Heat









By Mike Lupica








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My summer reading book was Heat by Mike Lupica. Mike Lupica has written many other books just like this one such as Travel Team, The Batboy, and The Big Field. He is also a sports analyst on a popular ESPN TV show. I enjoy how he can make someone who doesn’t typically enjoy reading, like myself, really like his books. This was one of the favorite books I’ve ever read.

Heat is about a twelve year old boy named Michael Arroyo who lives in New York City, New York in modern times. He lives with his older brother Carlos, who is only seventeen, because his father died. After Michael knocked out a thief, who was running from police, with a throw from home plate, he received lots of unwanted media attention. He tells authorities that want to meet his father that his father is in Florida attending to his sick uncle when questioned about where his father is. The reason he tells this lie is so that he and Carlos do not get separated because Carlos is only seventeen and is not allowed to live on his own. This book makes your emotions go in spirals.

A thief steals a purse from an older woman named Mrs. Cora and is spotted by police. He then runs off to a baseball field where Michael Arroyo waits with a baseball in his hand. The thief continues to run towards right field where Michael throws a perfect line and hits the thief in the head making him unconscious. This gives him attention with the media that he doesn’t really want. Michaels 11-12 year old all-star team has good chances at making it to the Little League World Series, but without their star pitcher, Michael, their chances are slimmed down drastically. The reason they don’t have him is because Michael Arroyo migrated from Cuba when he was younger and in the process he forgot his birth certificate. When dads from opposing teams get suspicious of his age they file a complaint. Michael must show proof of his age to play but this proves difficult considering it is in Cuba. During practice he sees a mysterious girl watching from a distance. He approaches her with his best friend, Manny, and finds her name is Ellie. Later in the story he finds Ellie may be a different person than whom he thought she was. His brother works two jobs according to himself but Michael finds otherwise when he sees his brother being let out of a cop car after scalping tickets instead of being a bus boy at a restaurant. This book is full of twists and turns.

The theme of “Heat” is to never let yourself get down when things are bad and be able to become the same person you were before bad things happen. Even after Michael’s father dies, he is kicked from baseball, and the girl that he likes hates him, he is still able to live life without being constantly depressed. Because Michael has this trait he ends up in the long run with everything working out and him having a better life than before. I thing Michael was very tough and stayed positive in even the toughest of situations.

This book is almost all about baseball. Everything in this book revolves around baseball mainly because this is Michael’s life and what he cares about most. This book is titled what it is because “heat” is a term for a hardly thrown fastball. In this book it is said that Michael’s fastball is thrown at speeds of 80mph.

I thought this was a very good book. It is one of my favorite books I have ever read. I would probably rate it a 4.5/5 stars. It is absolutely full of sports related action. I usually enjoy sports books, but I loved this one. I would recommend this book to other middle schoolers who enjoy sports books.