The bear

a novel

221 pages

English language

Published Jan. 1, 2014 by Doubleday Canada.

ISBN:
978-0-385-67902-2
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
847332568

View on OpenLibrary

2 stars (1 review)

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, 300 pounds of fury, is attacking the family's campsite, pouncing on her parents as prey. Anna manages to get her brother into the family's canoe and paddle away. But when the canoe dumps the two children on the edge of the woods, they must battle hunger, the elements, and a dangerous wilderness.

6 editions

Review of 'The bear' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

it's a tale of 2 kids surviving a bear attack that kills their parents and the hook is supposed to be that the older of the two, the 5yo, is the narrator. this is my first complaint: she wasn't a consistent child - naming the coleman cooler like a friend but sophisticated enough to view her parent's marriage troubles; having a wide vocabulary when it suited the prose, but losing it just as conveniently. I also disliked a few of the side plots - the parent's trial separation, and the girl's obsession with Barbie. lastly, the therapist treating the girl after she gets back to civilization wouldn't have been so quick to interpret the child's drawing; they are trained for goodness sakes!

Subjects

  • Bear attacks
  • Fiction
  • Parents
  • Death
  • Camping
  • Brothers and sisters
  • Survival
  • Psychological fiction
  • Bears

Places

  • Algonquin Provincial Park (Ont.)
  • Ontario
  • Algonquin Provincial Park