Blood Relations (Blue-Eyed Son Book 2)

Lynch, Chris

3.44

9 ratings by Goodreads

9780060253998: Blood Relations (Blue-Eyed Son Book 2)

ISBN 10: 0060253991 ISBN 13: 9780060253998

Publisher: HarperCollins

Finding acceptance within a circle of white friends, Mick, an African-American street teen, is violently ostracized by his bigoted older brother, Terry, who prefers to "wipe out" everything he does not like.

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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.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 7-10?Fifteen-year-old Mick, disenchanted with his dysfunctional Irish-American family, leaves home and moves in with his friend Sully's family. Mick feels trapped by his abusive, obnoxious father; ineffectual mother; and Terry, his sadistic older brother. Terry's latest idea of dogfighting inspires Mick to compete with him. Finding the right dog to beat Terry's fierce canine becomes Mick's obsession, and a means of dealing with his brother's brutality. The final dogfight with Terry provides an abrupt ending to a story that has much potential but is lacking in impact due to the one-dimensional characters. While these personalities may have been better established in the first two entries in the series, YAs unfamiliar with those books will have trouble identifying with any of the characters here, including Mick, whose true nature is not revealed until the final chapter. The crisp, raw language forces readers to concentrate on the dialogue in order to comprehend the plot and the characters' motives. Lynch has proven himself to be a quality writer in Iceman and Gypsy Davey (both HarperCollins, 1994). This book is obviously a departure from that norm.?Judy R. Johnston, Auburn High School, WA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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