Customer Reviews

The Goats (A Sunburst book)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Wow, this book really holds your interest, hooking the reader's sympathy for the Boy and the Girl right from the start. You just Have to continue reading to see how they cope with sudden abandonment (supposed to be temporary) and decide to get even with the cruel kids at summer camp. Loss of clothing, money, self respect--just a malicious joke, you understand, to "punish" two social misfits.

Through no fault of their own, two pre teens were chosen to be their camp's annual sacrificial victims (i.e. goats), by being forced to spend a few embarrassing hours on a nearby island. Ha-ha--very funny to the terrified kids, who recognize their degrading situation and who ultimately reject the decision. Thus Howie and Laura (who did not even know each other) are forced to rely on each other's wits and daring (strengths they did not realize that they possessed) to reverse the kids' malicious decree. Not only to escape their dismal fate, but to survive on the outskirts of society for 3 days. They determine to get even, to pay them back for all the humiliation. Anything rather than endure the ridiule of returning to camp.

They decide to be proactive to preserve their own digntiy, to wait until the girl's mother comes up for Parents' Weekend. The plot rivets your attention for the kids must overcome incredible obstacles--posed by adutls and other kids--to live without the pale. It is unlikely that such social outcasts could be transformed so quickly into a cool "bandit" and a "fox wearing glasses", but the plot presents an interesting concept of social and physical survival. The book reads swiftly due to extensive dialogue, without the usual teenage platitudes. Their journey of self-discovery makes a fascinating read, with dark social undertones. For kids of all ages and adults harboring hurt kids inside. You will not be disappitned!

As a voracious reader, I am always looking for a book that will take over my mind, my heart and my soul in one fell swoop. Imagine my surprise to find a book like this in a course on Children's Literature.

Brock Cole has written nothing less than a masterpiece. His book, The Goats, begins with two outcast, nerdy campers, a boy and a girl, who are stripped bare and left on Goat Island by their mean and nasty fellow campers. When they first find each other, naked and alone, they seem almost infantile in their needs. These two couldn't take care of themselves with clothes on, let alone off. Amazingly though, with the strength of their pride and humiliation behind them, they vow to get off the island and teach their fellow campers a lesson. What ensues is not quite plausible, yet totally believable. Abandoned not only by their camp mates, but on a much deeper level by their parents as well, these two goats manage to survive in the most extraordinary ways.

The most exceptional part of Cole's story is not how they survive physically, but how they survive mentally and emotionally. These two thirteen year olds, on the cusp of sexuality, develop an intensely intimate relationship. Cole has written something so beautiful, so adult-like, but it is doubtful that many adults ever really attain this level of intimacy. Literally stripped naked physically, the two characters find shelter and clothes within themseves, in their relationship with each other.

Anyone who wants to be touched in the deepest way, to come away from a book changed, will find the great satisfaction with Brock Cole's The Goats.

This is one of the most wonderful books I have ever read. There are two levels to this book; the physical adventures Laura and Howie go on together, from an island to a town to the forests, and then the deeper level of this book, which is the relationship that develops between these two people. I don't think I have ever read a book in which two people experience such a wonderful, deep, beautiful, intimate bond; not in any adult novel, and not in any children's book. This book is beautifully written, and while the adventures of the two protagonists are not truly realistic, the entire book is completely believable. I give the highest recommendation I possibly can on this book; it subtly shines.

Laura and Howie are the social misfits at their summer camp. As part of a cruel joke, they are stranded on an island as the "goats." True to tradition, they are left naked, hungry, and painfully alone. Not wanting to give the other campers the satisfaction of finding them helpless on the island in the morning, the two come up with a plan to dissapear off the island. "The Goats" is a story about their journey across the state and their adventures along the way. However, their journey is not a simple one of distance. It it also a journey of growth and an adventure in which they truly realize who they are.

