Touching Spirit Bear [Library Binding]

Ben Mikaelsen (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up

Within Cole Matthews lie anger, rage and hate. Cole has been stealing and fighting for years. This time he caught Alex Driscal in the, parking lot and smashed his head against the sidewalk. Now, Alex may have permanent brain damage'and Cole is in the Biggest trouble of his life.

Cole is offered Circle Justice: a system based on Native American traditions that attempts to provide healing for the criminal offender, the victim and the, community. With prison as his only alternative, Cole plays along. He says he wants to repent, but in his heart Cole blames his alcoholic mom his, abusive dad, wimpy Alex -- everyone but himself -- for his situation.

Cole receives a one-year banishment to a remote Alaskan island. There, he is mauled by Mysterious white bear of Native American legend. Hideously injured, Cole waits for his death His thoughts shift from from Anger to humility. To survive, he must stop blaming others and take responsibility for his life. Rescuers arrive to save Cole's but it is the attack of the Spirit Bear that may save his soul.

Ben Mikaelsen paints a vivid picture of a juvenile offender, examining the roots without absolving solving him of responsibility for his actions, and questioning a society in which angry people make victims of their peers and communities. Touching Spirit Bear is a poignant testimonial to the power of a pain that can destroy, or lead to healing

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

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 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Library Binding: 256 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (January 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060291494
• ISBN-13: 978-0060291495
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (323 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #738,587 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ben Mikaelsen has won the International Reading Association Award and the Western Writers Golden Spur Award. His novels have won critical acclaim, as well as several state reader's choice awards. These novels include Rescue Josh McGuire, Sparrow Hawk Red, Stranded, Countdown, Petey, and Touching Spirit Bear. Ben's articles and photos appear in numerous magazines around the world. Ben and his wife, Melanie, live in a log cabin near Bozeman, Montana, with a 700-pound black bear they have adopted and raised.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Touching Spirit Bear, February 25, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Touching Spirit Bear (Hardcover)

Touching Spirit Bear is about a troubled 15-year old boy named Cole. His parents are alcoholics and abuse him. After he hurts Pete, he is sent to a remote island in Alaska. He has a near death experience and realizes all the things he did wrong in his life. I read the whole book in 4 1/2 hours nonstop. I think this book not only shows how Cole changed but it shows how people with many troubles can change. I think this book shows a valuable lesson about life. I would recommend it to anyone who likes to read about adventure, courage, and life. This book definitely deserves a five star rating!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bearable or Unbearable: the redemption of Cole Matthews., April 24, 2005

By 

William Zachs (Edinburgh) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Touching Spirit Bear (Paperback)

The concept of "timeout" is here taken to the extreme. Teenage Cole Matthew's journey from an angry, lying thug to a sensitive, thoughtful human is compelling, if a little overwrought. Beaten by his alcoholic father (who himself was beaten), Cole has to come to terms with who he is and what he has done, which is little short of lying throughout his life and senselessly beating classmate Peter for no reason. For this crime, he is about to be jailed. But the offer by Garvey, his parole officer and himself a one-time offender, of "Circle Justice" - a concept practised by native cultures that has healing and forgiveness as its core elements - is an option he cannot refuse, even though it means isolation on a remote island in Alaska.
Whether it is the process of self-awareness that Cole moves through first in his near escape from death one day into his banishment and afterwards during a year on the island, or whether it is the care and thoughtful attention of his mentors, Garvey and Edwin, his surrogate parents, is left for the reader to decide. Probably it is a combination of both -- and no less of an actual encounter with a large, white "spirit bear." The symbolism of the bear is clear. It represents all that is instinctively good and powerful in nature. The "spirit bear" is utterly sensitive to the truth; it will tell Cole (and the reader) if redemption is possible and it will tell Peter if he can forgive Cole. Only then will healing take place and the circle of justice completed.
You cannot read this book without looking at yourself and asking what happens during those moments of rage that we all feel. Take a deep breath; take a time out; get away to an island for as long as you can to know yourself and your place in the circle of life.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Touching Spirit Bear, March 26, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Touching Spirit Bear (Hardcover)

"Touching Spirit Bear" is a book about a very angry and abused fifteen year old who is facing a prison sentence for attacking and injuring a fellow nineth-grder. While waiting for the courts decision Cole, the boy, was kept in a detention center. During his stay in the detention center he was asked to apply for circle justice. After all of the arrangements were made Cole was sent to live by himself on an island off the coast of Alaska for a year. His stay on the island was cut short by a near death experience that some how made Cole realize what life had to offer and wanted to change. Cole was given a second chance and he takes the opportunity this time by helping himself and Peter, the boy he beat up. I hope there is a seaquel.