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The Goats
Harmless camp pranks can quickly spiral out of control, but they also provide a perfect opportunity for two social outcasts to overcome and triumph.
A boy and a girl are stripped and marooned on a small island for the night. They are the "goats." The kids at camp think it's a great joke, just a harmless old tradition. But the goats don't see it that way. Instead of trying to get back to camp, they decide to call home. But no one can come and get them. So they're on their own, wandering through a small town trying to find clothing, food, and shelter, all while avoiding suspicious adults―especially the police. The boy and the girl find they rather like life on their own. If their parents ever do show up to rescue them, the boy and the girl might be long gone. . . .
The Goats is a 1987 New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year.
A boy and a girl are stripped and marooned on a small island for the night. They are the "goats." The kids at camp think it's a great joke, just a harmless old tradition. But the goats don't see it that way. Instead of trying to get back to camp, they decide to call home. But no one can come and get them. So they're on their own, wandering through a small town trying to find clothing, food, and shelter, all while avoiding suspicious adults―especially the police. The boy and the girl find they rather like life on their own. If their parents ever do show up to rescue them, the boy and the girl might be long gone. . . .
The Goats is a 1987 New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year.
192 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1987
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About the author
Brock Cole
30 books28 followersBrock Cole was born a year before the Second World War in a small town in Michigan. Because of his father's work, his family moved frequently, but he never regarded these relocations as a hardship.
"I thought of myself as something of an explorer, even though my explorations never took me very far. I had a deep and intimate acquaintance with woodlots, creeks, lakes, back streets, and alleys all over the Midwest."
He attended Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, and received a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. After teaching philosophy for several years at the University of Wisconsin, he began writing and illustrating books for children.
"I had always wanted to write, and I loved to draw. I had small children, who were a wonderful audience. Children's books seemed a perfect fit."
His first book, The King at the Door, was published in 1979. Among his other picture books are The Winter Wren, The Giant's Toe, and Alpha and the Dirty Baby.
He now lives in Buffalo, New York, where his wife, Susan, teaches at the State University of New York. His sons both live in Athens, Georgia. Joshua teaches French history at the University of Georgia, and Tobiah is a painter and works as a waiter. Joshua is married to Kate Tremel, a potter and a teacher, and they have a little boy named Lucas.
Brock Cole's acclaimed first novel, The Goats, was published in 1987. It is set in the Michigan countryside of his childhood and captures the story of two loners' struggle for self-identity and inner strength after being made the targets of a cruel prank. In a Horn Book Magazine editorial, Anita Silvey wrote: "The Goats reaffirms my belief that children's literature is alive and thriving." Betsy Hearne, editor of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, lauded The Goats as "one of the most important books of the decade."
In Brock Cole's second novel, Celine, sixteen-year-old Celine, a budding artist, is living with her young stepmother, only six years older than Celine herself, while her father is teaching in Europe. Celine dreams of escaping this situation, but she becomes involved with caring for Jake, her seven-year-old neighbor, who is going through his parents' divorce.
Since he began his writing career, Brock Cole and his wife have traveled a good deal, living for one year in Washington and another in Germany, as well as spending frequent summers in Greece and Turkey.
"To be honest, I simply tag along after Susan. It's her research which takes us all over the place. I enjoy it immensely, though. There's something about sitting down to work at a rickety table in a strange city that clears the head. It's the best thing for a writer, or for this one, anyway."
"I thought of myself as something of an explorer, even though my explorations never took me very far. I had a deep and intimate acquaintance with woodlots, creeks, lakes, back streets, and alleys all over the Midwest."
He attended Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, and received a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. After teaching philosophy for several years at the University of Wisconsin, he began writing and illustrating books for children.
"I had always wanted to write, and I loved to draw. I had small children, who were a wonderful audience. Children's books seemed a perfect fit."
His first book, The King at the Door, was published in 1979. Among his other picture books are The Winter Wren, The Giant's Toe, and Alpha and the Dirty Baby.
He now lives in Buffalo, New York, where his wife, Susan, teaches at the State University of New York. His sons both live in Athens, Georgia. Joshua teaches French history at the University of Georgia, and Tobiah is a painter and works as a waiter. Joshua is married to Kate Tremel, a potter and a teacher, and they have a little boy named Lucas.
Brock Cole's acclaimed first novel, The Goats, was published in 1987. It is set in the Michigan countryside of his childhood and captures the story of two loners' struggle for self-identity and inner strength after being made the targets of a cruel prank. In a Horn Book Magazine editorial, Anita Silvey wrote: "The Goats reaffirms my belief that children's literature is alive and thriving." Betsy Hearne, editor of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, lauded The Goats as "one of the most important books of the decade."
In Brock Cole's second novel, Celine, sixteen-year-old Celine, a budding artist, is living with her young stepmother, only six years older than Celine herself, while her father is teaching in Europe. Celine dreams of escaping this situation, but she becomes involved with caring for Jake, her seven-year-old neighbor, who is going through his parents' divorce.
Since he began his writing career, Brock Cole and his wife have traveled a good deal, living for one year in Washington and another in Germany, as well as spending frequent summers in Greece and Turkey.
