46 pages • 1 hour read
Phil BildnerA High Five for Glenn Burke
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Self-Acceptance and Coming of Age
This story is about Silas Wade and his decisions about who he is. At the beginning of the book, Silas is characterized by anxiety. He knows that he is gay. He also knows that he wants to come out to his best friend Zoey, but he is nervous. Although coming out goes relatively smoothly, Silas starts to worry about what will happen if other people find out about him. He thinks that he has already gone through his journey of self-acceptance, only to find that the reality of his situation is quite different. It is one thing to understand who he is privately; it is quite another to face the potential challenges of telling other people.
When Silas encounters anti-gay sentiments from his teammates, he retreats into himself. He becomes less openly silly, he lies about his friendship with Zoey, and his baseball playing worsens. The solution is not necessarily to come out to everyone. Silas is still very young and is not yet ready for that kind of pressure and scrutiny. Instead, with Webb’s help, Silas shifts his focus—not to a public declaration of his identity, but to authenticity. Being his authentic self without worrying what other people think sets Silas on the path toward being able to come out in the future. He already suspects that his mother knows that he is gay, which comforts him.
Silas originally thinks of coming out as the next logical step after realizing he is gay. He ultimately learns that coming out is a more complicated process, one that he is not obligated to take part in until he is ready. He reckons with the reality of anti-gay bias in the world around him, not just as an abstract concept but as something that could personally impact him. Contrary to many LGBTQ+ narratives, Silas realizes that coming out will not necessarily solve all his problems. Additionally, choosing not to come out will not preclude personal growth.
Silas learns that coming out can be both affirming and dangerous. He understands the gravity of what he is trying to do and respects that his decision will seriously impact his life, showing his maturity. He does not have to rush into anything, and taking his time does not mean that he is lying or being inauthentic.
Connecting to a Sports Legacy
Glenn Burke was a real baseball player whose life is reflected fairly accurately in the novel. When Silas learns about Burke, he feels a kinship. He is the first of only two Major League Baseball players to ever come out as gay. Burke’s story helps Silas understand that he is not alone, however much it may feel like he is. By telling people that Burke invented the high five, Silas can talk about him without discussing his sexuality or feeling that he is putting his own secret at risk of discovery.
Silas does not just care about Burke because he was gay. He also feels that he and Burke share similar personalities and baseball skill sets. The novel show how it can sometimes be hard for young LGBTQ+ people to feel represented in the world. There are sometimes few role models to look up to, which can make it difficult to see what the future might hold. This makes Burke an even more precious historical role model for Silas.
Because Burke was ousted from Major League Baseball and because his later years were particularly challenging, Silas worries about what his own future might hold. Although LGBTQ+ people still face discrimination in America, Silas is not growing up during the AIDS crisis, and it is possible that he might have a more successful baseball career than Burke had.
Burke is Silas’s main point of connection to baseball history, but he also loves The Sandlot. The movie, which is about a team of boys around Silas’s age, helps Silas understand the importance of teamwork and belonging. He worries about whether there will be a place for him in the baseball world if he comes out, and The Sandlot offers hope. Initially, Silas’s love for the film causes problems with his teammates when he puts on the fashion show. However, the movie comes back into the narrative at the end when the Renegades dress up to celebrate Silas’s return to the team. Their actions suggest that despite their earlier teasing, they do believe that baseball can make room for someone like Silas. Silas also helps his teammates connect to Burke’s sports legacy by introducing the double high five.
The Importance of Friendship
Some of Silas’s most important relationships are with his peers. His friendships ultimately provide him with support, but at times they also heighten his anxiety. Bildner shows how friendships are not perfect and take work.
Zoey is Silas’s best friend, but their friendship undergoes two major challenges in the book. The first is when Silas comes out. Zoey is unsure of how to respond, though she wants to be supportive of him. She pushes him to come out to Grace so that she does not have to be the only one who knows. Later, she feels that she has not handled his news appropriately, and she apologizes profusely. She gains a new understanding of how to talk about being gay with Silas, and attends his last baseball game in the novel as a demonstration of her friendship. Bildner shows how friendships can be mended through understanding and by authentically owning up to one’s mistakes.
The second major hurdle that Silas and Zoey experience is when Silas lies about their relationship. Silas betrays Zoey’s trust by claiming that she is his girlfriend and by making false insinuations about what happens when they hang out. Although he feels profoundly guilty for his actions, Silas does not apologize immediately. Like Zoey, Silas ultimately apologizes sincerely for his actions, and the two are able to reconcile. Unlike Zoey, Silas does not show any interest in attending Zoey’s robotics competitions, even going so far as to say that he would not attend her competition even if he did not have a baseball game on the same day. In this way, Bildner shows that Silas isn’t perfect, like real people.
Silas’s other friends are his baseball teammates. He loves to be the center of attention and to make them laugh. He wants to fit in with them, which he worries might not be possible if they knew he was gay. Even though Silas is not as close with individual members of the team as he is with Zoey, he goes to great lengths to gain and maintain their approval, including lying about having a girlfriend. Ultimately, Silas learns that his friendships with his teammates require him to be honest and authentic, even if he is not yet ready to come out to them about being gay. He also learns that he can still be close with Malik even if they are not playing baseball together, as Malik’s perspective is not always the same as his parents’.
