Being an orphan is no easy feat. In the book Heat by Mike Lupica, Michael, the main character, and his brother, Carlos, are orphans. They have to lie about the fact that their parents are dead, because if the truth were found out, they might have to live with separate foster families. And that is only one of their problems as other Little League baseball coaches see how good Michael is and think he is too good for his age. When asked to produce a birth certificate left in Havana, his hometown, to prove that he is 12, he is unable to retrieve it and is forced to sit on the sidelines. Luckily, Michael and his friend, Manny, are ultimately able to solve the problem with some clever acting and help from their companions. With Michael’s mom’s early death from cancer, the loss of his father was a heavy blow for Michael. Michael’s father, Victor Arroyo, died from a heart attack when trying to protect someone. However, the only people that know this (at first) are Michael, Carlos, Mrs. Cora, and Manny. They have to keep it a secret because, if the truth about Michael’s parents is discovered, he might have to be separated from Carlos if they are sent to live with different foster families. So, he tells everyone the lie that his father is in Florida visiting his nonexistent sick uncle. And that’s only part of what Michael has to face. Although Michael’s loss of his father was indeed very devastating, his loss of the privilege to play Little League baseball took an even heavier toll on him. With no means to prove that he was eligible to play in Little League baseball concerning age – no birth certificate, no nothing – Michael is forced to sit out of multiple baseball games, the best he can do to get involved being coaching his teammates. Fortunately, with the help of a few friends, Michael and Carlos finally dig their way out of this mess. With the help of Uncle Timo, Ellie, and El Grande, the tide finally begins to turn in Michael’s favor. Uncle Timo is Manny’s uncle, and has played minor parts in Broadway shows and other plays, so Manny thinks he can play the role of Michael’s dad to fool Social Services and to prevent Michael and Carlos from being separated. However, when Michael first meets Uncle Timo, he says that he sounds even more American than the Yankee announcers, which isn’t good for Michael since his father is Cuban. Miraculously, the next time Uncle Timo comes, which is when they meet with Social Services, he looks exactly like Victor Arroyo and does a nearly flawless imitation of him. With the problem concerning his parents solved, Michael now needs to focus on finding his birth certificate. One person from Social Services, Mr. Gibbs, wants to help Michael find his birth certificate. However, he already tried calling the officials in Havana, and none of them seem to have Michael’s birth certificate. But right when Michael is about to give up, someone unexpected shows up with his birth certificate: El Grande, a famous baseball player on the Yankees. His daughter, Ellie, befriended Michael, but Michael had never thought El Grande would know where to get his birth certificate. Michael and Carlos could not have pulled through on their own, but fortunately, his friends were there to help. Without his friends, Michael’s future would’ve been compromised, with the possibility of being separated from his brother and never being able to play baseball again. Luckily, his companions were there for him when he needed them, and didn’t let him down. As it goes, “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the work walks out.” – Walker Winchell. Heat by Mike Lupica. Scholastic, 2007. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
Huh?
Note: This story is based on real events. Also, it is pretty confusing and has lots of parentheses, hyphens, and commas. After a few minutes of restless turning in bed, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I rolled down my covers, feeling much better when a gust of cold wind greeted me. However, I still felt hot and humid, so I took off my shirt, finally getting comfortable. This is one of the downsides of summer, I thought gloomily, thinking of the heatwave had struck California last week. Gradually, after finally getting cool enough, I was finally able to drift off to sleep, having no idea that this night’s abnormalities would be one of the most peculiar that I would ever experience. I was partying with my friends on a starship. There were carts, full of chips, party hats, board games, video game consoles, etc. Even though the starship looked small and empty, I felt as if it was the biggest party in the world (dreams mess with your head, you know). Suddenly, a hand appeared at the end of the ship. You might be wondering, how? Looking back, I’m also wondering the same thing. I recall that apparently, the hangar door was open – don’t ask me how we didn’t die without oxygen or how the party things didn’t fall out of the starship. I also recall seeing a hand grab on to the bottom of the hangar floor, and my friends all running up a staircase that I didn’t even know existed on to a second floor that apparently existed too. And the weirdness didn’t end there. The hand…it had a gun. I know, right? When that happened, an originally crazy but fun dream turned into a scary nightmare. But, as I said, dreams mess with your head. One minute, you’re laughing your guts out, then a second later, you’re peeing in your pants with fright. But then a yoga ball somehow appears underneath your butt, and you’re bouncing around, and then you’re wondering how in the world a yoga ball could have anything to do with a murderous hand clinging to the edge of a starship (that is actually what happened – 100% legitimacy guaranteed). Right after the yoga ball incident, everything turned around again Mr. Killer Hand fired his first shot. I guess I was actually pretty creeped out in real life, but for some reason, in the dream, I let out a small laugh, most likely for two reasons: 1) it is hard to be scared when you’re bouncing around on a yoga ball and 2) Mr. Hand was a very bad shot. Shot after shot, miss after miss, bounce after bounce – not a single one of his laser bullets (those were the projectiles that Mr. Hand used – don’t ask me what they are) hit me, thanks to the fact that I was constantly bouncing around on the yoga ball, making me a hard target (but still one an amateur could hit). However, the finale has got to be the weirdest part. The hand slid from the starship (it was probably too tired to hang on) and somehow left its gun (two questions I still haven’t answered: how and why?) on the starship. I shouted to my friends, “You can come down! It’s safe!” I waited, but there was no reply. “Guys?” Nothing. “Guys!” Still nothing. Hands trembling, and yoga ball disappearing, I closed my eyes and picked up the gun. Then I woke up, sweating even more than a basketball player would in the course of a whole year. What a dream!, I thought to myself. This was my second-ever nightmare (my parents say that it wasn’t a nightmare, but I still consider it to be one), the first one being one about a kidnapping (I would rather not talk about it), and also my second-most recent one, happening about 2 years ago. My most recent one involves loud tires and whirring blades – it wasn’t very interesting, however. The lesson that I learned: If you want to sleep peacefully, peel open your eyelids when you’re about to have a nightmare ( I actually did that when I was about to have my 4th nightmare). I also learned that you should never throw a party on a starship with the hangar door open and to make sure to check if your residence has a second floor. But most importantly, I learned that you should always keep a yoga ball at handy!