"To be honest, I simply tag along after Susan. It's her research which takes us all over the place. I enjoy it immensely, though. There's something about sitting down to work at a rickety table in a strange city that clears the head. It's the best thing for a writer, or for this one, anyway."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews
August 14, 2019
teen survival?? kids trying to get out of the woods after a practical joke goes wrong?? or "goes according to plan but sucks, for them"?? sign me up!!i saw this when i was volunteering my time at the library, and instead of taking it out like a normal person, i just ordered it into the store and bought it. good for the store, bad for the library. and then i get home to this desperate email from the queens library system that says because there have been more budget cuts, they can't order any new books. zero. seriously?? that is insane. i assume you guys are all like me - penniless book lovers, but if one of you is a secret millionaire, here is your chance to be a star!!
https://secure2.convio.net/qlf/site/D...
go ahead, it will make me feel less guilty about having bought this book, instead of improving circulation stats and proving that the library is a valuable part of our community. sorry, queens...
but this is what happens when they slap a modern-looking cover on an old YA book: i get fooled.this was the old cover for the book, and its visual tone is much more accurate to the book than the creepier-looking modern one:
i would never have read this book with this cover, even in my less-judgmental youth.
so the book was fine, but it really suffers from a lot of the flaws of the YA books of my youth and that's a big part of why i assumed, before my immersion into it, that contemporary YA fiction was bad.it is not - it has come a long way, baby. but this book - this is the YA heroine of my youth. she literally says: "Oh, God, I need somebody to take care of me," while rolling on the ground, crying.
wow.
i am so sorry, young girls of 1987. you deserved better.it's true that she gets more capable as the novel progresses, but that first chapter when she is just crying and snotting and wailing, contrasted with the resigned and resourceful young boy - it just put me off a little.
however, there are so many parts of this book that were ahead of its time, and this has been a frequently challenged book. it managed to piss a lot of people off with material that is pretty tame by today's standards, but there are still tons of parts that date it hopelessly.
the basic plot is that two loserish kids at a summer camp get punked: they are taken to an island, stripped and abandoned. this is unspoken camp tradition, and it is meant to encourage a little bwamp chicka bwamp in these thirteen-year-old kids. which doesn't happen, obviously, because no thirteen-year-old kid is sexually jaded enough to bang some stranger because of bullies and camp traditions. even if the girl already has pubic hair "like a Hitler mustache."
so instead, they go on a voyage of discovery, trying to get back to camp and safety, and becoming friends in the process. i liked parts of the book, but i would never go out of my way to recommend it to anyone. read it if you want, it's no meat off my sandwich. just don't expect it to be as good as most YA stuff written today. the lines are blurring, like it or not...
come to my blog!
https://secure2.convio.net/qlf/site/D...
go ahead, it will make me feel less guilty about having bought this book, instead of improving circulation stats and proving that the library is a valuable part of our community. sorry, queens...
but this is what happens when they slap a modern-looking cover on an old YA book: i get fooled.this was the old cover for the book, and its visual tone is much more accurate to the book than the creepier-looking modern one:
i would never have read this book with this cover, even in my less-judgmental youth.
so the book was fine, but it really suffers from a lot of the flaws of the YA books of my youth and that's a big part of why i assumed, before my immersion into it, that contemporary YA fiction was bad.it is not - it has come a long way, baby. but this book - this is the YA heroine of my youth. she literally says: "Oh, God, I need somebody to take care of me," while rolling on the ground, crying.
wow.
i am so sorry, young girls of 1987. you deserved better.it's true that she gets more capable as the novel progresses, but that first chapter when she is just crying and snotting and wailing, contrasted with the resigned and resourceful young boy - it just put me off a little.
however, there are so many parts of this book that were ahead of its time, and this has been a frequently challenged book. it managed to piss a lot of people off with material that is pretty tame by today's standards, but there are still tons of parts that date it hopelessly.
the basic plot is that two loserish kids at a summer camp get punked: they are taken to an island, stripped and abandoned. this is unspoken camp tradition, and it is meant to encourage a little bwamp chicka bwamp in these thirteen-year-old kids. which doesn't happen, obviously, because no thirteen-year-old kid is sexually jaded enough to bang some stranger because of bullies and camp traditions. even if the girl already has pubic hair "like a Hitler mustache."
so instead, they go on a voyage of discovery, trying to get back to camp and safety, and becoming friends in the process. i liked parts of the book, but i would never go out of my way to recommend it to anyone. read it if you want, it's no meat off my sandwich. just don't expect it to be as good as most YA stuff written today. the lines are blurring, like it or not...
come to my blog!
January 21, 2008
I read this book primarily because it has been one of the most challenged books in American libraries, and I'm always interested in reading challenged and banned books. The Goats tells the story of two teens, referred to mainly as "the boy" and "the girl" through most of the book, who are the victims of a cruel and humiliating camp prank. They are stripped and left for the night on a small island, a camp tradition that involves choosing two "goats." In a courageous move, however, they choose to make their way off of the island and disappear. I think that I would have appreciated the book more if I had read it as a teenager. The sense of isolation, hopelessness and embarrassment which I remember so well from my own adolescence were very well written, and tempered with the tentative happiness from finding a friend who understands you. The book does show its age, primarily through cultural references like breakdancing teens, but the story itself still feels relevant to me. Teens who don't mind reading older books would likely enjoy this story of two misfits searching for their place in the world.
