Heat by Mike Lupica

Mrs. Moen I’d like you to meet Michael Arroyo.  Michael says he’s 12, but other kids and coaches don’t think so.  He lives in New York City in a small repulsive apartment with his brother Carlos, because their father had died.  Now Michael has to worry about baseball.  In his fourth to last game he plays against Westchester South and strikes out this kid named Justin, and Justin starts a big controversy because he doesn’t believe that Michael is 12. After the game a person takes him into a building and told Michael he can’t play until he has a proper birth certificate.