character is Michael Arroyo, a twelve year old Cuban immigrant, who moved in NY with his father and brother. After his fathers death, brothers are forced to live alone the hard life. Michael’s brother works two jobs. Michael joined the baseball team, as a pitcher and dreamt to win the little league world series and become a major league pitcher. Coaches don't believe in him and think that twelve year old boy can’t run 80 miles per hour.

When his team reaches the playoffs for the world series, other coaches make the league directors question his birth certificate and demand he can't play until he shows one. While that is happening, it draws attention to the foster care programs in his city. During the this time he meets a girl, Ellie, who is a daughter of his favorite Yankee player, El Grande, a Cuban descent. Lately, he contacts some of his family back in Cuba and gets Michael’s birth certificate right before the championship game. Michael dreams come true when his team ends up winning the championship and he gets to throw the first pitch in the next Yankee game.

The characters in the book are: Michael Arroyo and El Grande. Michael is the main character of the book who is the inspiration for a lot readers. El Grande is a star Yankee pitcher at the time that Michael looks up to. He ends up helping Michael’s dreams come true.

The setting is in the South Bronx of New York City in the late 1990’s. The author paints a perfect picture and seems like you are there watching all the ongoing things.

The theme of the book is to follow your dreams and don't let anyone tell you different. Also, the main theme is baseball, but baseball just creates a story which makes the book so inspirational.

I would recommend this book to people who are motivated to reach their goals, who like inspirational books. The book shows how everything is possible in life and if you play your cards right, you might win the life game.

Heat is a book about a kid Michael Arroyo who has a pitching arm that has the chance to take his team to the little league world series. Michael throws some major heat but its not enough compared to the heat Michael faces daily. Michael was newly orphaned after his Dad led their family escape from Cuba and his only family is his 17 year old brother Carlos. Although if social services find out about the situation they will be split up into a foster care system, or worse. Sent back to Cuba. Together his brother and him carry along dodging bills and questions from people who ask to many questions. But then someone is wondering how this 12 year old boy is throwing this hard. With no way to prove his age , no certificate, and no parents to back him up Michael's secret is blown open and he discovers family came from the most unexpected sources.
Although I like the way this book played out and how interesting it as to me because I play baseball I found it hard to follow at times. It was definitely a great book and was hard to put the book down at times. However the way that I enjoy baseball and how much I play it I loved the book overall. One thing that was most enjoying though was how inspirational the book was to me and the way I look at things differently now.
Overall the story was good, but had the moments where it was not giving enough information and i did not want to read. I enjoyed the characters because of the way the brothers stayed with each other daily. I would recommend this book to other baseball players and Little league's who hope some day to win or to make it too the little league world series. However I would warn them that the book can be slow at times.

Ace pitcher Michael, his 17-year-old brother Carlos, and their Papi are relatively recent arrivals in New York, having escaped from Cuba with the hope of getting the gifted Michael to the Little League World Series and, eventually, to the Majors.

All is progressing according to plan: Michael is feeling great both from the mound and at the plate. He and his best friend Manny, a fast-talking catcher with a secret passion for dance, books, and movies, are part of an unbelievably good summer all-star team in the Bronx. And there’s this beautiful girl named Ellie who’s started showing up at the playing field some days who’s got a wicked arm and a great laugh.

You’d think life just couldn’t get any better for Michael until an opposing father/coach writes a letter to the local Little League saying he suspects Michael is older than he’s allowed to be, and the league votes to suspend Michael until he and his family can produce his birth certificate to prove his age. Suddenly, life has just gotten much more complicated, threatening to reveal a secret that Michael is guarding closely and that could get him and his loved ones into a lot of trouble.

Sports columnist Lupica has created an interesting backstory for his main character and his secondaries and does not feel obligated to share all of it with us. This helps to make the characters feel like people with stories outside of the confines of the novel. Also, there were several spots in the book where I thought, “Oh, so this is where the story is going to go.” And often it didn’t. I don’t know if those were intentional false leads or if Lupica just, as Jasper Fforde puts it, built himself a lot of off-ramps that he didn’t end up needing, but, again, it works.

I think this is a book that a lot of boys would really like. Michael’s not an outwardly emotional character, but he’s got a lot going on beneath the surface. He feels out of control in his life, but when he’s on a baseball field that all slips into the background. Plus, Manny makes an awesome best friend. The boys try to solve their own problems without getting adults involved, which recalls to mind a number of poor interesting choices I made as a teenager because I could see grownups were just going to complicate things. I’m not saying it’s a good thing, merely that it’s real.

It’s not just boys who’ll like the book, though. Anyone with an appreciation for a well-told tale focusing on the underdog also will close the back cover with a smile on their face. I’m glad I picked it up.

If you like baseball this is a book for you. It's the exact feeling of a kid living in the bronx growing up watching the Yankess, but there's more. He is stranded with no parents just his brother and no proof of age or identity, so through out the book he is living in fear and might have to give up the biggest part of his life that he is really good at just so he doesn't get caught.