As far as the banning/challenging is concerned, it seems to me that the likely censorship premise centers around nudity. Since both teens were stripped and abandoned, they spend a large portion of the beginning of the book nude or in makeshift clothing. In addition, their predicament leads them to become very close very quickly, often holding hands and sleeping together for warmth. The nudity and closeness are not, in my opinion, sensationalist, casual, or really all that sexual in nature. I found The Goats to be entirely appropriate for its teenage audience.
As far as the banning/challenging is concerned, it seems to me that the likely censorship premise centers around nudity. Since both teens were stripped and abandoned, they spend a large portion of the beginning of the book nude or in makeshift clothing. In addition, their predicament leads them to become very close very quickly, often holding hands and sleeping together for warmth. The nudity and closeness are not, in my opinion, sensationalist, casual, or really all that sexual in nature. I found The Goats to be entirely appropriate for its teenage audience.
September 21, 2021
Для мене цілковита загадка, чому така невинна книжка має обкладинку, наче в якогось горора. Книжкові дизайнери — дивні люди. Хоча розказану тут історію можна подати й так: двоє дітей, ставши жертвами жорстокої витівки у літньому таборі, стають на шлях злочинності (тривожна музичка на фоні). Та насправді все не зовсім так.
Книжка починається з того, як хлопчика і дівчинку залишають у темряві на безлюдному острівці неподалік від табору — без човна, без їжі і голяка. Добре хоч окуляри, які вони обоє носять, лишили, втім, завбачливо відкинувши їх подалі так, щоб бідолашні дітлахи мусили нипати наосліп, шукаючи їх, і дали час хуліганам змитися. Як ми можемо собі уявити, почуваються вони досить жалюгідно. Через деякий час вони чують, що хтось знову підпливає до острівця і, злякавшись, що то повертаються їхні кривдники, вирішують тікати вплав. З чого й починається їхня велика пригода, де будуть дрібні крадіжки, шахрайства, вламування в чийсь літній будиночок і навіть викрадення автомобіля. Обоє малих на початку книжки здаються тихими, замкнутими дітьми, саме такими, які зазвичай стають легкими жертвами для жорстокості. Проте за час їхньої короткої дружби вони розцвітають, як ті квіти під сонцем, і ми бачимо їх кмітливими, сміливими і люблячими. Все таки, яке це щастя знайти "свою" людину, когось, хто допомагає тобі стати кращою, справжнішою версією себе. На початку історії дівчинка каже про себе: "I'm socially retarded for my age." Обох дітей батьки посилають до табору в надії, що ті знайдуть собі друзів і загалом стануть сильнішими та самостійнішими, й іронія в тому, що це стається саме тоді, коли вони полишають табір. Ці зміни добре ілюструє те, що дівчинка змінює своє ім'я — річ у тім, що батьки їй дали хіпівське ім'я Шедов і вона вже кілька років користується своїм середнім куди звичнішим іменем Лора, проте під час пригоди вона повертається до свого справжнього імені так, наче до самої себе.
Книжка починається з того, як хлопчика і дівчинку залишають у темряві на безлюдному острівці неподалік від табору — без човна, без їжі і голяка. Добре хоч окуляри, які вони обоє носять, лишили, втім, завбачливо відкинувши їх подалі так, щоб бідолашні дітлахи мусили нипати наосліп, шукаючи їх, і дали час хуліганам змитися. Як ми можемо собі уявити, почуваються вони досить жалюгідно. Через деякий час вони чують, що хтось знову підпливає до острівця і, злякавшись, що то повертаються їхні кривдники, вирішують тікати вплав. З чого й починається їхня велика пригода, де будуть дрібні крадіжки, шахрайства, вламування в чийсь літній будиночок і навіть викрадення автомобіля. Обоє малих на початку книжки здаються тихими, замкнутими дітьми, саме такими, які зазвичай стають легкими жертвами для жорстокості. Проте за час їхньої короткої дружби вони розцвітають, як ті квіти під сонцем, і ми бачимо їх кмітливими, сміливими і люблячими. Все таки, яке це щастя знайти "свою" людину, когось, хто допомагає тобі стати кращою, справжнішою версією себе. На початку історії дівчинка каже про себе: "I'm socially retarded for my age." Обох дітей батьки посилають до табору в надії, що ті знайдуть собі друзів і загалом стануть сильнішими та самостійнішими, й іронія в тому, що це стається саме тоді, коли вони полишають табір. Ці зміни добре ілюструє те, що дівчинка змінює своє ім'я — річ у тім, що батьки їй дали хіпівське ім'я Шедов і вона вже кілька років користується своїм середнім куди звичнішим іменем Лора, проте під час пригоди вона повертається до свого справжнього імені так, наче до самої себе.
