[.ca] Touching Spirit Bear (ISBN 0380977443)

From Amazon.com:
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

Wow! This book is really amazing!:
Touching Spirit Bear is one of the best books I have ever read. It all starts out with a juvenile delinquent who brakes into a store. He was bragging about it in school and a guy named Peter tells on him. After school Peter is badly beaten, he was punched many times and had his head smashed into the concrete. This causes Peter to have brain damage. Then Peter's parents sued Cole for the damage. Cole isn't a very good kid. He seems to think that everything is below him and he is the dominant person of all the creatures on the earth. Cole really doesn't want to go to jail for the bad things that he has done so he decides to go to the Circle of Trust. The Circle of Trust is a program where instead of going to jail it's a chance for the people to sit and talk about what the person's punishment should be. Cole's and Peter's family went to the Circle of Trust meeting. They decided that Cole's punishment is to go to an island for one year without contact to anyone to find what he really is. He went to the island and as soon as the people who took him out on the island were gone he set the house they had built on fire. His plan was to swim back to the mainland and of on with his life with no one knowing. He soon finds out that it's not that easy and looses all of his energy. He then makes a spear. All of a sudden out of nowhere a huge white bear appears and Cole charges at him, the bear then started to beat Cole up. After the attack Cole lays there with a broken arm, broken hip, and shredded stomach. About a week later people came to bring him supplies, finding Cole lying there almost dead. After a while in the hospital they let Cole go. He wanted to go back to the island because he still didn't want to go to jail. He has to sell all of his belongings to pay for it. Also he has to build his own cabin this time. If you want to find out what else happens to Cole you have to read the book! I would recommend thins book to anyone. I think the author did a very good job on this book. It doesn't matter if you're a girl or a guy you would both love this book.

Touching Spirit Bear:
Touching Spirit Bear is a spectacular book. The book was about a boy, Cole Mathews, who has a very hard time controlling his anger. Cole Mathews steals possessions from stores a lot. One day Peter Driscal, a kid from Cole's school, found out that he had broken into the store that the police were trying to find a suspect for and reported it. When Cole found out who told on him, he chased Peter down after school and beat him very harshly. It was so bad that Peter now has problems thinking and has mental problems. When Cole got arrested, he went to court and the judge gave him a chose. The chose was either he could go to jail or Justice Circle and wouldn't have to serve as much time. Like any other kid would he decided to go to Justice Circle. The Justice Circle had some meetings and finally Garvey convinced them to send him to an island for one year so that he could think things out by himself. As he is left at the island he decided he would try to swim island to island and try to get to the United States again. After he was a ways out and starting to cramp up he turned around. At the island he now had no shelter since he burned it down before he left. After a nap he decided to go get some food. He then saw the Spirit Bear and Cole tried to kill it. Yet the bear ripped him to shreds. In fact Cole couldn't move. So when the guy that brings him his supplies saw what had happened he took him back to a hospital. Finally, after he recovered, the Justice Circle had some more meetings. They had to meet with each other to see if they should allow Cole Mathews to return to the island. If you want to see if Cole Mathews gets another shot at the island or if you want to see if Cole can change his life around. Read Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelson.

Touching Spirit Bear:
The book that I am reviewing is Touching Spirit Bear and it is about a fifteen year old cole gaets beaten by his father.Just as cole's father was beaten by his father. Now cole himself is turning violent. He robbed a tool store and he got away with it for a couple of days. until peter his classmate told on him so cole beat him and peter was hospitaized. So cole's parents send him to angermangment classes that didn't help so he gets sent to an island in alaska. They give cole a little hut and supples to survive for a month. He goes walking around the island and he see's the spirit bear and think's that he can beat up the bearlike he did peter the bear broke his arm and leg. Then a few days later the two guys come back and find him on the beach and immedalty take him to a hospital and after he recovered they sent him back to the island for another month and survived.

