Touching Spirit Bear

amelia12 - My book is entitled Touching Spirit Bear. The author of my book is Ben Mikaelsen. This book is telling a story about a boy named Cole Matthews. Cole is a troublemaker, he steals things, breaks things, hurts people and much more. His most recent crime was very serious and resulted in extreme consequences. He would have to choose between living in jail for one year, or joining a group called Circle Justice and living in isolation for one year. He chooses circle Justice but his experience turns out to be life threatening. I really liked this book because it taught a really strong life lesson about caring about people and things, that's someone Cole learned in his experience. It was overall a very interesting book and I couldn't take my eyes off. Although it was a little disturbing at parts I really did enjoy this book. Today, we are seeing much more crime being committed and I can imagine something like this happening. The entire story plot is definitely possible. I think misbehaving boys and or girls should read this book because they can notice the consequences that are held for serious actions like this. Anyone in general however, could read this book and I'm sure they will enjoy it. What I like about the book is that the whole book is pretty much an internal conflict. Cole is dealing with his own problems and figuring out how to make his life on the abandoned island comfortable. He is dealing with his own emotions and anger by himself. However, there is also a lot of external conflict in this book, for example man vs nature is a big one. At a point in time Cole is mauled by a bear and can barely move, when a strong powerful storm begins and he can't get up. He is figuring out how to make food with items around him, how to find shelter and keep warm, and most of all he is viewing all the animals and real life creatures around him and opening up his eyes to see how harmful he has been. Cole is finally realizing what he has done.

Starred review from February 1, 2001
Gr 7 Up-Cole Matthews is a violent teen offender convicted of viciously beating a classmate, Peter, causing neurological and psychological problems. Cole elects to participate in Circle Justice, an alternative sentencing program based on traditional Native American practices that results in his being banished to a remote Alaskan Island where he is left to survive for a year. Cynical and street smart, he expects to fake his way through the preliminaries, escape by swimming off the island, and beat the system, again. But his encounter with the Spirit Bear of the title leaves him desperately wounded and gives him six months of hospitalization to reconsider his options. Mikaelsen's portrayal of this angry, manipulative, damaged teen is dead on. Cole's gradual transformation into a human kind of being happens in fits and starts. He realizes he must accept responsibility for what he has done, but his pride, pain, and conditioning continue to interfere. He learns that his anger may never be gone, but that he can learn to control it. The author concedes in a note that the culminating plot element, in which Peter joins Cole on the island so that both can learn to heal, is unlikely. But it sure works well as an adventure story with strong moral underpinnings. Gross details about Cole eating raw worms, a mouse, and worse will appeal to fans of the outdoor adventure/survival genre, while the truth of the Japanese proverb cited in the frontispiece, "Fall seven times, stand up eight" is fully and effectively realized.-Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IA

Copyright 2001 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2001
Gr. 6-9. Cole Matthews is a 15-year-old, baby-faced con. The child of wealthy, abusive alcoholic parents, Cole has been getting into trouble most of his life. One day, he beats a fellow student so severely the boy suffers permanent physical damage. Mikaelsen's new novel is the story of Cole's redemption; it is also a look at an unusual justice system. Cole's parole officer arranges for Cole to face "Circle Justice," a Native American tradition. The Circle decides that Cole must spend a year, by himself, on a remote Alaskan island. Cole is at first resistant, but he eventually learns much about himself and his anger, and he even finds a way to help his victim. Some may argue that the change in Cole comes too quickly to be realistic, but even students with very different backgrounds will empathize with this tortured bully. As in Countdown (1997), Mikaelsen is at his best when using the story to explain other cultures. An excellent companion to Gary Paulsen's " Hatchet" (1987) and Allan Eckert's " Incident at Hawk's Hill "(1971).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)