December 20, 2016
Look at the different covers. Depending on how you read it, where you are in your life, what your expectations are, this can fit any of them. It's an adventure about two kids on their own. It's a companion to Lord of the Flies. It's poetically written *L*iterature with a quest and grand metaphysical themes. You choose.
Though I actually read the one with just the uninhabited lake shore, I'm recording the blue and pink, with Laura in the pink shirt and Howie sitting on the ground. To me, the characters were more important than any deep literary symbolism. The blue for boy, pink for girl, are easy symbols, and that's the level I read this book on. The way they're self-absorbed, looking in different directions but still very aware of each other, is key to my understanding of the book.
One could go deeper, and consider the title Goats and the goat smell in the deputy's pickup, the reason the girl was so helpless at first and the boy quite resourceful, the reason Lockwood kept the IOU instead of accepting payment, the fact that just about the only people who weren't evil were some of the Black inner-city campers, the abrupt ending, etc. I recommend doing so if you're up to it, for example if you choose this book for a book report for school.
Some of the ideas explored here are surely so subtle that I missed them altogether. A few were stated directly:
Calvin says: "If you see, you're going to get popped in a fair fight, don't fight fair.... It's like society, don't you see? They got all these rules that everybody's supposed to play by. But sometimes you see that those rules are going to cut you up. That makes you a bandit. You're a smart bandit when you know you don't have to play that game no more."
The counselor says, about Laura and Howie, "'They might be developing a dependency which would interfere with their resocialization later.'" [Laura's mom's] "own intuition was that if you found someone you liked and trusted, you held on for dear life."
Though I actually read the one with just the uninhabited lake shore, I'm recording the blue and pink, with Laura in the pink shirt and Howie sitting on the ground. To me, the characters were more important than any deep literary symbolism. The blue for boy, pink for girl, are easy symbols, and that's the level I read this book on. The way they're self-absorbed, looking in different directions but still very aware of each other, is key to my understanding of the book.
One could go deeper, and consider the title Goats and the goat smell in the deputy's pickup, the reason the girl was so helpless at first and the boy quite resourceful, the reason Lockwood kept the IOU instead of accepting payment, the fact that just about the only people who weren't evil were some of the Black inner-city campers, the abrupt ending, etc. I recommend doing so if you're up to it, for example if you choose this book for a book report for school.
Some of the ideas explored here are surely so subtle that I missed them altogether. A few were stated directly:
Calvin says: "If you see, you're going to get popped in a fair fight, don't fight fair.... It's like society, don't you see? They got all these rules that everybody's supposed to play by. But sometimes you see that those rules are going to cut you up. That makes you a bandit. You're a smart bandit when you know you don't have to play that game no more."
The counselor says, about Laura and Howie, "'They might be developing a dependency which would interfere with their resocialization later.'" [Laura's mom's] "own intuition was that if you found someone you liked and trusted, you held on for dear life."
January 17, 2009
This remains one of the most beautiful stories of the first flush of love, and the first tingle of sex, that I have ever read.
I think the trick to writing juvenile fiction is knowing your audience: the kids who read at this age are the kids who get to be the stars of books like this--dorks.
I think the trick to writing juvenile fiction is knowing your audience: the kids who read at this age are the kids who get to be the stars of books like this--dorks.
July 5, 2022
"Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity…."
Unrefined in its sensation, showing the viciousness of the young toward the young, this book has been regularly challenged and censored since its publication.
In the middle of the night, a thirteen-year-old boy and girl are stripped of all their clothing by their campmates and left marooned on an island. In this annual sacrament, considered a nontoxic hoax, the camp always punishes two social oddballs – ‘goats’.
These two anonymous individuals start to formulate their own decrees, nevertheless. They break away from from the island and burgle a summer cabin to find food and clothing.
They also start a journey away from the camp that eventually provides healing and some self-esteem.
This book speaks to all who have felt themselves exiles, alienated from their peers. In the end, the narrative asserts the human spirit and the aptitude of the individual to rise above misfortune, no matter how psychologically excruciating.
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity…."
Unrefined in its sensation, showing the viciousness of the young toward the young, this book has been regularly challenged and censored since its publication.
In the middle of the night, a thirteen-year-old boy and girl are stripped of all their clothing by their campmates and left marooned on an island. In this annual sacrament, considered a nontoxic hoax, the camp always punishes two social oddballs – ‘goats’.
These two anonymous individuals start to formulate their own decrees, nevertheless. They break away from from the island and burgle a summer cabin to find food and clothing.
They also start a journey away from the camp that eventually provides healing and some self-esteem.
This book speaks to all who have felt themselves exiles, alienated from their peers. In the end, the narrative asserts the human spirit and the aptitude of the individual to rise above misfortune, no matter how psychologically excruciating.
January 11, 2016
When I put this on my want-to-read list I didn't realize it was written in the 80's, but it made more sense when I understood that; I was really expecting something different (but this was better). I didn't start to love the book until two-thirds of the way in, and then I suddenly was: in love.
