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 - poor 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...
“Survival on the Fringe of Society”tt Wow—this book really packs a social punch in the days of pre-cyber bullying; it engages the reader’s sympathy for the two misfits instantly. A Boy and a Girl at summer camp are targeted for peerpunishment in the form of a cruel joke; they are abandoned on an island with no food, money or clothing—left to fiend for themselves to get back to civilization and/or their camp of caring counselors. But these two scapegoats who did not even know each other pool their resources to Get Even—if not with the callous jokesters, then with Society in general. A stark tale of social rejection and self preservation. Having recognized their precarious and embarrassing situation, suddenly Howie and Laura are forced to rely on each other’s wits and daring—strengths which they did not realize that they possessed—to reverse the kids’ malicious decree. Their goals expand from escaping their island prison but to survive on the outskirts of society for three days. No, that is not nearly enough for these two; they want to pay the entire camp back for their humiliation. Anything rather than return to the camp to endure the teenagers’ ridicule and the censure of adults.They decide to be proactive to reestablish their own shattered dignity. They plot to hang out on their own until the Girl’s mother arrives for Parents’ Weekend. The plot rivets one’s attention for these teens must overcome incredible obstacles—posed by both adults and other kids. The challenge of living without the pale. It is somewhat unlikely that such social outcasts could be transformed so quickly into a modern day Bonny and Clyde; maybe they enjoy thinking of each other as a cool “bandit” and a “fox wearing glasses.” This book reads swiftly due to extensive dialogue, without the usual adolescent platitudes. Their journey of self-discovery makes a fascinating story, albeit with dark social undertones. For kids aged 12 -17. A summer camp not worthy dying for… April 13, 2012. I welcome dialogue with teachers.)t
What do You think about The Goats (1990)?
Oh dear, the cover that appears above is just brutal! Eesh, I hadn't seen that before. Please ignore that cover and read this book! The Goats is in the YA canon for a reason. Here are all of the things I loved about it: -It begins with a lot of action. It combines emotion with that action so it's not just movement for the sake of movement. -There is a clear countdown to something. (They have to eventually make their way back to the camp.) -Every chapter advances the plot in some way. -The connection between the two main characters is rich, convincing, and multi-layered. -The writing is subtle, allowing the reader to come their own conclusions about these characters. -We get to know these two main characters very deeply and yet they are somewhat blank (in the sense that their home lives and features aren't overly delineated) so the reader can cast them in their own minds however they please.
—nancy
Cole, B. (1987). The Goats. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux 0374425752 When campers do a mean prank to two outsider thirteen-year-olds by stranding them naked on an island, the bullied boy and girl decide to escape the island and not return to the camp. The journey that follows feels like a Gary Paulsen book set a few miles closer to civilization. More than anything the boy and the girl (as they are referred to throughout most of the book) seem to desire control over their lives and respect from the people they must deal with. Throughout the book, they gradually grow from victims to rule breakers to confident friends who are committed to each other. As thirteen-year-olds, both the boy and the girl are dealing with issues of sexual awakening. It is also worth noting that the story is told from multiple perspectives. Readers see overlaps of accounts of events not only from the perspectives of the boy and the girl, but also from the perspective of the girl’s mother. The book also contains subtle references to works of art and Greek gods and considers, to some extent, issues of race and class. As a person who has spent a number of summers at camps, I must admit I had ‘suspension of disbelief’ issues with the camp administrators and with one of the mother’s reactions to two campers going missing. Other struggles include the fact that the narrative is a little dated (pre-cell phones, pre-credit cards). Activities to do with the book: This would be a good book to use to begin a discussion on bullying or victimization. Some of the plot points could likely trigger a strong emotional response from readers at one of several points in the narrative, so it could be used with particularly taciturn students to get them sharing their opinions. Favorite Quotes: “When he came back to the beach with wood for the fire Bryce grabbed him from behind. The firewood scattered, bouncing off his knees and shins” (p. 3). “What…” he said carefully, trying to think of something that would quiet her down. “What if we weren’t here when they came back?” (p. 10). FOR MORE CHILDREN'S LITERATURE REVIEWS VISIT sjkessel.blogspot.com
—Shel
As a general rule, I try not to watch the movie before I've read the book. Standing Up, the 2013 movie based on this book published in 1987, was an exception to that rule. My sister told me how great the movie was, so I watched it. And guys, the movie is amazing. I kind of can't rave about it enough. Which is why reading the book (and now reviewing the book) was so weird. But let's get to it.The Goats follows a boy and a girl, campers (I think 12 yrs old) who are stranded naked on "Goat Island" by their fellow campmates. The characters have actual names, but throughout most of the book they're known simply as "the boy" and "the girl." After being stranded in what is supposedly a practical joke (um, what?), these two decide to disappear by heading to shore before anyone from the camp can find them and bring them back. This is a bit of harrowing premise for what ends up being a sweet middle grade/YA novel.I'm not quite sure how to explain what this book is. It's survival and social anxiety and hormones and finding someone you just fit with. Not quite romantic love, but not quite not, either. It's written in the straightforward, simple style that's common with children's novels published 20-ish years ago. There's not a lot of detailed descriptions or exposition; everything that happens contributes to the plot, and for a book that seems so cozy, there's quite a lot of action. It's a weirdly profound novel and one of the rare books that, reading it as an adult, I wish I'd discovered years earlier. As much as I enjoyed this book, I think I would have connected with it so much more if I'd read it as a 13 or 14 year old. It touches on a lot of really big issues - family, isolation, trust, and right and wrong. It's definitively worth reading, whatever your age. There's a beauty to this book that I can't quite explain.(Also, technically this book seems to be a YA, but I'm not quite sure why that is as it seems to fit much better as a middle grade to me, so that's what I'm classifying it as.)
—Jordyn
