The Batboys Hunt for his Idols Approval - Derick Babayan

Brian, is not just a boy... He's a batboy.  A batboy trying to make friends with a man that he's always idolized, Hank Bishop.

             Brian, a 14 year old batboy for the Tigers, has been trying all season to impress Hank, to just make Hank like him or even just remember his name, but no matter what Brian does, it never seems to work.  Not only does Hank not want to be friends with Brian, but he is constantly bad mouthing and blaming Brian for the smallest things, he even says things like "This is the wrong bat, you idiot"(95), to Brian but no matter what, Brian seems to stay a Hank bishop fan. But do you think that this will make Brian stop trying to get Hank to like him... Of course not.  He runs into many obstacles I guess you could say but Brian will do anything in his power to impress his idol, why you might ask, well you'll have to read the book to find out, to find out what really drives Brian, to find out what his real motivation is.  He has no farther, he lives with his only mother that loves him so dearly, their are so many people out there he could be trying to impress, yet he still try's and try's and try's to impress the one man that doesn't want to be impressed, Hank bishop, he even says "Hank, this is the greatest night of my life"(75) when Brian see's Hank play.

             The book The Batboy by Mike Lupica truly is a great sports novel.  If you are a fan of any sport, even if you dislike baseball this book will still appealing to you.  This book has all the qualities of a great sports novel, it puts you on the edge of your seat, every day is a new yet old adventure, their's action, their's a main character with one goal, it's appealing to read, and it makes you want to come back to read more.  It really does because basically every day Brian had the same goal, yet every day there is a new adventure, every day there's a new obstacle to tackle, and new choice Brian has to make, every day he has something new waiting for him and every day is a new day not only in his eyes but also in the readers eyes.  I really think that it may be relatable for some sports fans, or players out there who can't really reach their goal or every time they attempt to something new tries to stop them.  Like I said before I personally really enjoy this book, because I love how the main goal is just set in stone but every time Brian goes and tries to reach for the goal something or someone always pulls him back and makes him fight and fight for him to get what he wants, and through all this seriousness baseball still comes to play and baseball is really the main thin effect Brian's life, his moms life, Hanks life really everyone in this books life. I would definitely recommend this book to any person who is a fan of any sport or a person who likes a novel that has lots of twists and turns in it.