I appreciated the way the book just jumped in and WENT and didn't mess around with transitions. I loved the period stuff, and I always love stories that are about going somewhere but not knowing where except that you need to eat and get warm and maybe clean up a little, and so many people are opposed to that (but the people that help you are AWESOME, and you love them).
Also loved: the smell of being human vs animal, how being outside and walking is real and good (and just driving fast in cars and being grown-up and working isn't), and intimacy being forged very innocently without succumbing to the insistence that those things always be so sexual.
The ending was perfect.
I appreciated the way the book just jumped in and WENT and didn't mess around with transitions. I loved the period stuff, and I always love stories that are about going somewhere but not knowing where except that you need to eat and get warm and maybe clean up a little, and so many people are opposed to that (but the people that help you are AWESOME, and you love them).
Also loved: the smell of being human vs animal, how being outside and walking is real and good (and just driving fast in cars and being grown-up and working isn't), and intimacy being forged very innocently without succumbing to the insistence that those things always be so sexual.
The ending was perfect.
January 13, 2012
This is a story about a boy and a girl that are treated very cruelly at a summer camp and decide to disappear together. It has a adolescent alienation / Thoreau vibe as they try to scrape together food and shelter. I've got a real soft spot for minimalism and survivalism, so I enjoyed following their decisions and seeing how things went.
Yes, as you will read in the other reviews, in the beginning their clothes are stolen and they are marooned on an island together, naked. Sure to hook the adolescent reader!! Ha. But the author doesn't dwell on it and it ends up being a story about to kids who are, through the vast majority of the book, clothed. I didn't find anything that would make me object to my own kid reading it when he is able.
This would make a good book for an adult-led discussion with adolescents. There's a lot of places where a casual detail that a kid might not dwell on is actually an interpretive key that could prompt some good reflection. There are no perfect people (or complete villains) in this book. An adult could help a young person critically question the decisions and the beliefs of the very sympathetic main characters, for instance. There's hints about this but it's very minimalist.
The narrative has small gaps in it. The reader is being encouraged to fill in the blanks. This is not only true chronologically, but also, for instance, in places where the author suddenly stops explaining the motivation of the main characters and leaves it up to us to work out why they suddenly start acting a certain way. So the text is deliberately pedagogical, but not in an irritating way.
Yes, as you will read in the other reviews, in the beginning their clothes are stolen and they are marooned on an island together, naked. Sure to hook the adolescent reader!! Ha. But the author doesn't dwell on it and it ends up being a story about to kids who are, through the vast majority of the book, clothed. I didn't find anything that would make me object to my own kid reading it when he is able.
This would make a good book for an adult-led discussion with adolescents. There's a lot of places where a casual detail that a kid might not dwell on is actually an interpretive key that could prompt some good reflection. There are no perfect people (or complete villains) in this book. An adult could help a young person critically question the decisions and the beliefs of the very sympathetic main characters, for instance. There's hints about this but it's very minimalist.
The narrative has small gaps in it. The reader is being encouraged to fill in the blanks. This is not only true chronologically, but also, for instance, in places where the author suddenly stops explaining the motivation of the main characters and leaves it up to us to work out why they suddenly start acting a certain way. So the text is deliberately pedagogical, but not in an irritating way.
February 7, 2013
"The Goats" was not what I was expecting. Based on the small synopsis on the back I assumed it would be a survival story about teens in the realm of "Lord of the Flies" and "Treasure Island", with a little bit of "Battle Royale" thrown in. Shame on my own mind for that, as it wasn't even close.
"The Goats" is a quick, boring, dated story about 2 hapless-loser type kids marooned on an island at summer camp by bullies. In some sort of coming-of-age ritual a boy and girl are stripped of their clothing and left to fend for themselves in hopes of "discovering" each other. (Sex. I mean sex.) Instead, they easily escape from the island and, rather than behave like normal people and just go back to camp, they decided to "run for it".
The reader is then treated to quick snippets about them breaking in to peoples houses and cars and stealing items from random people all because they are too scared to just go back to camp and act like nothing happened.
Along the way they meet extremely stereotypical black kids and everyone talks like they are stuck in the 1950's (people don't give funny looks to each other, they give "queer" looks....).
As the story somehow managed to drag on, despite being only a few pages over 100 long, I grew increasingly fed up with them continuing to be on-the-run and, stupidly, kept holding out hope that it might lead somewhere.
It doesn't.
The book just ends in the blink of an eye with no real resolve and no sense of satisfaction or accomplishment for the reader that they should have gotten for sticking it out.
Boo. Boo!
"The Goats" is a quick, boring, dated story about 2 hapless-loser type kids marooned on an island at summer camp by bullies. In some sort of coming-of-age ritual a boy and girl are stripped of their clothing and left to fend for themselves in hopes of "discovering" each other. (Sex. I mean sex.) Instead, they easily escape from the island and, rather than behave like normal people and just go back to camp, they decided to "run for it".
The reader is then treated to quick snippets about them breaking in to peoples houses and cars and stealing items from random people all because they are too scared to just go back to camp and act like nothing happened.
Along the way they meet extremely stereotypical black kids and everyone talks like they are stuck in the 1950's (people don't give funny looks to each other, they give "queer" looks....).
