Claire Cameron

A powerful suspense story narrated by a young girl who must fend for herself and her little brother after a brutal bear attack While camping with her family on a remote island, five-year-old Anna awakes in the night to the sound of her mother screaming. A rogue black bear, three hundred pounds of fury, is attacking the family's campsite -- and pouncing on her parents as prey. At her dying mother's faint urging, Anna manages to get her brother into the family's canoe and paddle away. But when the canoe runs aground on the edge of the woods, the sister and brother must battle hunger, the elements, and a wilderness alive with danger. Lost and completely alone, they find that their only hope resides in Anna's heartbreaking love for her family, and her struggle to be brave when nothing in her world seems safe anymore. This is a story with a small narrator and a big heart. Cameron gracefully plumbs Anna's young perspective on family, responsibility, and hope, charting both a tragically premature loss of innocence and a startling evolution as Anna reasons through the impossible situations that confront her. Lean and confident, and told in the innocent and honest voice of a five-year-old, THE BEAR is a transporting tale of loss -- but also a poignant and surprisingly funny adventure about love and the raw instincts that enable us to survive.

A Novel

The Bear

Shawna Gavas

1.5 stars

I was attracted to this book for 3 reasons. The first being that my cottage is in bear country (and when I say bear country, I mean open the window and a mama bear and her cub are sitting on the deck), secondly because I have young children and thirdly because I live outside of Toronto. Then as I read the first few pages, I thought I must be crazy. I was going to give myself nightmares.

Fortunately, that is not going to be the case. Unfortunately, I can't say I really enjoyed the book. And not because of the topic. That's the disappointing part. This book could have been soooo good! The premise was amazing: A family of four stops to camp overnight. Bear comes along and eats Mommy and Daddy. Anna, who's 5 almost 6 and Stick, who's 2 almost 3, are left to fend for themselves in the wilderness. Sounds gut wrenchingly awesome right? Wrong.

Let me start with the Anna since she is the narrator of this novel. She is supposed to be almost 6 years old. I'm sorry but no. As a mother to a girl of that age I just didn't buy it. For the most part, Anna had the mentality of a 3 year old. Not to mention a selfish, bratty 3 year old. Hard to sympathize with a character that treats her brother so horribly most of the time. And yes I know siblings tend to fight. That's just how it is. But in a situation such as this, I found the way Anna treated Stick most of the time to be unlikely. Maybe I am biased. Maybe because I have a boy and girl close to the same ages, I had trouble visualizing a relationship other than what I see on a day to day basis. Either way, it totally soured the experience for me.

Stick was supposed to be almost 3 but came off as a toddler of about 18 months most of the time. This character I had sympathy for however simply due to the fact that he lost his parents and was stuck with Anna.

Their time in Algonquin Park alone was fairly uneventful: got too much sun, was thirsty, poison ivy, pooped, saw a moose. The most surprising part of this to me was the lack of panic. Especially when night approached. Yes, I know they were most likely in shock...but really. I just didn't feel the fear radiating off these kids.

Overall the book was a 1 star for me but the epilogue gave it that extra 1/2 star. That was the creepiest part of the entire story. The good news is, I will be returning to the cottage this summer.....

The Bear A Novel

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