"Cold Fear" by Rick Mofina - Girl Lost in the Woods Hoping to Survive

Cold Fear by Rick Mofina, a former crime reporter, is about Doug and Emily from San Francisco who take their family on a camping trip to a National Park located in Montana and Canada.  The majority of the book is about them being interrogated by the FBI when their 10-yr. old daughter, Paige and her Beagle dog turn up missing.  They went looking for her mother in the woods when her father was angrily chopping wood, cut his hand and didn’t want to talk to her.  Her dog went off the path after a chipmunk and she followed, but he didn’t come back so she just kept looking for him, going farther and farther off the path and getting lost in bear country.  Search and Rescue teams, forest rangers, and police all go looking for her.  Reporters come on the scene and the FBI shows up to investigate the parents who were the last ones to see her.  What they dig up is a lot of information that makes it look very bad for the parents.

This was an interesting read for me because of how it was written.  Usually, things happen and the reader is kept in the dark, wondering along with law enforcement officials what really happened.  However, in this book, the reader gets to know right from the start what really happened—that the parents are telling the truth.  Consequently, the reader is sympathetic towards the parents and the FBI agents look like bad guys harassing them during their crisis.  The author switched from the search and rescue, the FBI investigation, the reporters trying to get the story, the convict scheduled to be executed for murder of a little girl in the same park 22 years ago, and Paige’s frightening time in the woods. 

I enjoyed reading this book but didn’t think it was very believable.  The author certainly gives a comprehensive picture of the news event of the lost girl, but by including so many people, it was difficult at times to keep track of everyone.   

(Karen's review, 4 stars)

I made a COLD FEAR Booktube video about this one.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"The Bear" by Claire Cameron

The Bear by Claire Cameron is based on a true story.  It is told by a 5-yr.-old girl who must look after her 2-yr.-old brother and her Teddy bear after her parents are attacked by a bear while camping in the woods.  It is well told and I did not know what was going to happen.  It was interesting to get the child's view on this.  Give it a chance; you will be glad you did!
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"All God’s Creatures—Spiritual Lessons From The Animals Of The Bible" by Gary Richmond

This is a "must read" for animal lovers!

All God’s Creatures—Spiritual Lessons From The Animals Of The Bible by Gary Richmond is a fun and interesting read. The author imparts a variety of characteristics and interesting facts about the animals mentioned in the Bible which makes for a greater understanding of the verses. He also shares some fantastic stories relating to the animals from his personal experiences as a zookeeper and veterinarian’s assistant. For example, he shared about the time he was cleaning the bear exhibit and the bear opened the gate and let the other bears in with him, or the time a deer jumped into the lion exhibit and the time he pet a lion. I love animals so enjoyed this book very much.

All God’s Creatures also makes for some good background material when studying certain Bible passages or verses that mention animals. It is a quick, easy read that is organized with separate chapters for each animal. I could easily skip around and read the animals I was most interested in first. I shared about the lion and the wolf in a ladies’ Bible study class and got very positive feedback afterward. I recommend it to all animal lovers and anyone who is interested in the Bible. It certainly shows God’s amazing work throughout the animal kingdom. Now I want to go back and take notes or mark it up! This is one I own.
(Karen's Review, rating 5 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen

Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen is about an angry kid with an alcoholic father named Cole who is abused and beats up a kid named Peter. Cole has to live on an Alaskan island by himself as part of Circle Justice. He changes with some wise help along with this experience on the island. I got into Touching Spirit Bear from the beginning! It's a page turner with a somewhat predictable ending, but a good read!" (GERARD'S REVIEW 8/7/08)

K

Touching Spirit Bear is an excellent story about Cole, an angry abused boy, who was mad at the world and his personal journey of dealing with his anger and becoming a better person through Circle Justice or Restoration Justice.  He beat up Peter to the point of causing him permanent harm and never took any responsibility for his actions until he faced death and began questioning his life.  This is a story about helping others and how the Circle Justice system works which Native Americans practiced for years. 

The idea is to restore the criminal to become a good citizen and not just punish them.  Instead of jail or a detention center, Cole was banished to live for a year on an island in Alaska alone.  At the end of the year, the Circle Justice group, made up of all those involved, would meet again and determine if he should go to jail or not.  Cole had a traumatic experience while on the island and after just three days was hospitalized after being mauled by a spirit bear.  After his rehabilitation he went back.  Peter tried committing suicide twice and Cole learned much while on the island, including how many mistakes he made and wanted to make things right if he could. 

I really liked Touching Spirit Bear a lot and had trouble putting it down.  I was anxious to see what would happen next.  There is no boring part in it.  There are many themes running through this book such as abuse, justice, survival, anger, forgiveness, healing.

(KAREN'S REVIEW 8/1/08)