For readers interested in other sportsthemed fiction by Lynch, his first novel, Shadow Boxer, tells the story of fourteenyear-old George as he tries to convince his younger brother, Monty, not to become a boxer. Witnessing the early death of his journey-man boxer father, George tries to find a way to keep Monty from facing the same fate. Lynch's "Blue-Eyed Son" trilogy not only deals with sports, but also with race relations in the working-class sections of Boston, where traditional Irish-Catholic neighborhoods are slowly being transformed by the arrival of immigrants from nonEuropean countries. Mick, Blood Relations, and Dog Eat Dog all follow the story of fifteen-year-old Mick, who struggles to understand and accept the changes going on in his neighborhood, even if his family does not.

Baseball is the subject of other books for young adult readers, including Alden Carter's 1997 novel Bull Catcher. Like...