As the story somehow managed to drag on, despite being only a few pages over 100 long, I grew increasingly fed up with them continuing to be on-the-run and, stupidly, kept holding out hope that it might lead somewhere.
It doesn't.
The book just ends in the blink of an eye with no real resolve and no sense of satisfaction or accomplishment for the reader that they should have gotten for sticking it out.
Boo. Boo!
February 4, 2012
If you've ever dreamed of just walking away from everything, all the adults telling you what to do, all the rules and convoluted, unspoken expectations from fellow schoolmates, this story is for you. A cruel "camp tradition" strands a girl and boy on a deserted island, where they are supposed to cower and shiver through the night and laugh it off the next day when they are rescued. But instead they take off, wandering through woods and breaking into summer cabins to find food and clothing.
Of course the story is about the adventure, but really it's about two teenagers looking for their own place in the world, discovering their strengths and personalities. It reminded me of The Lord of the Flies in some ways. I read this because I saw an article in The Horn Book about this book, saying many librarians felt that it should have been the Newbery Award winner that year. I don't know what book won the Newbery that year, but this one would certainly qualify: fine, nuanced writing, insightful character development, good plot movement.
Of course the story is about the adventure, but really it's about two teenagers looking for their own place in the world, discovering their strengths and personalities. It reminded me of The Lord of the Flies in some ways. I read this because I saw an article in The Horn Book about this book, saying many librarians felt that it should have been the Newbery Award winner that year. I don't know what book won the Newbery that year, but this one would certainly qualify: fine, nuanced writing, insightful character development, good plot movement.
July 7, 2008
Two summer camp outcasts are stranded naked on an island for an overnight prank. They decide not to return to the camp and make off on their own. Written in the mid-to-late 80s, this book feels a little old school in a good way, like Hatchet or whatnot.
April 15, 2018
“Oh, God, I need somebody to take care of me!”
March 9, 2015
You know how there are always a couple of kids at camp (or school) who just don't fit in? Well, the two kids in this book who fit that bill are subjected to a cruel prank that's a tradition at their camp: they are labelled "goats" and left naked out on an island in the middle of a lake. But these kids don't cry and moan and wait for the repercussions after the kids who abandoned them come back and torture them for the rest of the summer. Instead they escape.
I loved the message of this story where the two kids who are bullied, instead of taking the bullying, and instead of fighting back unrealistically, they take a third way and they get out of there. They call the girl's mother who, not understanding what exactly has happened, says she can't come to pick them up until the weekend (it's Parents' Weekend.) So they have several days to kill and they don't want to go back to camp. Instead, they find inner resourcefulness, and they each make a true friend.
This book was fantastic. Mr. Cole really got into these kids' heads. They felt very authentic. I liked how for a large part of the book, they didn't even have names, but when they really became important to each other, they did. And I like the message, about how kids don't have to tolerate bullying, but also the only option isn't acting completely out of character and fighting back. Often kids get a message from adults that if they don't like how things are going, they should do the complete opposite, which is never an easy thing to do, and isn't good, practical advice.
I loved the message of this story where the two kids who are bullied, instead of taking the bullying, and instead of fighting back unrealistically, they take a third way and they get out of there. They call the girl's mother who, not understanding what exactly has happened, says she can't come to pick them up until the weekend (it's Parents' Weekend.) So they have several days to kill and they don't want to go back to camp. Instead, they find inner resourcefulness, and they each make a true friend.
This book was fantastic. Mr. Cole really got into these kids' heads. They felt very authentic. I liked how for a large part of the book, they didn't even have names, but when they really became important to each other, they did. And I like the message, about how kids don't have to tolerate bullying, but also the only option isn't acting completely out of character and fighting back. Often kids get a message from adults that if they don't like how things are going, they should do the complete opposite, which is never an easy thing to do, and isn't good, practical advice.
June 9, 2011
Saw this book at the local library and decided to try it. Perhaps I would have given this a higher rating if I was a teenage kid for which this book was written for. As an adult I found this book to be dry and lacking a sense of why would kids to that in all aspects of the book. Why would kids play a practical joke like that? Why would kids run away? Why would kids say things like that? As a mother of three I would think I know kids, yet perhaps I don't.
The Goats is about two 13 year old kids who are abandoned as a practical joke on a island nude. I think the kids learn more more about puberty in their short amount of time together then anything. They feel a friendship grow - yet is it friendship since they don't even know their names or is it just a sense of security because they are both going through the same issues. They don't want to go back to camp and face the kids. All they want to do is go home. They are challenged with trying to feed themselves and find a way back.
I have heard this book was very controversial in the 80's and I can see why back then. The nudity the kids sleeping in the same bed for warmth, the stealing of money and lying. But the 20th century I do not think those issues are thought of the same for today's kids and most of the issues that arise in this book are quite tame.
The Goats is about two 13 year old kids who are abandoned as a practical joke on a island nude. I think the kids learn more more about puberty in their short amount of time together then anything. They feel a friendship grow - yet is it friendship since they don't even know their names or is it just a sense of security because they are both going through the same issues. They don't want to go back to camp and face the kids. All they want to do is go home. They are challenged with trying to feed themselves and find a way back.