"The Goats" is a wonderful and compelling story about the social classes of everyday life. Laura and Howie's journey is an amazing one that should be shared with everyone. The plot was interesting, the characters engaging - overall, an excellent book that is truly impossible to put down.

I read this book when I was 11 years old and I am now 21. I enjoyed every bit so much that I know it word for word. I think the book is excellent for the mature young reader because it captures some issues that most adults would be able to relate to only through metaphors. This promising book includes puberty issues, isolation issues, and issues of social and moral growth. This book is still one of my favorites and I recommend it to any young adult that has ever had to face dilemmas at a very young age. I challenge the young reader to find their similarities and differences between the Bryce (main character) and his companion with themself.

This is the very very very best book i have ever read in my whole life... im only 13 though... I still think this is the best book!!

The Goats by Brock Cole, is about two young teenagers named Laura and Howie; these two teens become the center of a cruel practical joke played on them by their peers at summer camp. The other teens decide to leave Laura and Howie naked and stranded on an abandoned island across the lake from the camp to see how they will react. The two teens are embarrassed and ashamed that the joke was played on them. They end up swimming back to the main shore where the camp is. Since Howie's parents are out of the country, and Laura's mother refuses to pick her up until Parents Weekend a few days later, the two have developed some survival tactics for staying away from the camp until Laura's mother comes. Laura and Howie end up stealing clothes from a beach storage area, they get money from cars with the windows rolled down, and they hide out in a vacant summer cabin, they hide in a different camp that they found, and also they manage to stay in an empty motel room. They are clever and resourceful. They are brave and prove to be good at surviving against the odds. The two teens do very well at demonstrating their self-reliance. Howie decides that he really wants to continue staying away from everyone forever. He imagines a life out in the forest with Laura where the two will not have to deal with their peers or adults anymore. At the end of the story, Laura and Howie meet up with Laura's mom, who is now aware of Laura and Howie's terrible experience and is disgusted with the camp. Laura and Howie remain close and plan to stick together after all they've been through. This story is definitely worth reading.

Being a twelve year old stranded on an island with no clothes and a person of the opposite sex might seem funny to the other campers, but to Howie and Laura its far from joke. Once left on a island together, these two children decide that the other kids are taking this joke too far, and that they will give them a taste of their own medicine. Escaping the island, and then running away from their camp, Howie and Laura are left with nothing. This forces them to steal, stow away on buses, break into houses/hotel rooms, and at times have to sleep out in the woods. This story is about a friendship that grows as two peope depend on eachother to survive. I enjoyed reading this book. Some of the parts you can tell would never happen. But the author understands what two teenagers would do in this situation. It keeps you on the edge of your seat. In every chapter something new happens that presents a problem to Howie and Laura. If you enjoy adventure, then you will enjoy this book.

This book reminds me of the famous film "Walkabout", about two Australian children who wander the Outback after being abandoned there by their father and left to fend for themselves. Here are two teens, a boy and a girl (never referred to the narration by their names, but simply as the Boy, or the Girl) on the cusp of sexual maturity who wander the city and the country after being stranded on an island without their clothes by cruel peers. Along the way they become the closest of friends, intimate in a way that I'm not even sure is possible. A wonderful book, true literature for children ...

i read the goats when i was very young and absolutely loved it. i lost my copy (probably lent it to someone untrustworthy) and years passed. i had all but forgotten this gem until i went searching for the top 100 "challenged" (read:censored) books. i am currently studying to be a teacher, and i decided to collect the "challenged" books for young readers to have in my classrooms (because i want my students to grow with open minds and i will not be told that books and the ideas contained within are dangerous). i recognized this title and it was the first i ordered. i was not disappointed. it was just as great as i had remembered, and the only reason i didnt give it 5 stars is because i reserve the 5 star rating for books that strike a chord within my soul or absolutely change the way i percieve life. those books are extremely rare. that being said, 4 stars is still amazing, and if you are considering purchasing this book i would highly reccomend it.