Eyes on the Goal

4 for 4 #2

by John Coy

Just before they're due to start middle school, Jackson, Gig, Isaac, and Diego, four sports-loving friends, all attend the same weeklong soccer camp. Diego is an experienced soccer player, and Gig has a natural ability for the sport he never realized. But Jackson and Isaac are split into another group of players--a group with younger, smaller kids. For the first time, both boys aren't the stars of their team. In fact, they can't seem to get a handle on soccer. At the same time, Jackson is having a hard time getting a handle on his mom's deepening relationship with her boyfriend, and her suggestion that they move in with him. And Gig is worried about his father's deployment to Afghanistan. Here is a story about how life, like sports, can be unpredictable, frustrating, and exhilarating.

Genres: Sports

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

John Coy is the author of young adult novels, the 4 for 4 middle-grade series, and fiction and nonfiction picture books. John has received numerous awards for his work including a Marion Vannett Ridgway Award for best first picture book, a Charlotte Zolotow Honor, Bank Street College Best Book of the Year, Notable Book for a Global Society, and the Burr/Warzalla Award for Distinguished Achievement in Children’s Literature. He lives in Minneapolis and visits schools around the world.

Reviews

[Logan Kicherer]

Personal response
Eyes on the Goal by John Coy was a good book. I thought it was good because it was funny. This book wasn't a very hard book to read. My favorite part of the book was when Jackson was playing goalie and a pretty girl walked by. He looked at her then got smoked in the face by a soccer ball. I also liked the part when Jackson’s friend thought he was better than the older kids but decided to play with them. I do not think he realized how big those guys really were close up.


Plot
This book mainly took place at a camp for soccer players, but the beginning took place in Jackson's hometown. Jackson’s town wasn't very big. he was friends with almost everyone. Jackson's best friend, Giggs, only lived three houses down from him, and they would hang out all the time. Giggs’s dad was in the military, and he got shipped out for some more training a couple of days before soccer camp. Giggs's dad being gone made him feel like he had to stay home and be the man of the house, so he told Jackson he was not going to camp anymore. After a couple of days passed and Jackson was getting ready to leave for camp, he got a phone call. It was Giggs saying that his dad contacted him and said that he should go camping with Jackson and his friends. So Giggs ended up going to camp with Jackson and his friends. Giggs didn't want to go right away, but when he got there he was happy to be there. Towards the end of camp, Jackson really started to focus and practice almost every day. One afternoon he asked one of the older guys if he wanted to play, and he said “yes.” Jackson was a lot smaller and had a huge disadvantage, but Jackson had been practicing every day and was ready for this. Jackson scored a goal and bragged about it for the rest of the weekend.



Characterization
Jackson was a young boy who was in fifth grade. His best friend was Giggs who only lived three houses down from him. Jackson loved playing soccer, and that is why he went to the soccer camp. Jackson only played soccer, unlike his friends who played football.

Giggs was one of the best soccer players on the soccer team. Giggs didn't want to go on a soccer trip because he thought he had to stay back and take care of his family because his dad left for training. Gigs was a very competitive person and wanted to challenge every other soccer player there.


Setting
The beginning of this book took place in a small town where everybody knew everyone. Jackson was only in fifth grade at the time. It doesn't clearly say what year, but it was sometime when there were outdoor movies. Jackson town was so small that he could walk to the store to get groceries. The other part of this book took place at soccer camp about three hours from home. This camp was pretty big and had a lot of kids in it. Jackson stayed in a little two-person room with Giggs, which only had a little tiny bathroom and a small television.


Thematic
The theme of this book was friendship. friendship was shown when Jackson went over to Giggs’s house to make sure that he was okay about his dad leaving for the Army. They also showed it when Jackson was getting picked on by one of the older kids, and Giggs came in and told the older kid to pick on someone his own size. There was also a little bit of teamwork when Jackson and Giggs teamed up to beat the older kid in a soccer match. Even tho it was two on one.


Recommendation
I would recommend this book to kids who are a little bit younger who are interested in learning about soccer and reading books that do not have too many pages. I would rate this book a four out of five stars just because the only thing that was happening in the whole book was soccer.

[Lucy Wyse · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first saw this book I never was really into sports fiction but, when I got deep into the book it made me realize that I really do like sports fiction. So if think you don't like a genre go ahead and read it anyway it may surprise you like this book did for me. I thought this book was phenomenal, it has surprises, and it makes you feel different emotions as your reading the book. If I ever had to choose a favorite book this one would definitely be in my top three.

The most surprising thing was that Gig hated soccer yet he was amazing at it. Because usually when you hat something you don't really want to try that hard. Therefore you wouldn't do very well.

[Parth Patel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that eyes on the goal taught not to just anything if you have not tried it out yourself. It was a good interesting book.

[Kai Fauvell · Rating 5 out of 5]

BEST BOOK EVER it shows a boys personality and attractions to so like perspective

[Jacob Perro]

Didnt like

[mikey guzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have you ever read a book about a sport you really love?The genre is realistic fiction,and I thought this book was great because i can relate to it because trying out for a team can be scary.this book is about 4 young kids joining a soccer camp,and all get put on different teams because of there skill level.
The setting is at a soccer camp which takes place during the summer.During the summer 4 boys Gig, Jackson, Isaac, and Diego try out for a soccer camp and get put in different teams.On all the teams they are the star players.Spoiler alert gig actually isnt into soccer and realizes he is great at it,and Jackson realizes he is an excellent goalie.
My favorite part of the story is when jackson realizes that Diegos cousin is a girl that has better soccer skills then them.this is my favorite part because Jackson and Gig are shocked and after they see her play,and they now know she is amazing at soccer.I wish that gig,jackson,isaac,and diego could have stayed on different teams throughout the whole story. I wish that because they would have vs each other and they would have got use to there team.
I was surprised when gig turned out to be a natural at soccer.I was surprised because usually when you have never tried something it takes a while to learn that new skill, you will be know as a amateur.The point of view of the story is 1st person,because the story uses word like i and we.
I would rate this book a 3 out of 5 stars because i love reading books about sports.i would recommend this book to everybody that loves soccer and has been on a team before.If you love soccer read this book.

[Hailey Huff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really good book! I can relate to it because I know how scary it is to go to a soccer camp and get seperated from your friends and be a good player on a bad team but its the other way around in the book. This book is about 4 friends going to a soccer camp and when they all get there they end up getting on different teams and when they dont have practice none of them hang out barely they all hang out with their team except 2 friends, Gig and Jackson. At the end of the book they all get on the team thanks to Gig but it turns out to be a nightmare because one of their friends is really good soccer player and he gets frusterated at the other friends. At warm ups Jackson and Gig messed around and Jackson played goalie and he ended up being really good and loved it, so in the tournament Jackson ended up playing goalie and all of the friend became friends again and started to enjoy the camp. My favorite part was when all of them became friends again because I think its dumb that you cant hang out with your friends beacause your on a higher lever team. But I think everyone who enjoys sports or likes soccer should read this book because I bet they will like it.

[Noah Martinmaas]

This book is about friends going to a soccer camp so they can get their one friend to play football in the fall with them. Only, one of them like soccer, all the rest of them prefer football. Once they get to the camp and get into their dorms they meet this one girl and they start to hang out with her a lot. They start to grow on the sport. After reading this book all the way I really like this book for many reasons. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes this kind of genre.

[Sheila Bracken · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is a great book for my male students who need something fast-paced and predictable. The characters are young, but they're going through much the same things: struggling with family issues, wondering how to talk to girls, confused about changing friend dynamics, and trying to figure out their place in the world.

[CuriousLibrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a 3.5 from me.

Second in the series - summer soccer camp this time. A nice continuation of the series.

For grades 4-7.

[Alexandra Kalika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love soccer so i loved the book

[Kunal Bhattacharjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book because it was simple casual realistic fiction and you wont let the book down until the end

[Jada · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome

[Maxwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a very good and interesting book

[Matthew Conway · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a really good and interesting book.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a cute, short story. Not much else I can say beyond that.

[Leroyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

" Eyes On The Goal" is a pretty good book. This book teaches me, and I learned from it that sport is not all about winning. "Eyes on the Goal" is more about four friends that want to have fun and be together. So if you that person that care about sport or friendship, I'll recommit this book to you.