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!
Book Reviews
Little Women, Reviewed by Ashley, 13
Living in New England in the nineteenth century around the time of the civil war is the seemingly perfect, amiable March Family. In the novel Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, we follow the lives of the March Family. The four sisters are Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth. They live with their beloved mother and father. This novel mainly surrounds the lives of the four sisters who are newly living in poverty after their father gets drafted into the army. They help each other grow up as they make the transition from girls to women. They befriend Laurie, their energetic and once lonely neighbor who lives next door to the Marches with his grandfather, Mr. Laurence. The girls and Laurie go on many adventures together and take him in like a brother. The girls navigate their way through life and hold on to each other through love, loss, trouble, trauma, and laughter. One of the many things I enjoyed about this novel is the strong feminine presence. Especially since,This book takes place during a time when women were very much in the background of society. The March sisters adhered to what was expected of them as young women, but also paved their own ways. Jo March, the second oldest sister and the main protagonist of the novel does not fit the classic stereotype of the women of the time, she’s outspoken, does not care for fashion, has a passion for writing, and does not plan to get married at a young age. Jo develops into a complex, loving character and makes the novel the amazing story that it is. We also get many historical facts about life in the nineteenth century, such as the clothing people wore, the modes of transportation, and how people went about their daily lives. One of the most memorable moments of the novel is when Jo is confiding to her mom and seeks her advice. This is something the girls do continuously throughout the story when they are at a crossroads or are feeling sad. Jo finds herself having trouble managing her anger. This is a problem she struggles with early in the book. She goes to her mother and learns that she too has an anger issue. Together they work through it and Jo gains a new perspective on the problem. “I hope you will be a great deal better, dear, but you must keep watch over your ‘bosom enemy’, as father calls it, or it may sadden, if not spoil your life. You have had a warning. Remember it, and try with heart and soul to master this quick temper, before it brings you greater sorrow and regret than you have known today.”‘I will try, Mother, I truly will. But you must help me, remind me, and keep me from flying out. I used to see Father sometimes put his finger on his lips, and look at you with a very kind but sober face, and you always folded your lips tight and went away. Was he reminding you then?’ asked Jo softly. ‘Yes. I asked him to help me so, and he never forgot it, but saved me from many a sharp word by that little gesture and kind look’”(86-87). We see the sympathetic dynamic between the girls and their mother and how greatly they look up to her and hold on to her words. Overall, this novel was very inspiring and interesting to read. Although it’s lengthy, it is still worth reading until the end. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking to read classic American literature. This book teaches us that family and close friends are of utmost importance. With a strong supportive network of family and close friends any challenge can be tackled and any obstacle can be overcome. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Puffin Books, 1868. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
Thankfulness: a review of “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” by Grace Lin, by Daniel Zhu, 10
I have heard the following thought experiment countless times, albeit from different people: you can save your family (including you), or you can save everyone but your family (with the exception of you). Hard choices like this, although usually not as dramatic, often draw out one’s true personality. In the book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, the main character, Minli, and her friend Dragon are trying to change both their fortunes by visiting the Old Man of the Moon; a mythological figure who is said to control the fate of all humans. However, when she discovers that she can only have one question and one answer, Minli is forced to make a choice: she can either change her own fortune, or she can change that of one of her closest friends. Minli and Dragon both didn’t have very good fortunes. Minli’s village never saw any rain, so farming was extremely hard; the villagers barely got by in everyday life. Dragon was a little more lucky – he was a dragon, after all – but for some reason unbeknownst to him, he couldn’t fly like other dragons could. Both wished to change the bad conditions they felt they were living in. When they finally get to the Old Man of the Moon, however, he delivers some grave news: Minli can only ask one question. Now Minli is faced with a choice: she can either change her own fortune, or Dragon’s. Although this was forshadowed when Dragon found that the bridge to the Old Man of the Moon could not hold her weight–only Minli’s–it still came as a shock to her when the Old Man of the Moon revealed the grim truth. However, Minli suddenly remembers the words of her friends Da-Fu and A-Fu: “Why would we want to change our fortune?” Then she sees the legendary paper which supposedly held the secret to happiness: and it read “thankfulness.” She realizes that perhaps why Da-Fu and A-Fu didn’t want to change their fortune was because they were already satisfied with everything they had; they didn’t need more. Minli finds herself thinking that perhaps her fortune doesn’t need to be changed either. So, without doubt or hesitance, she asks the Old Man of the Moon, “Why can’t Dragon fly?” It turns out, the pearl on top of Dragon’s head was somehow weighing him down. Minli pulled it off his head, and together, they flew home. Coincidentally, Minli’s father had told her mother a story about a dragon pearl, so the next morning, they were shocked that Minli actually came home with one. And then, after their happy reunion, the villagers’ lives took an even better turn when the Fruitless Mountain started blossoming again. Why? Well, a story that people once thought was just a legend said that a dragon called the Jade Dragon was the master of all rain. However, when her children sacrificed themselves because Jade Dragon was being cruel and holding grudges, she was filled with grief and descended to the ground as a river, hoping to reunite with one of her children. However, this never happened, which is why Fruitless Mountain remained fruitless; it had been cursed by Jade Dragon. Long story short, it turned out that Dragon was one of Jade Dragon’s children, and since he had been reunited with one of his children, the curse on the Fruitless Mountain was lifted. Minli’s village began to prosper again, and after her parents sold the dragon pearl to a king–The Guardian of the City of the Bright Moonlight, to be exact–the village was able to get the material it needed to properly farm. Minli thought to herself, “I had not asked the Old Man of the Moon any of my questions; yet, they have all been answered.” I’m sure that if Minli had asked her question, the Old Man of the Moon would have told her to be thankful. When we make choices, it shows a lot about us. One of my favorite trilogies, Divergent, centers on this topic. At the top of every book, there’s a catchphrase that relates to choices, and on the cover of the last book, Allegiant, the words written on it are: “One choice will define you.” And it will– this is demonstrated in Minli’s story. When Minli chose to ask Dragon’s question instead of her own, she demonstrated that she had attained arguably one of the most important virtues in everyday life: thankfulness. If you had truly mastered this virtue: you could make a choice when asked thought experiment questions in a second. For example, the thought experiment at the beginning: if you were truly thankful, you would be satisfied with how you had lived your life, and you wouldn’t want more. So, you would obviously go with the second choice. This not only demonstrates the importance of thankfulness in itself, it also shows that thankfulness is a crucial part of making good choices: one of the most important skills to master in life. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. New York: Little Brown Young Readers, 2009.
