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The Batboy
Seventeen-year-old Thad Stevens loves baseball -- he’s loved it for as long as he can remember. Thad’s dream of becoming a batboy comes true when he’s chosen to be on the squad for the Buzzards, a local, semi-pro baseball team.
His duties put him in constant contact with his idol, shortstop Iggy Hernandez. Thad struggles with his growing attraction to the handsome ball player.
One day Thad accidentally discovers Iggy has a secret life. What will Thad do with this new information, and what implications does it have for the young batboy and his relationship with the man he admires?
His duties put him in constant contact with his idol, shortstop Iggy Hernandez. Thad struggles with his growing attraction to the handsome ball player.
One day Thad accidentally discovers Iggy has a secret life. What will Thad do with this new information, and what implications does it have for the young batboy and his relationship with the man he admires?
- GenresM M Romance
59 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 2, 2012
1 person is currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Terry O'Reilly
82 books40 followersSince retiring, Terry spends his time writing, working with animal rescue groups, walking his three dogs, pumping iron while listening to Harry Potter audio books and riding/showing his champion Quarter Horse.
His interest in Native American culture stems from the fact that in tracing his heritage, he found his great grandfather was an Illini.
His interest in Native American culture stems from the fact that in tracing his heritage, he found his great grandfather was an Illini.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 19, 2012
This review can be found at Brief Encounters Reviews.
This is a very understate m/m without any real romance for our teenage protagonist, however I think it was a good look inside the head of a teenager just coming to terms with his sexuality. Thad is a baseball fan who has been desperate to become one of the batboys their local baseball teams recruits each year. It’s his last chance, being seventeen. He also idolizes one of the players Iggy and is starting to suspect he might be gay as most of his fantasies revolve around Iggy, not girls.
He’s thrilled when he gets the position and Iggy is a great guy who seems to like him a great deal. However Thad comes from a very religious family and every time he masturbates to fantasies of Iggy, he then promises God that he’ll never do that again. However one night, working late cleaning some equipment, he sees Iggy and another player kissing by the hot tub and his whole world is tipped upside down. When Iggy asks him to come over and help with some chores, his mind goes crazy with what that means. Would Iggy want him? Is Iggy with Danny, the other player? Is this Thad’s chance to get together with his idol? All those million questions that race through a teens mind when facing the opportunity to be up close and personal with your idol.
While I enjoyed Thad’s thought process, that rather random and fantastical thinking that teens are prone to, I found it difficult to handle his family and this is something that is very personal for me. I felt like they were trapped in a 50′s time warp and I sometimes had to remind myself that it is a contemporary. Also his family is one of those ones that truly believe God will answer your prayers and that all forms of sexual expression are inherently evil and send you hell-bound (how do these people even reproduce?). I sense a LOT of issues for Thad in the future if he chooses to come out to his family. Also Thad seems a bit ignorant about gay people. Granted, he may not know any (that he knows of) but he is totally blown away when Iggy and Danny are gay and aren’t running around looking like they just stepped off RuPaul’s Drag Race. Surely with the increasing coverage of marriage equality, even a kid with religious parents couldn’t miss the fact that men do indeed get married and have what he considers “normal” lives. Has he not heard of Neil Patrick Harris and his adorable twins?
This could very well be my own pop culture awareness bleeding over into a character. I’m sure there are kids who are oblivious, but I kept wondering how he could be so unaware, however Iggy and Danny tell him about the It Gets Better videos and I wondered if they suspected he was gay and that was why Iggy seemed to befriend him more than some other kids. Despite my own personal discomfort with Thad’s family, I liked his upbeat personality and how he didn’t let the religious fear rule him completely. I could envision him one day stepping away and exploring who he really was and finding someone of his own. I think it would be a good story for other young people to read about someone coming to understand their own sexuality.
This is a very understate m/m without any real romance for our teenage protagonist, however I think it was a good look inside the head of a teenager just coming to terms with his sexuality. Thad is a baseball fan who has been desperate to become one of the batboys their local baseball teams recruits each year. It’s his last chance, being seventeen. He also idolizes one of the players Iggy and is starting to suspect he might be gay as most of his fantasies revolve around Iggy, not girls.
He’s thrilled when he gets the position and Iggy is a great guy who seems to like him a great deal. However Thad comes from a very religious family and every time he masturbates to fantasies of Iggy, he then promises God that he’ll never do that again. However one night, working late cleaning some equipment, he sees Iggy and another player kissing by the hot tub and his whole world is tipped upside down. When Iggy asks him to come over and help with some chores, his mind goes crazy with what that means. Would Iggy want him? Is Iggy with Danny, the other player? Is this Thad’s chance to get together with his idol? All those million questions that race through a teens mind when facing the opportunity to be up close and personal with your idol.
