Touching Spirit Bear (rack) | 
 enlarge | Author: Ben Mikaelsen
Publisher: HarperTeen
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
Buy New: $3.15
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Rating:  285 reviews
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages: 320
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 3.9 x 1.1
ISBN: 0060734000
EAN: 9780060734008
Publication Date: January 1, 2005
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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
Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 280 more reviews...
 Sam's seventh grade opinion December 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"[Cole] was an innocent-looking, baby-faced fifteen-year-old from Minneapolis who had been in trouble wish the law half his life. Everyone thought he felt sorry for what he had done, and going to this island was his way of making things right. Nothing could be further from the truth."
Cole Matthews is going to an Alaskan island as a result of almost killing a boy by bashing his head into the sidewalk. Cole is an emotional wreck with social and anger problems. He is accompanied by Garvey, the empathetic jail warden, and Edwin, a wise elder who cares about Cole's future. Even with their help, Cole's fate lies in his own hands. Can an attack from a strange white bear tempt fate and do what countless therapists and punishments couldn't?
In this fascinating story about abuse, family values and life lessons, Ben Mikaelsen's thoughtfulness and respect for animals are brought out many times in this captivating action novel.
I thought this book was great and would recommend it to any student looking for a philosophical read that they could still enjoy and connect to. Twists and turns fill the book and keep the reader off guard.
Luke's seventh grade review December 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Cole Matthews is not the type of kid you'd want to hang out with. Cole has been to ten different detention centers because of his violent actions. One afternoon, Cole decides to rob a convenience store. Cole is successful, but the next day at school, Cole brags to everyone about what he did. One kid, Peter Driscal, rats Cole out. After school, Cole beats Peter up badly. It takes six kids to stop him. For doing what Cole did, he is sent to a detention center in Minneapolis. Cole has the choice to go to a remote island in southern Alaska, or go to jail. He decides to go to the island because he thinks he can escape and he won't be locked in a small room getting served bad food.
Before Cole is sent to the island, he has to attend a Circle Justice meeting. This meeting is about what Cole did and how the people think of his actions. Cole becomes very agitated from the people's thoughts of him. They think he is a bad kid. Cole has to learn how to overcome his own anger and to help Peter heal. He also has to learn that it is easier to trust someone when you forgive.
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelson is a great example of character development. Almost all of the characters grow throughout the book. This book also has a lot of action in it to keep you interested. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a fast paced book and to anyone who enjoys feeling relaxed. This book has two different moods and one will enjoy them both throughout the book. Touching Spirit Bear will keep you up all night reading. This is a great book. It is action-packed and will entertain anyone.
 A seventh grader's view December 1, 2008
How would you feel if the age of fifteen you might be headed to a jail cell? What if you had been beaten up your entire life, and you did the same to others? This is what life is like for Cole Matthews in the book Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen.
Mikaelsen creates a fascinating novel about a boy who wants to change. Cole is sent to a harsh, remote island in Southeast Alaska, where he is mauled by a mysterious white Spirit Bear. Cole is left with the decision of helping himself or to help Peter Driscal, whose face he has slammed into the sidewalk. After this attack, Peter is left with a slur in his speech and almost all of his coordination ruined. Of course, Peter feels a deep hatred for Cole, even though Cole wants to help him.
During the course of the book, Cole realizes that he wants to change and help Peter. When asked if he will stay longer in order to help Peter, Cole doesn't know if he should get off of the island that he hates, or help Peter. After his experience, Cole learns that anybody can change, if they have the help and support of others.
In this book the pages turn themselves. Anybody looking for a book about overcoming obstacles and a pairing of the unlikeliest of friends should definitely read Touching Spirit Bear. Readers everywhere will be intrigued by this story of change and friendship.
TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR November 27, 2008
Drama/English teacher (Orlando, FL)
Teenagers, as they stumble their way through puberty, are a handful. Rare is the teen who exits puberty just he or she entered it. It is a time of self-determination, adjustment, experimentation, questioning, change (both physical and emotional), and realization. In other words, it is a difficult time.
As a society, we tend to cast off the teens who do not behave in a socially acceptable way. They are chastised, banished, and often rejected. This goes for those who are violent towards others, as well as those violent toward themselves, and those who are non-violent but just don't seem to know how to deal with society as it is. Is society guilty of ignoring the potential within even the most offensive adolescent? Is it better to jail a miscreant, or seek some sort of rehabilitation? Who is worthy of the chance at redemption, and how would anyone truly know that someone has changed?
All of these questions are considered in the gripping Young Adult novel, TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR. An extremely violent and unrepentant 15-year-old must face his toughest opponent ever as he faces down not an enormous white bear that will come close to taking his life, but rather himself (and all the baggage that comes with being him). The process of finding redemption is not a quick one, and so, Cole Matthews is given the chance to spend a year in the wild to consider his attitude towards Life and his own faults as a human being. It's tough. Really tough. But through the guidance of a supportive parole officer and a Tlingit elder, Cole learns many valuable and applicable lessons to deal with his mistreatment of others.
Attitude. Of all things a teenager owns, his/her attitude is probably the hardest to accept responsibility for. Adolescents do not want to feel that they are in charge of their attitude because that way they can claim no responsibility for it. The attitude has a mind of its own. So, accepting ownership of our attitude requires that we go through a process that enlightens us to how our attitude affects what we do, and what we do affects others.
TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR might need to be required reading for teens in order to allow the seed to be planted: the seed of an idea that may grow when conditions present themselves -- the idea that how we treat others properly is our responsibility to society. Society, in turn, owes us an opportunity to make mistakes... as long as we can be given a chance to correct the mistakes we made, thereby giving us a chance to own our responsibilities to each other and to ourselves.
Great book October 27, 2008
Kirpet (Antartica)
It's been a while since I have read this book, but I still remember the effect it had on me. And in all honesty I was an extremely angry child and this book helped me with that believe it or not. It is also just an amazing read in my opinion. I highly recommend this book for anyone and everyone. <3
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