Customer Reviews

Keeper

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

On the surface, Keeper is a soccer story. Goalie extraordinaire El Gato sits in a small hotel room recounting not only how he's just won the World Cup, but also how he came to be the keeper he is today.

What follows though is a story filled with mystery and magic - yes, magic. We learn that as a boy, El Gato discovered a ghostly presence in the jungle outside his small South American village, a ghost that taunt him with almost desperate authority how to be the best goalie (keeper) in the world. It's an odd premise, but the story unfolds in startling and endearing ways, eventually encompassing issues as big as deforestation and as small as leaving family and home for good.

For me, this is the ultimate kind of sports book. It escapes the cookie-cutter realm of "team is disorganized, team becomes organized, team overcomes odds to win big game." Even winning the World Cup isn't so important that we have to re-live every moment of the "big game." It's the consequences of the game, and the keeper's development as a person and a goalie, that are far more important in the long run.

By focusing on the boy and the greater issues he resolves through his keeping skills, this story transcends its own genre. It's a fantastic book to put in the hands of any boy who's ever played youth soccer, or just any boy who ever sought his place in the world on a playing field.

wow!!! what an amazing book!! I just can't put this book down!! I got this book yesterday and I have not put it down since, this is without a doubt the BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ!!! wow!!! This is an amazing book!! I would recomend to buy it!! This was required for my school, but if I had not ever heard of this and had to buy it, I would have thought it was nothing!! I recomend this for all young adults like middle schoolers 6-8 and also it could be just a fun book to read for adults too!! BUY THIS BOOK!!!

I bought this book for my nephew who loves soccer. The cover was so interesting that I had to read it myself before giving it to him. This is a gripping story of a boy who starts off playing soccer in a remote logging camp in the middle of the Amazon jungle and his rise to become one of the greatest goal keepers in the world and a hero in the World Cup.

Peet weaves magic and mystery into a story that avoids most stereotypes typical of the genre. This book also has a strong environmentalist message that shoudl appeal to many children.

The book I read was Keeper by Mal Peet.
I highly recommend this book if you like sports and non fiction books, and you don't just have to like soccer to read this book. The book Keeper is not just all about soccer, there is so much more to the book that will make u fall in love with it, and not want to put it down. One of the things I liked most about this book is because it goes into great depth and detail. The author makes you feel like you're inside the story, and with all of the characters.
My favorite character in this book is Gato. Gato Is not only a character, but is on of my many ideals. I can relate to him because he once was a goalkeeper just like me.
This story is about Gato at his younge ages, not liking soccer that much and not being so great at it either. As Gato comes across some unusual things his mind just mite change! You get to see the story of Gato and who he once was and how he became who he is today.

I loved this book. Peet is phenomenal when it comes to bringing things to life with this novel. I found myself actually getting goose bumps from this book. Truly a good read, I highly recommend to anyone.

As you can probably tell from the cover art, this book is about soccer. But don't let that turn you off (no offense, soccer players). Keeper is about so much more than just a sport...it is a gripping story that will keep you longing for more. Mal Peet has an amazing ability to put into words the undescribable. I don't particularly like soccer, but I found myself caught up in his outstanding play-by-play. If I was a reviwer at a well known newspaper, I would have no choice but to be cliche and be quoted that this book is "the summmer's must read!" Seriously though, read this book.

El Gato becomes one of the best keepers in all of Europe. But how did he become so great? He meets a mysterious man in the rainforest who teaches him everything he knows on gooal keeping. But the Keeper's goal is to teach someone his greatness and win the European cup he had once won many years back so he cant finally rest knowing he did hs job. Keeper is a great, detailed boook which always had me turning the page wanting to know more. With this book, if you have played soccer ,or play, you can relate to it and know the termonology. Keeper, a member of the fiction family, has a fantasy tint to it, with its ghostly characters, wild drills, and spiritual presences. It proves how "practice makes perfect." El Gato the amin character spent everyday in the rainforest learning to be a keeper. after two years he was the best keeper in the continent of Europe. This book has 4 stars out of 5 because it was about soccer and the author did a great job with desribtions and the story line. The 5th star is not filled in because the ending was not what i had expected and could have been better. I think anyone who enjoys sports, specifically soccer, would greatly enjoy this book. With this book fantasy becomes reality.

Mal Peet's KEEPER is just that -- an unusual sports story worth keeping because it could hold up to a second reading. If you love soccer (and especially if you are interested in the metaphysics of playing goal), read no more and put this in your cart.

Fans of "magical realism" should give this a look-see, too. It's not often that the YA field gets the "Gabriel Garcia Marquez treatment," after all. Here we have a Brazilian lad who wanders into the rain forest, finds an inexplicable clearing with a soccer field and goalposts, then gets visited by this ghostly apparition that mentors him in the art of playing goal. Unusual isn't the word for it.

That said, the plot device of using an interview (Paul Faustino is the journalist) to tell the story bogs the book down a bit -- especially at the beginning when most young readers are lost. Patience will be rewarded, however. This is an intelligent little book that chronicles the making of a World Cup caliber goalie (El Gato, or "The Cat") from Brazil, and in addition to the other-worldly element (just who or what IS that "keeper" in the jungle?), you get some pretty good action sequences of soccer games, too.

If you buy it, stick with it. Patience will be rewarded.

This is not just for young adults as the back of the book implies. My son is a 16 year old select soccer player on a top ten team in the state of Washington and he loved it. So my wife read it and she liked it as well. So I read it and was surprised at how entertaining the story was. The mystical, or fantasy element wound around a very realistic story made for a great read. For those who actually play keeper (also called goalie or goalkeeper), the detailed scenes explaining how the keeper "reads" the leaning tendencies of the kicker as he shoots are incredible and actually taught my son, a midfielder, some things about shooting so as not to give away the direction of the shot. Keepers would get the same insights about shooters. And for those not into the esoterics of soccer you will surely enjoy the wonderful storyline of the underdog fighting through adversity.

An excellent read for my 11_year old. He was so excited to tell me every detail, chapter by chapter... Even the gory details he read about the logging industry in S. Amer. Believe it or not, this look at a world so different from his American life is what really kept him going and going, even through some of the vague symbolism of the "keeper's" spirit, etc, which of course, made good conversation for us to talk about our family's spirituality. Excellent motivating book with lots of good tips about intuitive soccer playing from a pro!