Game Seven

Julio Ramirez Jr. lives in the shadow of his famous father. Not just because Julio Senior is a pitcher for the Miami Marlins and famous for his scorching fastball, but because he defected from Cuba, leaving Julio and his sister and mother branded as the family of a traitor. Now sixteen, Julio has dreams of playing shortstop for Cuba’s national team—until he’s given the opportunity to sail to the U.S. Can he abandon his family, just like his Papi did? Is freedom worth the perilous journey and risking prison if he’s caught? Will his Papi be waiting for him on the other shore—or, with the Marlins in the World Series against the Yankees, has Julio Senior forgotten all about his son? 

When his father defected, Julio’s life changed for the worse. It’s bad enough that he and his mother must work to eke out a living, but now his father’s actions might keep Julio from his baseball dreams. Dealing with the loss of his father, poverty, and a hopeless future causes a myriad of emotions that the teen isn’t sure how to handle. Then, in a blink, everything changes when Julio is given the opportunity to escape Cuba with his uncle and cousin. Despite the difficulties, Julio’s mother supports his decision to leave, saying, “Make your decision and know that I love you. I’ll always love you, no matter what.” 

Most of Game Seven chronicles Julio’s escape from Cuba and his anger at being abandoned by his father. During the dangerous journey, Julio listens to the Marlins playing in the World Series on a transistor radio. Listening to the games fuels his anger and isolates him from his family, who believe his father can do no wrong. At one point, Julio thinks, “All I knew was that Papi was about to be a hero in front of the whole world, and I didn’t want to hear it happen.” While Julio’s circumstances are unique, readers will relate to his conflicting emotions and the difficulty of his decision to leave Cuba. 

Julio’s story will force readers to consider the value of family, loyalty, and freedom. The narrative never tells readers what to think but shows the complexity of Julio’s decision. Readers will empathize with his desire to stay with his mother and sister while also desperately wanting freedom. Because Julio and the others are traveling in a Buick converted into a boat, there is added peril. However, most of the book’s conflict is internal, and the only baseball action appears in brief radio broadcasts of the World Series. While the cover art featuring a boy playing baseball is misleading, Game Seven is still worth reading because readers can relate to Julio’s desire to reach his goal. 

Game Seven uses Julio’s family dynamics, his dream of playing baseball, and his dangerous escape from Cuba to craft an entertaining story that fosters empathy for refugees. However, the plot’s focus on the teen’s inner turmoil might deter some readers from finishing. Still, because many major league baseball greats have defected from Cuba, Game Seven offers a valuable perspective for baseball fans. To learn how sports can give people hope, sports enthusiasts may also want to read Heat by Mike Lupica, Outcasts United by Warren St. John, and Now is the Time for Running by Michael Williams. 

Sexual Content  

• Julio’s father left Cuba and did not contact his family for years. Julio “remembered Mama’s words about Papi. About how there was no way he was alone, living without a woman.” Afterward, Julio discovers his father has another child. “The stork didn’t drop him on Papi’s doorstep one day. He got here by Papi doing my mama wrong.”  

• When Julio and his family make it safely to Florida, they stay at a housing complex. Julio’s cousin sees a swimming pool and says, “That must be where the honeys go sunbathing in bikinis. Maybe even topless.” 

• Julio hears commercials for everything, including beer and “pills to keep older guys ready for sex.” 

Violence  

• None

Drugs and Alcohol  

• One of the baseball coaches smokes a cigar. 

Language  

• Profanity is used occasionally. Profanity includes ass, bastard, damn, pissed, shit, and holy crap. 

• Julio refers to one of the baseball coaches as a “blowhard.”  

• Julio’s cousin refers to a coach as a “fat swine.” 

Supernatural 

• None 

Spiritual Content  

• Julio’s cousin, Luis, “would always say his prayers before bed. Like a little kid, he’d get on his knees with his hands clasped in front of him and close his eyes. Then his mouth would move with no sound coming out, until he was finished.” However, Julio doesn’t pray. He believes “God already knows what we want. Why should I bother Him?” 

• Julio, his cousin, and his uncle flee Cuba with a man named Gabriel, who acts as their guide. They pray before they embark on the trip.  

• When Gabriel was a teenager, he tried to leave Cuba. Before trying to escape Cuba, Gabriel’s family went to church to pray. “The priest even gave me my first Communion—the body and blood.” There were eight people on the raft; three people died in the ocean. An older woman died after being caught. The others were put in prison.  

• On the trip, Julio occasionally prays. For example, “I was praying [the boat’s] tip would lead us straight to the States.” 

• While in a car that was transformed into a boat, Julio thinks, “It was only God who was above us, however, He laid out the currents and weather in our path.”  

• Julio’s baseball coach says, “But talent without heart—that’s talent ’sjust a waste of a God-given gift.” 

• Right before Julio and his family flee Cuba, Julio goes through thick brush, “praying I was still going in the right direction.” 

• When Uncle Ramon was young, “[his] mother told [him] thunder was the angels bowling in heaven. That it was the sound of them knocking down all ten pins, getting a strike.” 

• Julio’s cousin asks if it’s okay to pray to win a baseball game. His father replies, “If it isn’t, I earned a ticket to hell before I was fifteen.”  

• When the guide gets Julio and his family safely to Florida, Uncle Ramon says, “Now that those prayers have been answered, I think we should give thanks.” As they prayed, Julio “prayed [his half-brother] would never lose faith in Papi the way I had, even if I was going to be jealous of that.”