Gabby+Zerrusen-Ashley+Lindsey

Week 4 Michael's dilema with not having a parent figure in the household worked out. Manny's Uncle Timo filled in for Michael's father when Mr. Gibbs came to visit the house. Uncle Timo really put his character into play and acted just like Michael's father. And best of all they fooled Mr. Gibbs. Michael is very happy and satisfied with their scheme they just pulled off but something starts to bring that happy feeling down to a lower scale. He finds his brother being grabbed by a policeman. He stays hidden and doesn't want his brother to see him. Michael waits for Carlos to come out and then they go to Mrs. C's house and talk things over. Carlos feels very bad for his mistake he made, but Michael is understanding and keeps his cool about it. I really liked this part of the book because I was starting to get bored with it. So it kept me interested and more entertained when I started reading this part of the book. It made me want to finish it. I did enjoy this book. I thought //Heat// was a very good realistic story that put sports and phsyical activity along with it. And those are the kind of books that I really enjoy and are able to become a book worm in. I think anybody who likes sports or has just a hair of interest in sports should read this book. It's not all about sports, it's about a young boy who overcomes his struggles and problems in life who just so happens to be an excellent pitcher and loves the game of baseball. I think Michael matures throughout the story. He was always mature and had to be because of the situation in his life and living with only his 17 year old brother, but I think he became more wise. He didn't need his brother's approval to say something about his dad dying. He was able to come up with good, believable lies that got him through. So I think he understood and used his own intelligence towards the end of the book. A life lesson that Mike Lupica was trying to present to us was that when you are good there are going to be people trying to take that away from you. Like how coaches tried doing with Michael by saying he wasn't 12. You just have to ignore the fact that people are being cruel and are only thinking about themselves. You will find a way to overcome their selfishness, like how Michael did by coaching third base. The best way to be in the game without playing. A question I would like answered would be if Julia, Uncle Timo's ex-girlfriend, knew anything about Michael's scheme if Mr. Gibbs were to go ahead and call her. If she didn't know anything than that would ruin everything. I wouldn't want to change the ending of the book. I thought it was very good the way it was. It leaves the book with a good clincher that gives people reading the book a good feeling inside.

Thank you for being my Reading Rocks partner. I have really enjoyed discussing this book with you and hearing your thougts about it. I hope the rest of your school year goes good and have fun playing with Alex in the summer. I bet he is a blast to watch and play with. Goodluck with your summer class. Thank you again for volunteering to do this program. I have had an enjoyable time. See ya later! Bye

By the way, Mrs. Shull was wanting to know why you liked the other way of exchanging thoughts better than this way???

I loved the end of the book. I thought that it was great how Ellie and Manny came to Michaels rescue and helped him be able to play the game again. I thought that it was more than that though. They cared enough to get him help and I think that to him being able to have friends that cared that much meant more to him than winning the game. I kept thinking that the Michael and Carlos were going to be caught and separated, so when the guy found out and offered to have custody it was a real shock. I really enjoyed the book, even though I didn’t think I would at the beginning of it. I think even for the people who don’t like baseball that much, this book would be a good pick. It has a good message, one of which is family should stick together through everything. There are more but that one stuck out to me the most. Michael went from being scared of people knowing his secret and being shy to talking to his favorite pitcher, being able to talk to Ellie and learning about how to be a teammate without playing on the field. I think another good ending would be if some family member showed up and adopted the boys or something like that. Can’t wait to see and talk about the book with you at the party. Hope you enjoyed it has much as me. I liked the other way better because I check my email about 5 times a day so I could just attach what I had done to an email and be done with it. Doing it this way I had to get onto another website and copy and paste what I had done into it. It wasn’t that clear to begin with but know it is so I guess either way would work fine. I enjoyed doing the project.