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Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: HarperTeen
ISBN13: 9780060734008
Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
Notes:
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Will the attack of the Spirit Bear destroy Cole's life or save his soul? Cole Matthews has been fighting, stealing, and raising hell for years. So his punishment for beating Peter Driscal senseless is harsh. Given a choice between prison and Native American Circle Justice, Cole chooses Circle Justice: He'll spend one year in complete isolation on a remote Alaskan island. In the first days of his banishment, Cole is mauled by a mysterious white bear and nearly dies. Now there's no one left to save Cole, but Cole himself.
Cole Matthews is angry. Angry, defiant, smug--in short, a bully. His anger has taken him too far this time, though. After beating up a ninth-grade classmate to the point of brain damage, Cole is facing a prison sentence. But then a Tlingit Indian parole officer named Garvey enters his life, offering an alternative called Circle Justice, based on Native American traditions, in which victim, offender, and community all work together to find a healing solution. Privately, Cole sneers at the concept, but he's no fool--if it gets him out of prison, he'll do anything. Ultimately, Cole ends up banished for one year to a remote Alaskan island, where his arrogance sets him directly in the path of a mysterious, legendary white bear. Mauled almost to death, Cole awaits his fate and begins the transition from anger to humility. Ben Mikaelsen's depiction of a juvenile delinquent's metamorphosis into a caring, thinking individual is exciting and fascinating, if at times heavy-handed. Cole's nastiness and the vivid depictions of the lengths he must go to survive after the (equally vivid) attack by the bear are excruciating at times, but the concept of finding a way to heal a whole community when one individual wrongs another is compelling. The jacket cover photo of the author in a bear hug with the 700-pound black bear that he and his wife adopted and raised is definitely worth seeing! (Ages 12 and older) --Emilie Coulter
| Customer Reviews: |
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| new customer |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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the book I purchased was brand new, no pages missing,torn, or written in. It was as if I purchased from a book store but about $15.00 less. I will use Amazon to buy again.
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| What a great book! |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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I know this book is for middle grades, but I couldn't put it down! (I'm 43) I bought it for a graduate course to study children's literature. This is a must read for anyone! I've already convinced my 8th grade son to read it for his next book for school. This one will touch your heart.
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| Cole might get better, but the author never does |
| Customer Rating: 1 out of 5 |
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Cole starts out as a violent and angry bully, but, over the course of the book, he starts to grow spiritually. However, this book is not appropriate for middle schoolers or younger children. My child was disturbed by the death of the baby sparrows in the book, and by the main character's frequent stripping off his clothes. Only a disturbed person would do this. That is the reason why I rated this story so low. Especially disturbing were the scenes in which Cole beat up one of the other characters. I would not recommend it.
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| Touching Spirit Bear |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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From an Elementary Student in my class:
This book is about a kid named Cole. He was a very mean person who got in trouble for beating a kid up. Coles' parents were very mean and were drunks. So he found Circle Justice. He went to an island where he was mauled by a Spirit Bear. I recommend this book because it has a little gore and tells about a troubled kid's life.
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| Good book, but sort of... misses the point, really |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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I must admit I enjoyed reading this book. We read it in English class and it was a good read. However, I must admit I dunno why it got the YRCA nod.
The book centers around an angry teen named Cole Matthews. He has robbed an electronics store and after boasting about it, a kid has told people about it. He bashes his head in on the sidewalk, and that leads to the dicison between his parents and his parole officer whether he should sit in a jail cell or go to CIrcle Justice, which is banishment on an Alaskan Tlingit island. Anyways, Cole is alone there. After trying to escape he has multiple encounters with this "spirit bear", one that turns out pretty nasty. He ends up getting injured in the attack.
Now the book was well written. There were some cool bits, some good dialogue, the characters were strong. So why is it only three stars? Because despite being well written, there were some flaws in the logic. Some of the descriptions were a tad too repetitive. Did the violent storm bit need to be THAT long with THAT many descriptions? Some parts were not very believable, either. Like the Cole and Peter scene towards the end. Can Peter forgive Cole THAT easily?
Anyways this is an OK book, but just be aware of the flaws.
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