A Basketball Game
“We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.” – Marie Curie. Confidence is one of the most powerful virtues in life. Without confidence, you will not have the willpower to make decisions. Without decisions, you can’t pave the path of your life. And without a clear path of life, there isn’t a clear meaning or a clear purpose. If you play basketball, you will understand how vital confidence is to your game. If you don’t, do you think NBA players aren’t nervous when they step on the court? Maybe the reason they don’t appear so is because they try to be confident at the same time, to overcome their fears and worries. Thus follows a story of how confidence changed one of my games, and what an important virtue it is. After 5 fruitless minutes of playing against HoopRight, my team, TM Warriors, was down 10-0. We weren’t confident that we could win, because everyone knew that HoopRight is a very good team. There was only one confident person on the team at this point: Jayden. The coach quickly subbed him on as a point guard, and we all grimly headed back on the court. Shot after shot, make after make, and miss after miss, we were falling behind even more: 0-14. For the 7th or 8th time, we inbounded in low spirits, not expecting anything good to happen. However, Jayden still retained enough confidence to take a three. With our now pessimistic spirits, we assumed we would miss, even airball, nevertheless we heard a resounding SWISH! as the ball sailed through the net! Although 3-14 wasn’t much progress, our team still got some confidence back. Surprisingly, in an effort to make a comeback, Roy hit two threes, Jayden hit another three, Lucas hit one mid-range jumper, and Jerry hit one mid-range, while the other team only hit one three and one two, to send the score to 16-19 at halftime. As we all stepped off the court, the coach said encouragingly, “You’re all doing very well. Keep it up!” Our spirits rose once again – because of confidence. After 2 minutes, we all stepped back on to the court. FWEE! The shrill whistle of the referee blew, and the game started once again. HoopRight started with the ball. The inbounded it. “Hot!”, the coach called, saying the code word for press. As three other teammates and I advanced up the court, my other teammate stayed back. Suddenly, the ball was flying through the air to a HoopRight player who had managed to slip to the other end of the court without anyone noticing. I swore under my breath as the ball went in. The score was now 16-21. After getting beat like that, our team was more eager to beat HoopRight back than ever. We inbounded as quickly as we could, not wanting to waste time backcourt. As a fast runner, I ran down the court so that my teammates could quickly advance the ball. FWOOSH! No one seemed to notice as the ball sailed toward me. I quickly drove toward the basket, and when the HoopRight players finally saw me, they were too late. I released the ball with one hand. The ball rolled and rolled and rolled around the rim. It was on the verge of rolling out, yet somehow managed to keep on rolling each time. In or not?, I thought nervously. In or not? Finally, after around 5 rounds around the rim, the ball gave in and rolled in. WAHOO!, I thought to myself, as the score went up to 18-21. Remembering how they had done the same thing to us, I also thought giddily, Get a taste of your own medicine, HoopRight! It was HoopRight’s turn to inbound again. However this time, we weren’t slack. We were giving it our all, determined to turn the game against them. Not expecting us to be so fierce, the ball was quickly turned over. As Jayden reset the ball, Lucas quickly ran to the wing. FWOOSH! The ball flew through the air to Lucas. He quickly put it up, but… no money! Without hesitating, I jumped up, grabbed the rebound, and put it back up. 21-21! We weren’t down, for the first time in the game, thanks to me! My hopes soared high as the game progressed. Again, HoopRight inbounded. This time, they managed to push it past halfcourt, because they, too, were now trying their hardest to regain their lead. But, apparently we were trying even harder to win, because soon, my teammate Roy had stolen the ball. I sprinted down the court again. FWOOSH! The ball came to me once again. PAT, PAT! I dribbled to the basket once again. FWIP! I released the ball once again. And…SWISH! The ball went in again!, making the score 23–21. I got us the lead! I GOT US THE LEAD! After that, we quickly got a 9 point lead, making the score 30-21. Unfortunately, Jayden was very tired, so the coach subbed him off. As we went back to play, we found that without his skill and confidence as a point guard, our shots weren’t going in, our passes were sloppy, and we probably just got the record for most turnovers in one minute. And if that weren’t enough, HoopRight took this setback as an opportunity to regain their lead. Slowly but steadily, they battled their way back. 30–23. 30–25. 30-27. Then, they hit the three we were dreading. 30-30. In the last ten seconds, there was nothing we could do except despair as the game proceeded to overtime. The coach, seeing the obvious solution, subbed Jayden back on. We need all the confidence we can get, I thought. The ball was tipped, and Jerry, who is five foot three, won. Jayden got the ball, and he charged fearlessly, with confidence, towards the basket. SWISH! With
