Shots on Goal

by Rich Wallace

It's soccer season, and sophomore Bones Austin and his team are struggling to make it to the district play-offs--against all odds. To make matters worse, Bones has a crush on the girlfriend of his best friend, Joey. Bones and Joey are forced to learn a little something about teamwork, even when hard times seem to be tearing them apart. Rich Wallace returns to Sturbridge, Pennsylvania, in his stunning follow-up to Wreslting Strubirdge , in Knopf Paperback for the first time.  

Genres: Sports

160 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about the friendship between two young teenagers attending high school. The main character is a boy named Bones Austin, and his best friend is Joey. They both play soccer together and are unstoppable as a team but their friendship is put to the test when a girl is introduced. The girl, Shannon like Joey, and Bones like Shannon. It's a complicated love triangle and their friendship is strained when soccer season rolls around. They play their "enemies" on the soccer field and since they are both fighting over the same girl, their teamwork during the game is challenged. They lose the big game and they must sort it out to see which is more important: their friendship and soccer or Shannon.
I enjoyed reading this book, however, I thought it was all very cliché in the way that two guys are fighting over one girl and they need to figure out what's more important-it seems pretty obvious to me that their friendship will prevail.
I would recommend this book to Woody, anyone that is on the soccer team who's interested in reading about soccer, and anyone who enjoys reading cliche-ish novels.

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the perfect book for kidw who love soccer. You don't have to be a boy to enjoy this book either. This book talks you, page by page, through a typical teenage soccer player's life. He has a best friend who likes the same girl as him. He has to worry about his job and still socialize with his friends. He has to live up to his older brother, the all star wrestlers, reputation. He not only needs to worry about his social life, but he needs to think about his team. His team has to face some of the best teams around and they feel the need to go to states this year. They want to win. This is a great book for anybody, soccer player or not.

[Erick Quezada · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about high school students. They're 2 main characters, both of them play in their school's soccer team. The main character talks about how his bestfriend takes advantage of him. Hes tired of being there for him because his friend takes all the good things. I think this book is really interesting because i like soccer a lot and i find this book interesting. Te author explains every moment of the students soccer games, with very good detail. Theres only one thing i didnt like about this book, the author changes place in every chapter and its hard for the reader to keep track of it. Other than that i think the book is really good and students that like soccer would enjoy it!

[Kyler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shots on goal is about a high school friendship that is tested throughout their years. The two main characters, Bones and Joey both play soccer. Their friendship is tested when joey starts to date a girl named Shannon. Bones has had a crush on Shannon for as long as he can remember. Bones is angry with Joey because he knew that Bones had a crush on Shannon. Their friendship along with their teamwork on the soccer field is put to the max. In the end they must choose between Shannon, or their friendship and soccer. This was an alright read and easy to relate to because I play soccer, but it wasn't the most interesting book.

[samanthaschulteis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would recommend the book SHOTS ON GOAL by Rich Wallace to anyone that likes sports literature. In this novel, Barry Austin leads his team through some struggles during the soccer season. I really liked the main character, Barry. I thought that he was a good role model for his teammates, and he had some good character traits too. I also liked the setting of a small Pennsylvania town; it was a very relatable setting for me. One thing I didn't like, was how predictable the plot was. From the first page, I pretty much knew how the ending would turn out. I would have liked more of a plot twist. Overall, I enjoyed this novel, and I would recommend it to a friend.

[Brandon Welch]

The book is about a soccer team who goes last to first in one season

I think this book is for teenagers


The book started out at one of the worst teams in league practice. The players hate each other at the beginning of the season. But they learn to work as a team. And win the championship. They encounter some pretty tough things throughout the season.


The one part I like in this book is when the main character has a party and they all get drunk. They are really good players. Then

[T]

I really liked the book, specially because it was about sport and that is one of the thing I enjoy the doing the most, and second, it was about soccer which is my second best sport. The story really just hooked me in on every chapter. i've read Rich Wallace's writing before and the way he write is just how I like it. I reccommend this to people that like a good book and sports.

[Savannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book because I play soccer & thought it would be interesting. At first it was kind of slow, but around 3/4 of the way it got a lot better. I am a girl, and it was from a boy's point of view so I didn't like that. But it has a really good theme to it, and is well written. Definitely not one of the best books I've ever read though.

[Scotts · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Shots on Goal, was an okay book. I like the setting of the book because it reminded me of where I live. I also liked the parts about soccer. The things I didn't like was when it was about dating. I also didn't like when it went into detail about kids making out on the couch. All in all the book wasn't that bad. It had plot twists to keep you interested and the setting was cool.

[Esteban · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the book Shots on goal was an amazing book. They way the friendship was tested throughout the story and they still ended up friends was great. The book was also very entertaining because i myself love to play soccer and can have similar friendships with my friends on and off the field.

[BCPL Youth Services Librarian]

Click to see book in BCPL's online catalog

[Hoang]

Bones, Joey, and Herbie are friends after they win the league champion ship. Bones get payback on Joey by making out with Shannon. I think the book is really interesting and I would want to read the other book by Rich Wallace