Customer Reviews

Heat

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.....

Heat is a okay read, though it is very boyish and rather boring for anyone who is not into baseball. The book is about a boy named Michael Arroyo, a boy who immagrated from Cuba sometime before. He is very into baseball and is an orphan along with his older brother. However, thay are keeping their dad's death secret. When Michael gets accused for lying about his age in baseball (though he's not) he can't prove it because he dosen't have the birth certificate he left in Cuba. There is also a long description of each game with names of plays and fouls and outs and really confusing stuff to many people who aren't familiar with the game's rules. I just find that boring, though any big baseball guy would probably like the book.

I'm like one of the other reviewers - bought this for someone else but got to read it too and enjoyed it a lot. Obviously for a 32 year old, this was a very easy read, but it was interesting and fun and I loved it as much as any kid.
It's about a young Cuban born pitcher who dreams of making it to the little league series but then a rival coach accuses him of being older than the league limit. He has to try and proove his age with some difficulty. His father (who came with him to America from Cuba) has since died and he can't get his birth certificate. I won't say anymore about the plot (I don't want to give it away), but I will say that this is very good and enjoyable. It's even going to be made into a movie.
I think this book is really for anyone who is a sports fan - not only the specified age group listed here. If you are a kid at heart, then you'll find this great too.

Heat, a great baseball story, is the best sports story I have ever read, is written by Mike Lupica. Michael Arroyo, a 12 year old boy from Cuba, plays baseball for the Clippers. He seems to be a normal boy that you would meet in the Bronx of New York. He has plenty of friends, lives in an apartment with his brother Carlos, and adores the Yankees. But Michael is not your average baseball player. In the first chapter, Michael hits a handbag thief in the back of the head with a baseball he threw from home plate. The amazing thing is the thief was in deep center field. He can pitch so fast that he knocks over his catcher, and best friend, Manny. With Papa's advice, and help from Carlos, it seems that nothing can stop him. The problems start when he meets Ellie, a Cuban girl that he thinks is very pretty. When he tries to impress her, he goes too far. The coaches of the other teams now think he isn't 12 because he can pitch so fast. Now, Michael has to try to keep his dream of getting to the Little League World Series alive, and keep his greatest secret to himself. That's hard now that Ellie won't talk to him. I liked this book because it is about a kid with a dream who will do anything to make his dream come true, like me. If you start to read Heat, you won't stop until you're done.

I love Mike's style. He has a great way of developing the characters and making you feel like you are a part of their lives. I got the book at lunch time for my son, and figured I'd read a few pages...but as with his previous books, I just couldn't put it down. I know my son will love this one as much as he did Travel Team.

Problems. Everybody has them. Mike Lupica takes the misfortunes of a little boy from Cuba and paints a picture of sorrow, determination, and hope. He takes the ordinary problems of a boy growing up- family, friends, girls- and adds some not-so-ordinary problems such as a death, the police, and a missing birth certificate that may take away his passion.
Although what I told you sounds appealing, Mike Lupica takes this interesting topic and writes a mangled, boring, flat version of it. At first, I admit I was hooked. Michael's skills at pitching were formidable, and I liked him. As I read on, I began to vaguely see him in my mind. That was when the problem arose. Mike Lupica left bits and pieces of the characters lying around- I couldn't take them and piece them together to form a cohesive whole. I didn't empathize with characters most of the time, and the story itself wasn't even focused on the plot. Very little effort went into the plot compared to the sports action, and he ended up siphoning my interest away bit by bit with his writing.
One of the main flaws I noticed with Heat was that it was eerily similar to another one of Mike Lupica's sports books, Summer Ball. In Summer Ball, a boy is really good at BASKETBALL, and he wins the national championships. Then he teams up with his rival (overcomes his problems) and they win the summer championships together.
Another flaw I noticed was the books unrealism. A boy who can pitch 80 mph? A father who just drives home after getting a heart attack? A birth certificate found just before the championship game and given to Michael personally by his idol? It was just too unreal for me.
Mike Lupica's Heat did not entertain me. He is a newsperson at heart, and that shouldn't really get in the way of his writing. A poorly written, well balanced story is better, in my opinion, than an unbalanced book with only one strong suit.
Unless you are as deep into sports as Mike Lupica, I don't really recommend this book to you. The sports craze really took away from the actual plot. This is a sports essay with a transparent plot. If you are looking for a strong plot tempered with a sports aspect, look elsewhere.

Heat is a great book. In addition to integrating many complex concepts, such as family and kindness, into an easy, fun book to read, Mike Lupica involves some cool strategy about baseball. Heat became sort of monotnous at times because Michael, the main character, continuously struck everybody out, but Mike Lupica "heated" it up when he needed to. The climax of the book was especially exciting.

This is a great book for young and old. The story is touching and refreshing. Baseball fan or not you will love it. Highly recommended.

I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of this book for my friend's son but I ended up enjoying it as much as he did. I never thought I would get so wrapped up in a book for kids, especially one about baseball. Loved the characters. Loved the twists. You don't have to be a kid or a sports fan to like this book, you just have to like a good story.