I have heard this book was very controversial in the 80's and I can see why back then. The nudity the kids sleeping in the same bed for warmth, the stealing of money and lying. But the 20th century I do not think those issues are thought of the same for today's kids and most of the issues that arise in this book are quite tame.
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January 16, 2009The Goats by Brock Cole
6.5/10. I didn't like this book as much as I wanted to. I would have liked it in the fifth grade, but it just feels flat to me as an adult, it's almost impersonal.
Basic plot: Laura and Howie are stripped naked and left on an island by their fellow campers. This makes them the "goats." They decide that the best revenge they can get is to disappear, so they run off and experience a series of adventures that lead to friendship. During the time that they are missing, Laura's mom recognizes how much she loves her daughter, and decides to help them anyway she can.
Why challenged? My guess? Language, bleakness, rebellion against authority, Laura gets her period (for some reason, censors are really offended by menstruation) and extremely mild sexuality.
Research says: "offensive and inappropriate" language for seventh- graders.
"the book contained several inappropriate references to the girl's anatomy and to a centerfold. She also questioned the cruelty of the joke played on the characters in the book"
6.5/10. I didn't like this book as much as I wanted to. I would have liked it in the fifth grade, but it just feels flat to me as an adult, it's almost impersonal.
Basic plot: Laura and Howie are stripped naked and left on an island by their fellow campers. This makes them the "goats." They decide that the best revenge they can get is to disappear, so they run off and experience a series of adventures that lead to friendship. During the time that they are missing, Laura's mom recognizes how much she loves her daughter, and decides to help them anyway she can.
Why challenged? My guess? Language, bleakness, rebellion against authority, Laura gets her period (for some reason, censors are really offended by menstruation) and extremely mild sexuality.
Research says: "offensive and inappropriate" language for seventh- graders.
"the book contained several inappropriate references to the girl's anatomy and to a centerfold. She also questioned the cruelty of the joke played on the characters in the book"
September 9, 2016
This is a disturbing, yet tender, tale of two outsiders who learn to trust each other and in turn discover themselves. At the summer camp from hell two teens, a boy and a girl, are the victims of a cruel "prank". They are designated "goats" by the other campers and tricked into a trip to an island in the middle of a lake. They are stripped of their clothes and left there; the intent is that the others will come back later and spy on them and gloat over their misery and fear. The two manage to escape from the island, naked and alone, and begin a journey of self discovery that changes them both. Along the way they discover both kindness and cruelty from adults and children alike. This is a powerful tale, and though the style of writing is at times difficult to follow it is a must read. I highly recommend this book, especially to anyone who has ever been a "goat".
May 3, 2008
Throughout this stunning story about the self-redemption of two picked-on teenagers, Cole plays with psychic distance to emphasize perceptions of the main characters. For example, Cole refers to them as “the boy” and “the girl” throughout most of the book. He doesn’t indicate their first names, Laura and Howie, until page 16—the second to last page—of the first chapter. In the last two paragraphs of the book, Cole uses their names in direct action: “Howie looked up.” And, the last sentence, “‘Hold on,’ Laura said.” While adults will squirm a bit revisiting this tenuous life-stage, teenage readers will easily see themselves in this book; they will relate to the issues of popularity and they will relate to the misunderstandings that can lead to dire consequences.
February 26, 2012
This story follows two kids (about 12 and 13) as they run away from summer camp. The boy and girl were chosen to play a mean prank on and they decided they didn't want to go back. The story starts at the prank and ends a couple of days later after they survive on candy bars and some petty theft.
I enjoyed this book because it was told from the very socially awkward children's point-of-view. These aren't kids that just don't fit in. They lack social skills, but they are able to relate to each other.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys coming-of-age novels and finds the socially awkward appealing.
I enjoyed this book because it was told from the very socially awkward children's point-of-view. These aren't kids that just don't fit in. They lack social skills, but they are able to relate to each other.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys coming-of-age novels and finds the socially awkward appealing.
December 22, 2015
Heartbreaking and yet lovely, I can see why this is on a number of lists as a top young adult novel. I am given to understand that it is also often challenged and I am not entirely certain why. The two young people are left naked on a small island as a practical joke by bullies at summer camp, but there is nothing graphic about the nudity and they cover themselves as quickly as they are able. I appreciated the fight they gave to overcome the bullying, on many levels, and to find a different path.
November 20, 2022
This one has really stayed with me through the years- the two outcast kids hiding together. I don't remember the details anymore but this feeling of sadness particular to this age has stayed with me. I upped the rating since my childhood.
July 30, 2017
I enjoyed and admired this book so much that I used it for a weird but powerful writing exercise I learned from the brilliant editor Donna Brooks.
Donna suggested copying a whole novel, word for word, to get a visceral experience of how and why you admire it and how and why it was built. The novel usually recommended for this exercise is Madame Bovary, but I chose this one, because I was trying to learn how to write for YA, and I was able to appreciate via slow sips a lot of thematic and structural stuff that I had gulped down and only subconsciously noticed while "merely" reading.