While I enjoyed Thad’s thought process, that rather random and fantastical thinking that teens are prone to, I found it difficult to handle his family and this is something that is very personal for me. I felt like they were trapped in a 50′s time warp and I sometimes had to remind myself that it is a contemporary. Also his family is one of those ones that truly believe God will answer your prayers and that all forms of sexual expression are inherently evil and send you hell-bound (how do these people even reproduce?). I sense a LOT of issues for Thad in the future if he chooses to come out to his family. Also Thad seems a bit ignorant about gay people. Granted, he may not know any (that he knows of) but he is totally blown away when Iggy and Danny are gay and aren’t running around looking like they just stepped off RuPaul’s Drag Race. Surely with the increasing coverage of marriage equality, even a kid with religious parents couldn’t miss the fact that men do indeed get married and have what he considers “normal” lives. Has he not heard of Neil Patrick Harris and his adorable twins?
This could very well be my own pop culture awareness bleeding over into a character. I’m sure there are kids who are oblivious, but I kept wondering how he could be so unaware, however Iggy and Danny tell him about the It Gets Better videos and I wondered if they suspected he was gay and that was why Iggy seemed to befriend him more than some other kids. Despite my own personal discomfort with Thad’s family, I liked his upbeat personality and how he didn’t let the religious fear rule him completely. I could envision him one day stepping away and exploring who he really was and finding someone of his own. I think it would be a good story for other young people to read about someone coming to understand their own sexuality.
October 8, 2012
http://manohmanreviews.blogspot.ca/20...
Reviewed by Stacey Jo: This is a young adult story about seventeen-year-old Thad Stevens who is a baseball fan. He dreams of someday playing in the major leagues. Right now, his dream is to be a batboy for the Buzzards, the local semi-pro baseball team. His dream comes true after he finally makes it, along with his two best friends.
Thad has a secret though… he starting to think he might be gay. He definitely has an attraction for the good looking short stop, Iggy Hernandez, who plays out in his most private moments. Now that he’s batboy, he gets to spend time with Iggy, and this only causes his attraction to grow stronger. But one day, Thad sees Iggy in the locker room after hours with a teammate and what he sees changes his whole perception, or at least makes him question, what it means to be gay. He realizes you can be gay and be strong and “manly” too. He’s seems to have more questions than answers at this point but has no one to talk to. He has it even harder because his father, who annoyed me to no end, is a bible thumping, preaching, fundamentalist type, who would never allow his son to be gay. I shudder to think what it will be like for Thad to come out in his home.
It was a good story of self-realization. At the start, he’s not really sure, but by the end, he’s pretty sure he’s gay and somewhat coming to terms with it. Through another incident in the book, Iggy mentions the It Gets Better videos to Thad who uses them to help gain some understanding. I liked that those were mentioned. A teen reading this story who might be confused or unsure and maybe not know about the videos could be helped by them so I liked that they were mentioned. This was a fairly short story so there wasn’t a whole lot of meat here or resolution either. It ends on a “happily for now”. You get a sense that Thad is starting to accept he’s gay and is looking forward to finding a partner someday. It’s apparent though he’s going to have a lot of obstacles. It would be interesting to see another story about Thad showing how things are working for him when he’s older. So, having said all that, another well-written story from an author whose stories I’ve come to enjoy very much. I’d recommend it if you are looking for a quick read that is “sweet-no-sex”.
A
Reviewed by Stacey Jo: This is a young adult story about seventeen-year-old Thad Stevens who is a baseball fan. He dreams of someday playing in the major leagues. Right now, his dream is to be a batboy for the Buzzards, the local semi-pro baseball team. His dream comes true after he finally makes it, along with his two best friends.
Thad has a secret though… he starting to think he might be gay. He definitely has an attraction for the good looking short stop, Iggy Hernandez, who plays out in his most private moments. Now that he’s batboy, he gets to spend time with Iggy, and this only causes his attraction to grow stronger. But one day, Thad sees Iggy in the locker room after hours with a teammate and what he sees changes his whole perception, or at least makes him question, what it means to be gay. He realizes you can be gay and be strong and “manly” too. He’s seems to have more questions than answers at this point but has no one to talk to. He has it even harder because his father, who annoyed me to no end, is a bible thumping, preaching, fundamentalist type, who would never allow his son to be gay. I shudder to think what it will be like for Thad to come out in his home.
It was a good story of self-realization. At the start, he’s not really sure, but by the end, he’s pretty sure he’s gay and somewhat coming to terms with it. Through another incident in the book, Iggy mentions the It Gets Better videos to Thad who uses them to help gain some understanding. I liked that those were mentioned. A teen reading this story who might be confused or unsure and maybe not know about the videos could be helped by them so I liked that they were mentioned. This was a fairly short story so there wasn’t a whole lot of meat here or resolution either. It ends on a “happily for now”. You get a sense that Thad is starting to accept he’s gay and is looking forward to finding a partner someday. It’s apparent though he’s going to have a lot of obstacles. It would be interesting to see another story about Thad showing how things are working for him when he’s older. So, having said all that, another well-written story from an author whose stories I’ve come to enjoy very much. I’d recommend it if you are looking for a quick read that is “sweet-no-sex”.
A
October 4, 2012
Provided for free for review. Review can be found at http://manohmanreviews.blogspot.com
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews