Published in 2023, The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers is a middle grade speculative fiction novel. Johannes, the protagonist and narrator, is a free-spirited dog whose daily ventures through an urban park by the sea make him a hero to its diverse animal inhabitants. Tasked with being the Eyes of the park, he reports everything back to the park’s wise elders, three ancient bison. When human developments threaten the park’s balance, Johannes plans to liberate his bison friends with the help of a peculiar array of animals and an unexpected ally in a shipload of goats. The novel won a Newbery Medal and explores themes of balance, freedom, and friendship.

Citations in this study guide refer to the e-book edition released by Random House in 2023.

Content Warning: The source material contains depictions of suicidal ideation.

Plot Summary

Johannes the dog has always lived freely in a vast park near the sea. The three bison who rule the park ask him to act as their Eyes and help them maintain balance in their domain. Four Assistant Eyes help Johannes keep watch—a seagull named Bertrand, a squirrel named Sonja, a pelican named Yolanda, and a raccoon named Angus. One day, Angus reports an uptick in activity in the park’s plaza. When Johannes investigates, he sees a number of beautiful paintings on display. The dog is so fascinated by the artwork that he doesn’t notice a young boy approaching him until the child pets him. The bison are worried that Johannes’s interest in the paintings could leave him vulnerable to danger. Their fears are confirmed the next day when a thief named Twisty leashes Johannes while he is admiring his favorite painting. Twisty and his friends try to take the dog away from the park. Bertrand, Yolanda, and Sonja free Johannes by besieging the thieves’ van. Johannes worries that his capture will make the bison question their decision to make him the Eyes, but they’re simply relieved to see him safely home. To reassert his freedom and sense of self, Johannes runs through the park all night.

Johannes’s brief captivity increases his fervor for liberty, and he resolves to free the bison from their enclosure. He spends weeks working on a plan that requires the help of most of the park’s animals. Meanwhile, Bertrand discovers that a new art museum is being built in the park’s plaza. Knowing that Johannes is shaken from his captivity, Bertrand and the other Assistant Eyes resolve to get their friend into the museum to help him feel better. When Johannes goes to observe the art museum, he sees a toddler fall into a nearby pond. He rescues the child and runs away before anyone can catch him. Humans take photographs of the heroic dog, and Animal Control searches for Johannes. The Assistant Eyes convince him to disguise himself with a collar and a dog sweater. Johannes wears the disguise to the art museum’s grand opening, but he’s still nearly caught by Animal Control.

One day, Johannes and the Assistant Eyes discover that hundreds of goats have been brought to the park to eat weeds. The goats say that they are from the mainland. Johannes reports this to the bison, who confirm that the park is on an island and explain that there is no way to leave. This revelation deeply troubles the dog and makes him feel insignificant. The next day, Johannes learns that a coyote has been spotted in the park, and he meets a cheerful goat named Helene who has been ostracized by the rest of her herd. When Johannes returns to his lair, he finds that the park’s employees have filled his home with cement. He starts spending his nights with Helene, and he loves listening to his new friend’s adventurous stories about her travels on the mainland. The other goats behave subserviently to the dog, and Johannes uses this power to forbid them from bullying Helene. In gratitude, Helene suggests hiding the bison among the goats when the herd sails back to the mainland. The ship leaves early the next morning, so the friends must act quickly. Johannes enlists the Assistant Eyes’ support for the plan, and the aid of the park’s raccoons, pelicans, gulls, rats, crows, and horses. That evening, he tells the bison about the plan. They ask Johannes to watch over the park when they are gone and inform him that he is half-coyote.

Johannes looks for Bertrand to tell him the news, but he finds his best friend wounded on the archery field. Although the injury isn’t fatal, the gull’s flight will never be the same. Back in his nest, Bertrand explains that he was trying to impress Johannes with a daring stunt because he was jealous of the time the dog spends with Helene. Johannes assures Bertrand that he’s his best friend and leaves to implement the plan to free the bison.

While Angus and the other raccoons distract the humans near the bison enclosure by attacking a vehicle, Sonja opens the pen and leads the bison into the woods. Johannes guides three large horses into the pen to serve as stand-ins for the bison and buy them time before the humans realize the bison’s absence. Johannes leads the bison to the goats, who leap around the enormous animals chaotically to conceal their presence. The herd makes its way to the beach, and Yolanda urges them to hurry because the humans have realized that the bison are missing. The bison thank Johannes and the goats for allowing them to see the ocean for the first time, but they decline to board the ship because they are old and do not wish to leave the only home they have ever known. Helene invites Johannes to come with her instead. Johannes decides to join her on the voyage to the mainland, but he wishes to see Bertrand first. The injured gull has decided to plunge into the sea, an end he believes is honorable. Johannes calls out to his friend and convinces him that his life still has meaning. Bertrand and Johannes join Helene on the ship that will take them to the mainland, a place that seems full of infinite freedom and beauty.