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Senior Year: A Father, A Son, and High School Baseball | 
 enlarge | Author: Dan Shaughnessy
Publisher: Mariner Books
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $8.08
You Save: $5.87 (42%)
New (28) Used (15) from $5.82
Avg. Customer Rating:  60 reviews
Sales Rank: 79623
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.7
ISBN: 0547053827
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.35762
EAN: 9780547053820
ASIN: 0547053827
Publication Date: May 12, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Brand New and Unused.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
In Senior Year, Dan Shaughnessy focuses his acclaimed sportswriting talent on his son Sam's senior year of high school, a turning point in any young life and certainly in the relationship between father and son. Sam is a natural hitter who quickly ascended the ranks of youth baseball. Now nicknamed the 3-2 Kid for his astonishing ability to hover between success and failure in everything he does, Sam is finally a senior and it is all on the line: what college to attend; how to keep his grades up and his head down until graduation; and whether his final high school baseball season will end in disappointment or triumph.
All along the way, Dad is there, chronicling that universal experience of putting your child out on the field--and into the world--and hoping for the best. With gleaming insight, wicked humor, and, at times, the searching soul of an unsure father, Shaughnessy illuminates how sports connect generations and how they help us grow up--and let go.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 55 more reviews...
Easy to read, but a bit too soothing and pat July 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The customer reviews for this book are highly polarized -- mainly 1 star or 5 stars.
I came with no strong preconceptions about Dan Shaughnessy. I live in the Boston area, so I have read many of his columns in the Globe over the years. But I don't have a strong opinion of him. I neither love him nor hate him.
That's also the way I felt about this book. I didn't love it or hate it.
I found the book easy to read and sped quickly through it. As the story progressed, I was eager to see how things would unfold for Sam Shaughnessy and his family. I laughed at many of Shaughnessy's anecdotes and observations about the politically correct culture of Newton, Massachusetts. I believe the book accurately describes much of the challenges and excitement of a budding Division I athlete navigating through his senior year in high school.
My main criticism of the book is that the feel-good, family-first tone felt a little forced. I guess the prominently placed blurb by Mitch Albom on the cover should have clued me in to the homilies to follow.
The way Mr. Shaughnessy describes his home, it is the epitome of all that's good about America. It seems that all the kids in Newton feel comfortable stopping by, sharing a meal, and sleeping over. The Shaughnessy home is always messy, noisy, vibrant, and happily chaotic. There don't seem to be any temper tantrums, slammed doors, or brooding silences. Also, the Shaughnessys seem to treat all their neighbors as part of the extended family. There are no meddling, nosy neighbors, no weirdos that the family studiously avoids. Despite Mr. Shaughnessy's busy work and travel schedule, he seems never to miss an important family moment.
Maybe Mr. Shaughnessy's family life really is that good. Or perhaps he feels guilty about having missed so much of his life at home over the years and is applying a revisionist tone to his description of his family life. I guess readers are supposed to be inspired by the family values that Dan Shaughnessy and his family seemingly epitomize. But I think many readers, like me, will doubt whether things are really that good in the Shaughnessy home.
Nonetheless, I did enjoy reading this book. With the reservations above, I still recommend it.
 Excellent Book March 13, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
As an Indianapolis Colts fan, I should not even be reading a book written by a Boston Globe writer!
I personally found the book hard to sit down. With a high school senior in sports, it was easy for me to relate to his experiences. I loved Dan's passion for baseball at an early age. When we were kids, baseball was everything.
If you have a senior involved in sports, you will find this book entertaining. If you are not involved in sports and do not have kids, you may not enjoy this book as well as I did.
 A Dad's View of Son's Senior Year March 12, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is nonfiction about Dan Shaughnessy's son's Senior Year and the stress he as a parent had. It gives insight into a parent's feelings and thoughts about raising a senior. The son was a ballplayer and the dad was very much into watching his games and hoping he would get a sports scholarship for college. The father often compares his son's actions and events to his own memories from when he was that age. It covers the following issues: grades, driving, prom, sports, choosing a college, sportsmanship, respecting the game. I think any parent of teens involved in high school sports would enjoy this book.
--Karen Arlettaz Zemek, author of "My Funny Dad, Harry"
 accurately captures parenting in 2006 January 20, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I read this book after hearing good things about it from two members of my family. Many of the low ratings had scared me off originally, but I took the plunge and am glad I did. I should say that one reason I might have liked this book is that I could relate to so much of it: I was in high school in the Boston area at the same time as Dan Shaughnessy, and I have three children, one of whom graduated in the same year at Dan's son, Sam. My son was also a recruited athlete and is currently competing at the college level. Shaughnessy's chronicles of his life as a high school student and as a parent of a senior in high school rang very true to me. I also should say that I give the author credit for not white-washing the warts from his son's senior year. Sam was often painted in a less than favorable light, yet always with caring. Trying to deal with less-than-perfect children is what parenting is about for 99% of us, and Shaughnessy's loving angst was something I related to. I should say that I am not a big fan of Dan Shaughnessy through his columns, but I entered this book trying hard not to let it poison my experience reading this. It didn't, but I can't help but believe that most of those "one star" ratings come from people who began the book with a negative attitude towards the author. Otherwise, how do you explain the fact that about half the people rated this a 5 and half a 1, with very few ratings in between? I enjoyed this book, and it helped me reflect a bit more on my own family. It reminded me that I am not alone in both the joys and challenges of parenting these days. This is not a profound book, but worth reading.
Insightful and encouraging! October 31, 2007
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
This true account of how young Sam Shaughnessy and his father, Dan, handled the ups and downs of his senior year while pursuing a baseball scholarship is very enjoyable and a book I will read over again.
Mr. Shaughnessy put together the entire senior year in pieces, detailing his son's teenage attitudes and views. The comparative looks back at Dan's high school days in the early 70s showed just how much things have progressed/regressed with a generation.
I, for one, found the book to be entertaining, funny and ironic in more than one chapter! As our kids get older, begin thoughts of college and their careers, we need to enjoy it with them and provide our perspective (which they will think is pure drivel) as they make the choices which will shape their lives away from us.
I'll be checking out the BC website to see how young Sam is getting along!
A nice read and one which is meant to be nothing more than one family's story of a son's senior year. Excellent!
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