Life Circles:
Cole Matthews is an angry young man. At 15, he has broken into a hardware store; damaged the place; bragged about his crime and severely attacked a schoolmate who turned him in. This is the latest in a series of violent and antisocial acts on Cole's part. Cole is quite familiar with violence; his own father, an alcoholic beats him at the drop of a hat while his impassive mother does nothing but reach for the bottle. Jailed and awaiting trial, Cole meets two unlikely allies. Garvey, a Native American parole officer and his partner. The two men suggest Circle Justice, an ancient Native American custom that recognizes the Circle of Life and the Circle as being a metaphor for the Continuum of Life. The first step is to have Cole, the Matthews, the parents of the boy Cole attacked as well as their son and other interested persons in their Minneapolis community. An Elder (or Keeper as she is known) starts the Circle off by insisting on full respect for the Feather; a person may only speak if he or she holds the Feather. Cole's start is anything but auspicious. The Discals, whose son Cole attacked want him locked away for life; the Matthews appear disinterested in the boy while everyone else encourages the Circle Justice approach. Cole, Garvey and his partner leave Minneapolis for a remote island off the southeast coast of Alaska. There he is provided with a shelter and the men tell him they will check on him every few days and bring back supplies. Cole burns the shelter that first night and goes off on a tear. A 10-foot white bear lumbers over toward him and Cole is ready to kill it. No match against the beast, the bear mauls Cole, severely injuring him. The men return two days later to find Cole barely clinging to life. From there, he is transported by skiff to a mainland hospital and from there, to one in Minneapolis. After several months of intensive physical therapy, he is turned over to the juvenile justice system and locked away. Once again, his mentors go to bat for him, dispensing a tough love the boy had never encountered. They are somehow able to secure his release into their custody for Circle Justice, this time at the boy's request. Once on the island, Cole, quite humbled is ready to follow the instructions of the men and learn to live off the Alaskan wilderness. The men teach him the traditions of the Sacred Dances; to help him release his anger, they have him do an anger dance "but only when he is ready to do so" and to carry the Anscestor Stone up the mountain. Cole's redemption comes about with the Gift of Forgiveness. He extends himself to Peter Driscal, the boy he nearly killed at the beginning of the story. The road is a Long & Winding Road and the attempts at repair, redemption and recovery (the three R's) make for a very intense story indeed. I like the way an interview with the author and a list of thought provoking questions were included at the end of the story. The story brings to mind the Harry Chapin classic, "All My Life's a Circle" and Joni Mitchell's "Circle Game." This is an outstanding and very unique book indeed!

A Touching Spirit Bear review:
Anger. Fear. The two coordinate and equal each other perfectly. A troubled young man: Cole Matthews, suffers from both. With his violent home and his disturbed parents, Cole is angry with his life. This book's background may seem familiar and may relate to some of America's youth. You may seem useless and wasted but that is impossible. Everyone on this earth has a meaning. Cole was undisciplined and abused as a child. That does not mean that it gives him or anybody a reason to hate their own life. This book interpreted Cole's anger in a very physical manner, he smashed a classmate's head on a sidewalk without any remorse. A option was given to him after this horrible incident, he could go to jail, or he could attend a new type of disciplinary action called Circle Justice. In Circle Justice, the delinquent is sent to a isolated island and has to stay there for one year. The book describes this routine very meticulously. You have to totally understand the meaning of Circle Justice. You learn respect for others and you learn about inner healing for yourself. That is, if you use your time wisely and you follow what is right. This book deals with controlling your hatred, your anger and in Cole's position, your fists. You learn about the many wonderful things you can find in life and all the wonderful things you can do to help improve it. One of the many subliminal morals you can find in this novel is "We all have only one life, you should make the best of it". Cole learns this and finds a new meaning to his life. He also learns not to take advantage of the simple gifts that are given to him. For example, the gift of shelter is given to him on the form of a makeshift shack that was built by sweat and blood of the Indians that used to live on the island. He burned it in a matter of minutes without any feeling of guilt. He just did not care about anything. That meant he would be unprotected from the cold, the rain and any other hazards. So he had to build another shelter by himself and without any help. That taught him respect for the gifts given to him. But through all the lessons that were taught to him via Circle Justice all of them are nothing compared to the last one he learned: forgiveness. A rumored Spirit Bear was said to have lived on the island for a long time. When Cole first saw it, he tried to kill it but it hacked and slashed through him like a toothpick. His guardians came to his rescue even though he was almost mauled to death. Upon his returning to the island he showed not even the slightest hint of gratitude to his heroes. He just ignored him. On his second sighting of the Spirit Bear, he tried to ignore but it still brutalized him. Once again, his guardians came to his rescue without hesitation. Who would have it in them to rescue the ignorant young man who did not even care about their acts of kindness? That, Cole could not help but wonder. Cole learned that it was forgiveness. Forgiveness is what saved his life. He learned that selfishness and anger and hatred would take you nowhere... but forgiveness would. On a scale of one to five this book truly deserves a five. It is a remarkable read that teaches you the basic morals of life. Are you feeling angry like Cole Matthews was? Make sure you read Touching Spirit Bear By Ben Mikaelsen.