Heat+book+review

Heat Mike Lupica Copyright:2007 Level:5.3 Points:9


 * //__Character Analysis__//**


 * //There are two brothers named Michael and Carlos Arroyo. They both love the Yankees. They were both brought to America from Cuba. Carlos is 17 years old and has 2 jobs. Michael is 12 years old, he goes to school and he plays on a little league baseball team. He used to play on a baseball team in Cuba. He was one of the best kids to pitch in Cuba, but his father would not let him throw curve balls. Now he is the pitcher for his new baseball team. His favorite baseball player is El Grande the pitcher for the Yankees. Their father died one day, so now Mrs. Cora takes care of them. She is a very nice lady and loves Michael and Carlos. There is this kid named Manny. He is Micha el's best friend. They would go play catch somewhere. Manny is the catcher for their baseball team. "You got some arm kid," the cop said. (page 5, par 12)//**

__**//Setting Analysis//**__


 * //Micheal and Carlos grew up in the Bronx, New York. He always played baseball at Macombs Dam Park. It was an old place. There were 2 different baseball fields. One field is an old major league baseball field on which Babe Ruth played. The other field was a high school field. He lived in apartments with his older brother. His apartment street was on Ruppert Place. This was all happening during the summer because there was no school. "He would cut across Ruppert Place and run down the hill to Macombs Dam Park, across the basketball courts there, then across the green expanse of outfield the two battlefields share there. Then he would hop the fence at the far end of Macombs Dam Park and run underneath the overpass." (page 3, par.7)//**

__**//Problem Analysis//**__


 * //There are many problems in this story. The main problem is that Michael and Carlos have to keep secret about living with no mom or dad or the social services will separate them into foster homes. Michael is not allowed to do his favorite thing anymore and that is playing baseball because some coaches think Michael is too good to be a 12 year old pitcher. So now he needs his birth certificate to prove that he is 12 years old and it is in Cuba where he was born. Then one day, a guy says that he wants to talk to Michael's dad just to make sure he is doing okay.//**


 * //__Recommendation__//**


 * //I would recommend this book to kids who love baseball books. I would recommend grade levels 5-8. I loved this book cause there was a lot of excitement . The genre of this book is realistic-fiction because this could be real somewhere in this country.//**