Touching Spirit Bear

Touching Spirit Bear
By Ben Mikaelsen

Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen is 240 pages of action and adventure published by Scholastic, a great book for young adults, especially boys. Cole Matthews, the main character, is banished to an island in Alaska for Circle Justice when he injuries another teen. He hopes to avoid jail by spending a year on the island. Once there, he plans to escape and burns the cabin that was built for him. Incoming tide and icy waters foul his escape attempt, and he’s injured by a spirit bear. Near death, he realizes he wants to live. He’s found and nursed back to health, but he’ll never be the same physically, emotionally, or spiritually. When he’s healed enough, he’s sent back to the island, but this time, he has to build his own cabin and fend totally for himself. Meanwhile, the boy he injured will also never be the same physically and becomes so depressed he attempts suicide. Cole knows what helped and changed him, and he desires to help Peter before it’s too late, but how will he convince the boy’s parents to allow him to live on an island with the person who physically attacked him and altered his life? Cole learns life’s lessons from the animals on the deserted island, and he wants to help Peter as he’s been helped, but will he be allowed to before it’s too late? And will Peter ever accept his help?

Dogwood by Chris Fabry

Dogwood by Chris Fabry is a book that emotionally tugs at the reader's heart strings, one of my favorite summer reads. Will Hatfield was my favorite character, a man who takes the blame for crimes he didn't commit, taking the burdens of others on his shoulders,like Jesus.

After spending years in prison,an innocent man whom his hometown condemns,Will returns to Dogwood, West Virginia, and refuses to give up on the woman he loves, Karin, even though the people in the town hate him. While the town harshly judges him and tries to entice him to leave, he struggles to build his dream home, even though the woman he desires to share it with has settled and buried any dreams she's ever had. In a desperate fight for his life, dreams, and the woman he loves, the character Will demonstrates true love in action. This was my first time reading a book by Fabry, but it won't be my last. He writes with a passion for life and love, and I didn't want to put the book down until I finished it. I couldn't wait to see what happened to Will and Karin. While she was unlikable at times, I couldn't help liking Will throughout the entire novel and wanting to see him overcome the many obstacles life threw in his face.

All She Ever Wanted by Lynn Austin

All She Ever Wanted by Lynn Austin is generational women's fiction,just the type of book I love to devour. The title speaks for what all women truly want and just as the female characters in the novel only want love, women desire true love. The main character, Kathleen Seymoure, discovers hiding the past of how she lived and grew up from her daughter, Joelle, puts an emotional barrier between them. When Kathleen opens up, it enables her daughter to understand her, just as when Kathleen hears her own mother's story, she's able to understand her mother's life.

You might say the females in this novel were unlucky in love, but the truth is they loved and made poor choices because of it. These women have something in common--they left home at an early age and never looked back until Kathleen found the courage to return. Kathleen came through a generation of women who'd made poor decisions strong enough to make right choices and ended up with a good man, while the men in the other characters lives were not so nice--that's putting it mildly. The story is so realistic to life and could be an important book for young girls, since it's thought-provoking and provides great life lessons and much insight.

Once I started reading the novel, I couldn't put it down. It's 35 chapters and 400 pages of life staring you in the face, published by Bethany House and available at bookstores or online through Barnes and Noble and Amazon.