The author

Ben Mikaelsen was born on the 8th of December in the year 1952.
He is a writer of children's literature.
He owned a black bear for 26 years. He wrote many novels, such as Touching Spirit Bear.
He has won some prizes, like the International Reading Association award.
He died on the 1st of September in 2010

My opinion about the book

In my opinion, it is quite a good book to read. This is because there is both anger and forgiveness. The book discribes how a boy feels after a bad life, and how experience can take away anger. The book gets better just before the spirit bear attack, because it grows more exciting than before.

What is a spirit bear?

The official name of the spirit bear is Kermode bear. It is a subspecies of the American black bear. They are not albinos. They live in the central and north coast of British Columbia. They are not related to polar bears either. Although they have a spirit like appearance due to the cream or white coloured coats. They also appear in Canadian Mythology.

Word list

Bouts: A period of time spent doing something, such as drinking.
Tousled: To disarrange or rumple

Scrawny: An insulting way to say someone is weak and skinny.

Content: Desiring no more than what one has; satisfied.

Reluctantly: Exhibiting or marked by unwillingness:
Log: A usually large section of a trunk or limb of a fallen or felled tree.
Probation officer: An official usually attached to a juvenile court and charged with the care of juvenile delinquents.

Frenzy: A state of violent mental agitation or wild excitement.

 Deliberately: one with or marked by full consciousness of the nature and effects.

Strides: To walk with long steps, especially in a hasty or vigorous way.

Groggy: Unsteady and dazed.

Monotonous: Lacking in variety

To whimper: To cry or sob with soft intermittent sounds.

Embers: A small, glowing piece of coal or wood, as in a dying fire.

Persistent: Refusing to give up or let go.

Bluntly: Having a dull edge or end; not sharp.

To grimace: A sharp contortion of the face expressive of pain, contempt, or disgust. 
To smolder: To burn with little smoke and no flame.

Chapter 28

Peter and Cole decide to go to the pond together.
Peter still doesn't believe Cole has changes.
He challenges him by beating Cole hard and keep hitting him, and then Peter felt on his knees crying like a baby.
They see the spirit bear.
Cole trusts Peter fully and he hopes he will ever get Peter's trust.

Chapter 27

Peter starts to irritate Cole, by walking with his muddy shoes through Cole's sleeping place, he even destroyed the bear carving on the totem.  Peter has carved a better bear at the totem where the old bear was first, Cole is so impressed that he wants to learn such a nice carving skill.

Chapter 26

Cole prepares his favourite meal for everyone. Peter doesn't eat because he doesn't want to sleep in the small cabin together with Cole.
Peter and Garvey follow Cole when he is doing his daily rituals.
Peter bumps against Cole so he came out soaking wet.
Peter invited Cole into the shelter, and Cole accepted his invitation.

Chapter 25

Cole's solution for Peter's problems is to let Peter come to the island.
After two weeks, while reading a book, he hears an engine of a boat. He sees Edwin in his small skiff, but there's another boat with Peter Driscal.
Cole explains everything he has gone through, from the beginning to this moment.
After Cole said that he has to help Peter, Peter says he doesn't want Cole's help.

Chapter 24

Cole carves the anger dance in the totem that represents a part of his life. He tells Edwin he danced the anger dance. He had learned to forgive.
Edwin seems to look only at the blank space on the totem.
If Cole didn't went to the pool or didn't carve, he finds it hard to clear his mind.
When Edwin comes by for another visit, he tells that Peter tried to commit suicide.
Later he tries again, although it fails again.

Chapter 23

To be invisible, he has to be one with the landscape. When he heads to the shore he sees the spirit bear standing in the fog, but he can clearly see it, like it is just one feet away. He is finally ready to dance the anger dance. He did like there were invisible enemies and tried to kick and hit them. Finally, he acted the attack of the spirit beart and he relived the pain of the attack.

Chapter 22

Cole continues carving the totem pole. He decides to carve a wolve in next. He tries to be invisible by washing himself very well, wearing clean clothes and by rubbing himself in with ashes.
When the rage comes up again, he only thinks about funny and happy things.

Chapter 21

At Edwin's next visit, Cole already made some furniture.
He finds a log to make a totem out of. He gets the idea to make a canoe from it.
Edwin says that Peter is not doing well and Cole's mother is calling Garvey every day to ask how Cole is doing.

Chapter 20

Cole heads back to the camp, and tells Edwin and Garvey that he had learned not to blame others for what he did and that he will be fine. He keeps his mouth shut about the spirit bear.
Cole prepares an awasome feastmeal, because Garvey and Edwin will leave tomorrow.
Cole is dancing his experience on the island, using Edwin's beat.
They go to the pond together on last time before Garvey and Edwin are going to leave.
They leave and Cole screams: "I'll be okay."