Donna suggested copying a whole novel, word for word, to get a visceral experience of how and why you admire it and how and why it was built. The novel usually recommended for this exercise is Madame Bovary, but I chose this one, because I was trying to learn how to write for YA, and I was able to appreciate via slow sips a lot of thematic and structural stuff that I had gulped down and only subconsciously noticed while "merely" reading.
July 22, 2021
I read this book as a kid many years ago and a lot of images from it have remained in my mind to this day. Finally rereading it I can say this book really holds up, powerful and evocative, realistic in its minimalist matter-of-fact description, really captures the mindsets of that age. I'm glad I reread it
September 29, 2022
found this at the thrift store and i'm glad i picked it up! obviously some things not great about it vocabulary0wise but it did a really good job of representing just how dramatic and catastrophic everything feels when you're that age. i also felt a lot of secondhand anxiety throughout the whole thing so maybe i finally be able to relax now.
May 23, 2007
I remember it being one of those very strange books you happen upon at the age of 10-12. A YA book that discusses things you aren't totally sure about.
May 23, 2019
The Goats,by Brock Cole is a book about a young boy and girl who are going to the same camp but when they came on their first day,a couple of kids puled a park on them by chasing them and removing their clothing and leaving them alone in the cold,dark in the woods completely naked.By them dealing with being on their own they learn to trust each other,find a way to find food,clothing and etc....so they can survive.While everything is happening the Girl's mom has been informed on what happened and she is very upset,wonders why did the counselors let this happen to her daughter but on the other hand the camp has tired to contact the boys parents but can't seem to reach them because they are on a vacation far away
This story has been published in 1987,speaks the point of view of third-person omniscient throughout the story,the theme behind this great story is ''Bullying can cause major conflicts in people life,shouldn't be happening for fun for because it can cause people to be emotional and end up struggling or harming themselves.
Personally I love this book,I really don't enjoy reading but when i read this book i just couldn't put it down,it had so much mystery and made me think of life ,how people get treated wrongly everyday and sometimes need a helpful hand or person to help them to feel confident and strong about themselves.
This story has been published in 1987,speaks the point of view of third-person omniscient throughout the story,the theme behind this great story is ''Bullying can cause major conflicts in people life,shouldn't be happening for fun for because it can cause people to be emotional and end up struggling or harming themselves.
Personally I love this book,I really don't enjoy reading but when i read this book i just couldn't put it down,it had so much mystery and made me think of life ,how people get treated wrongly everyday and sometimes need a helpful hand or person to help them to feel confident and strong about themselves.
June 5, 2017
Alright so this was another book that wasn't on the website but Im going t write about it. This was a book I was reading for children's lit so it was forced upon me sort of. It was a book for young kids learning to read and it was an old one. I thought it was good and a very east read because of the simple style of writing but for kids it could be really good. As an adult the book was still cool, each chapter was a different adventure for these friends and it made me remember my childhood. Very fun to think of the young me and I enjoy reading books that make me do so.
October 24, 2017
A girl named Laura and a boy named Howie are stripped of there clothes and possessions on a small island. This was a tradition that this camp did. The boy and girl didn't like this so with a help of a log the get off the island and dispensary in the nearby towns. Hiding from everyone, especially the police. The boy and girl steal clothes and small amounts of money for basic survival. Laura's mom is informed of her disappearance and try to find them. I recommend this book to people who like survival, romance, and also a more realistic type of book. I give this book 5 stars!
March 25, 2019
I love The Goats! It's a classic that should be better-known, about two lonely kids who become the designated outcasts at their summer camp, chosen for a cruel humiliation that's a secret camp tradition. But the boy and girl do not accept what the other campers try to do to them -- and the adventure they go on instead has stayed with me in an indelible way. When I first started to think about writing realistic middle-grade fiction, I happened on this book, and it showed me what might be possible to do.
December 28, 2020
I first read this waaayyy back in the day (when it was new and I was the intended audience). I remember not liking it, being disturbed by it.
This reread redeems it somewhat in that I can see the ‘importance’ of the work as part of the development of middle grade/YA. But I still didn’t like it and still found it disturbing, though for different reasons.
Read this if you’re working on a ‘history of literature for children’ project, or maybe a ‘comparison of the characterization of white kids v black kids in challenged literature,’ but otherwise feel free to skip.
This reread redeems it somewhat in that I can see the ‘importance’ of the work as part of the development of middle grade/YA. But I still didn’t like it and still found it disturbing, though for different reasons.
Read this if you’re working on a ‘history of literature for children’ project, or maybe a ‘comparison of the characterization of white kids v black kids in challenged literature,’ but otherwise feel free to skip.
July 24, 2022
I believe I read this a long time ago too, but for some reason didn't record it. Kids at camp are "bullied" but much more than the word bully describes. Anyway, it describes how they come to terms with their lives. It was an award winner, so I thought it would be better than it was - or maybe in my eyes, it was good but not worthy of awards. l liked the characters of the two kids, but the adults were unbelievable - even for kids fiction and it seems to me that the lesson learned here is there are no consequences for bad behavior.
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