Blood Relations (Blue-Eyed Son) [Turtleback]

Chris Lynch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1996 | Series: Blue-Eyed Son

Reaching the age of fifteen, Mick of Sycamore Street realizes that tormenting people for nothing more than the color of their skin is wrong and begins to make new friends, but he has trouble divorcing himself from the street life of his tough Irish neighborhood.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Not the standard feel-good paperback series, the Blue-Eyed Son trilogy takes a harrowing tour of Irish Boston's mean streets, with 15-year-old Mick as guide. Here is a world inhabited by beings one step down on the evolutionary and social scale from the bullies in Slot Machine: ignorant thugs like Mick's older brother Terry (a terrifying villain if ever there was one), whose idea of fun is to get wildly drunk and beat up non-whites; or get wildly drunk and bet on dog fights; or just get wildly drunk. In this tightly paced examination of inner-city life and race relations, Lynch treads very close to the same ground as Chris Crutcher. However, there are no hip adult role models to smooth the way for the young folks, and forget about the protagonist winding up with the girl of his dreams (although he does bed a friend's mother between titles 2 and 3). After enduring beatings, alcoholic excess and humiliations too numerous to catalogue, Mick is ultimately able to rise above his milieu, but the pervasive violence and morally ambiguous resolution make this series even more disquieting than Gypsy Davey. A powerful, thought-provoking and disturbing trilogy?for those who have the stomach for it. (Mick and Blood, Mar.; Dog, June)
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10?For 15-year-old Mick, life becomes complicated when he questions the values with which he has been raised in his close-knit Irish community. His troubles begin on St. Patrick's Day, when his bigoted friends and older brother sabotage the local parade, pelting the neighborhood Cambodian merchants with eggs. Although he detests his companions' actions, Mick is physically coerced into throwing an egg, which hits a Cambodian woman. News coverage of the incident makes Mick a hero in the neighborhood bar, but it also makes him a social outcast at school and the target of angry Asian students. Only a tough, mysterious classmate, Toy, who witnessed the incident, will associate with Mick, who doesn't decide exactly where he belongs, but who realizes that it is not with his racist friends and family. With realistic street language and an in-your-face writing style that complements the plot, Lynch immerses readers in Mick's world of alcohol, racism, and dysfunction, out of which emerges a noble anti-hero who risks physical danger and alienation for the sake of doing what is right. Not all of the conflicts are resolved, which will leave fans of the novel eager to read the second in the series.?Kelly Diller, Humboldt High School, IA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Turtleback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Demco Media; Stated First Edition edition (March 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0606090908
• ISBN-13: 978-0606090902
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book is great because it keeps you wondering!, May 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Blood Relations (Blue Eyed Son) (Paperback)

In Chris Lynch's novel, Blood Relations, fifteen year old MIke, is having sibling problems while his parents are away for the weekend. The main character, Mike, is left alone with his older brother while his parents are away visiting some friends. Mike's brother throws a party for his friends every year but this year's is worse than ever! Mike wants nothing to do with it. Mike's brother goes as far as sacrificing a goat's life, and that's where Mike draws the line and leaves town before they all sober up. Mike and a couple of friends stay over night at a motel about 50 miles away. When Mike goes back, he decides to go to his best friend's house to stay until his parents get back. When his parents do come back, Mike gets a job at their bar, but he refuses to go home. Mike gets kicked out of his best friend's parent's house for starting a fire while trying to cook supper. Where can he turn now? You'll never know unless you read this book... I enjoyed this book very much! It keeps you trying to guess where he's going to go next.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tough And Amazing Book, March 26, 1998

By 

"tarot1234" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mick (Blue Eyed Son) (Paperback)

This is an amazing book. It writes with shocking reality and naked insight into the mind of a teenager. Like a tough, non-poetic Francesca Lia Block or Rob Thomas.

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a GREAT GREAT book!, May 12, 2000

By 

"poc1128" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mick (Library Binding)

This book is about the main character, Mick, who gose to his friend's house to stay over because his brother is having a party at home and his parents are away for the weekend. When his parents get back, he gets a job at their bar, and he still dosen't want to come back home. But he gets kick out from his friend's house because he makes the house on fire when he cooks supper. Want to know where he gose? READ THE BOOK...