Middle School Book Club -- April

Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
After smashing another teen's head against the cement until the guy has brain damage, Cole is given a choice: jail time, or participation in a Native American Justice Circle. Thinking that it'll be a breeze (and anything is better than jail), Cole agrees to the Justice Circle. Its sentence is for him to spend a year in isolation on a remote Alaskan island. It's Cole's uncontrollable anger that is destroying him, though; and it'll take getting mauled by a Spirit Bear to help him see that and have a chance at healing.

There is a reserve next door to the town where I work, and the school district has made a commitment to include more First Nations material in the curriculum; so we are always on the look out for books with a First Nations connection. While this is set in the US, it touches on ideas common to many First Nations peoples, which we took advantage of.

The teens in book club liked this one. They all agreed that the best part was when Cole gets mauled by the Sprit Bear. Bloodthirsty? Maybe, but I would have worried if they'd liked the scene where Cole bashes a guy's head in best.