Mike Lupica’s book Heat has all of the elements that a story needs to have. It has a setting and a theme. It has a plot and a conflict. And what kind of book doesn’t have any characters. Also the story was interesting. Not all stories can appeal like Heat. If you like baseball you would agree that this book is interesting. Heat is about a kid who can’t seem to prove his age after moving to New York from Cuba. His dad has died so he has no contact with Cuba. Also he has to prove his age if he wants to continue to play baseball with the kids his age.
Mike Lupica is a master of setting. The setting of this book had to be in a town that knows a lot about baseball. So Mike Lupica chose New York City. New York has 2 Major league baseball teams, The Yankees and The Mets. The Mets are not that great but they are in the MLB so it doesn’t matter. Heat also takes place in the present. You can tell it takes place in the present by just the little things in the story. The cars are still on the ground, and the trains are still subways in this story. The only reason Mike Lupica picked up his pen is to convey the meaning of his story. The theme of the book “Heat” is never give up even if a bunch of people think you should. The reason that this is the theme is because everyone thinks the main character is too old to play in the baseball league he plays in, because he is too good. The main character (Michael) is from Cuba and his father has recently died of a heart attack. Michael and his brother Carlos are too young to live without a parent/guardian. Also Michael’s birth certificate is in Cuba still. When he has to prove his age he has no way in showing he is actually 12. Michael sticks out the entire season and some of the all-star season and he is unhappy about, because baseball is his one and only love. In the end Michael’s favorite baseball player that is Cuban gets his birth certificate and he gets to play, and he does very well.
Mike Lupica is phenomenal at creating characters. Mike Lupica is also great at making up names and ways to describe the characters. The most important character in Mike Lupica’s story Heat is Michael. Michael is the main character and goes through a lot. Michael is a dynamic character because he doesn’t really have to change a lot during the book. Michael is a round character. You also learn about Michael directly so he is a direct character. Michael is a 12 year old that goes through more than most people ever do. Michael lived in Cuba than moved to New York. Michael is a pitcher for baseball and throws very hard. Michael plays on the small diamond. Michael is extremely tall for his age. He is around six feet tall, and most 12 year olds are around five feet six inches.
Two very important components of a story are plot and conflict. If there is no plot there is no story so you need a plot in everything that gets written. The conflict advances the plot which makes the story more interesting. The conflict in Heat by Mike Lupica is character versus society. The conflict is character versus society because Michael is trying to fight of the society from sending him back to Cuba. Michael and his brother also don’t want to get split up into different foster homes. Michael and his brother Carlos have a very close bond. The plot of the story Heat by Mike Lupica is Michael does not want to be split apart from his brother or family. Carlos is all of Michael’s family after his father dies in April of a heart attack.