Late Inning Game Changer
Author's note: This book inspires me in many different ways. I think i mostly helps me understand that when things get rough don't back down. It a reason to push even herder.
All his life Shane wanted to play baseball. He had no other dreams but to step on a Major League mound as a closer and throw the game-winning pitch to the best hitter in the game. While throwing strike after strike, getting out after out, and recording save after save, nothing felt right. While Shane’s dad had been accused of dealing cars for drugs and money, he was arrested. Shane has to stay strong and overcome the entire amount of buzz surrounding his baseball team and career.
The book High Heat by Carl Deuker is about a boy named Shane Hunter who is a closing pitcher for his high school baseball team, Soundridge. Life was perfect for Shane in the beginning. He lived in a big house, went to a rich private school, and had many friends by his side. But then, his life gets completely turned in the other direction. His dad got arrested for his illegal job and committed suicide and Shane’s family had to move in to a small duplex and go to a public school. From there, Shane must find a way to live his life without his friends, without his dad, and with people staring at him like he is the bad guy. Through all of this, Shane did not have a single tear come out of his eye, and that’s saying something. Even though it’s tough for a family to get over a suicide, it’s not impossible. I think Shane gets that and soon he will become a normal kid living a normal life with friends and everything.
Shane and I have a lot of different connections. Shane’s dad came to every game he took part in. My dad would do the same thing. My dad coaches my team now, and it’s going to be fun. Shane likes baseball and loves to pitch in key situations with the game on the line. Most kids don’t want to be put in the spotlight because they are so nervous. I always say just go up there. If you screw up, forget about it. Tons of other kids would have done the same thing. If he does it right and wins the game, he will feel good about himself. I am one of those kids that want to be put in those pressure situations, and I always want to be a champion. Even if it is the smallest trophy, or the nastiest ribbon, I want to feel like a champion.
Although you want to feel like a champion, sometimes you feel like you life is too screwed up to ever be a champion again. I think the author’s purpose of the book is to show why we should never give up even when it seems like there is no hope. Shane doesn’t, and it really didn’t affect his life. Besides not having his dad around, he still has friends that care about him and will be there for him. That’s when you know you have real friends, because they will be right by your side through good times and bad. I think the author is trying to get that across to young readers. I think it also teaches parents to know what they are dealing with before they get deep into it. If they don’t, their life might never be on track again.
Life is rough, and everyone gets the short end of the stick sometimes. You never know when a situation could turn bad. Shane gets the worst of the roughness and still stays strong as ever. When Shane’s dad dies, what did he do? He pitched even better knowing that he is up there looking down on him and just the feeling to know that he is proud. It’s the little things in life like that that make a big difference in someone’s life. Everyone in the world should start making differences in other people’s lives. You never know what might make their life that much better.