Chapter 19

A wolf is nearby the camp, and it disappears. Cole works hard on the shelter.
The next morning, Cole is teached to go on to the pond himself to soak in the ice-cold water. He also carries the rock up the hill and rolls it down again. As Cole watches the pond, he sees a white creature disappearing into the woods.
 

Chapter 18

When they wake up, they see whales. Garvey decides to do the whale dance that night.
Cole is going to start building a new shelter. Cole prepares the food at night and after this, they will dance.
The next morning they go to the ice-cold pond again, to resume the anger training. Cole carried a rock up a hill and then rolls it down again, he doesn't understand why to do this.

Chapter 17

Garvey and Edwin wake Cole early. They go swimming in an ice-cold pond. They teach him a lesson of looking more positive to life, to get rid of anger.

Chapter 16

Cole returns and all the costs are being financed by selling the stuff he owns. Garvey explains friendship by sharing his hot dog and making a big deal of it. Cole doesn't know what to celebrate.

Chapter 15

Cole explains why he has broken the contact with the circle and why he had done what he had done on the island. He says that it was just to escape prison, he is honest. Edwin does an expiriment in front of the circle to prove that Cole really changed. He imagines that he would be led into the courtroom wearing handcuffs.
He hears from Edwin and Garvey that he has to go back to the island.

Chapter 14

After six months, Cole still feels the pain. He is recovering a long time alrady. His father has been arrested for what he has done to Cole. Cole broke the contact with the circle, they want to hear from him why he did this.

Chapter 13

There's no medivac plane available to bring him to a real hospital. Cole is being cared in the nursery. Rosey is taking most care for him. Garvey and Edwin ask what had happened on the island, Cole explains while they're waiting for the medivac plane to arrive.

Chapter 12

The bear licks up the spit of Cole. After that, the bear turned around and walked away.
Cole begins to dream that he is a baby bird in a nest. The spirit bear woke him, and its legs rose like pillars.
The only thing he finds in the bear's eyes is curiosity. He lifts his arms to touch the bear, he feels warmth, its heartbeat and trust.
Edwin comes to rescue Cole because he doesn't want Cole to die. He is brought to hospital and lifted into a nice and warm bed.

Chapter 11

The mouse starts to bite into Cole's fingers. Cole brought his fist to his mouth and crushed the little skull of the mouse. Cole starts to eat his own puke, it is near him and it is still food and so it is energy.
The spirit bear comes again and he tries to spit at it but that fails. The bear starts walking towards Cole.........

Chapter 10

Cole is still lying down. He sees that some of the baby spearows had died that night. He starts eating grass and some worms. Cole is surrounded by musquitos. Then a mouse passes, it sits on Cole's hand and he closes is hand quickly to catch the mouse.

Chapter 9

Cole is laying on the ground, heavily injured due to the spirit bear attack. He sees a nest with a mother spearow feeding their children. The thunder hits a tree nearby and Cole called into the darkness "Are you okay?", this is what he called to he baby birds.

Chapter 8

The fight between the spirit bear and Cole starts. Before Cole could grab his knife, the bear was already on him. The bear breaks Cole's ribs by using its paw. The gulls are fighting for a piece of Cole's flesh or skin.
He thinks that prison would be better with a bit of protection he doesn't have on this island.

Chapter 7

When Cole sees the sprit bear again, he picks a knife and a sharpened branch to attack the spirit bear when it appears again. Later, he sees it again and he aims his sharpened branch spear at the bear.........

Chapter 6

The argue between Cole and his father continues. The leader of the circle tries to stop them but they go on.
Cole says  that he gets beaten all the time when he is home. When Garvey askes Cole's father what Cole's bithday is, he just can't give an answer. The circle agrees with banishment to a far-away island somewhere in Alaska.  

Chapter 5

When Cole takes a rest from swimming, he thinks that what he sees is an illusion, but it isn't, he is still at the mouth of the bay. He was drifting back to the shoreline. Suddenly he feels a presence, this is the spiritbear, and it disappeared.
Cole reacted in a angry way when his father said that his parent devoted their lives to him.

Chapter 4

Cole has to go to the hearing circle. A lot of people are involved in this circle. His parents come too. Garvey sits close to Cole. The circle starts. And everyone is allowed to say something. Cole says what the people want to hear.

Chapter 3

Garvey asks Cole questions why he is feeling so bad. The simple answer is that his parents are only getting drunk and as a result of this, his father hits him quite often. Cole tries to escape the island by swimming.

Chapter 2

Cole goes to an Island with Edwin and Garvey. Here Cole is told about cirlcle justice, than he has to go to this island for a certain period. On the island is a small hut specially made for Cole. He burns down the place that was specially made for him, using gasses and a match.

Chapter 1

Cole tells how he came in Alska and some characters are discribed by the thoughts of Cole. They also discribe that Cole had smashed Peter against the sidewalk. He will have to go to jail for this.