Touching Spirit Bear By: Ben mikaelsen

Touching Spirit Bear (TSB) is a wonderful story, that tells about a boy named Cole Matthews, who is a bad kid that changes on an island throughout the book.

In the beginning of the book, it started in Minneapolis. At the time Cole was a bad kid. He stole stuff from places, and bullied other kids. He mainly bullied a kid named Peter Driscal. He didn't care about the consequences of his own actions. One day, Cole stole from a hardware store. He told a bunch of kids about it, bragging. Peter told on Cole, and Cole got really mad. After school that day, Cole pounded Peter outside, smashed his head against the sidewalk, "Cole had pounded him bloody. A dozen students stood watching. When Peter tried to escape, he tripped and fell to the ground. Cole jumped on him again and started smashing his head against the sidewalk." (Mikaelsen , Chapter 1 page 8). That moment in the book was when you could truly see Cole's anger, and how it was a problem.

Way later into the story, Cole was at the island for the second time. He knew that he had to change his ways, and to be a better person. The first time Cole was on the island, he had burned his original Cabin, that a Klinket named Garvey built. He did it because he was mad and he didn't know how to handle his anger. But, the second time he is on the island, he had learned a few things. He learned how not to blame others for his actions, and how to handle his anger better. He also learned that it was wrong to betray peoples trust. He learned that it wasn't the best thing, and how wrong it was. "That was the only time the beaver ever came near. Cole regretted betraying the beaver's trust. He couldn't help but think how many thousands of times he had done the same thing to people." (Page 222). Cole's behavior had changed, him coming to the island changed Cole.

The island wasn't the only thing that helped change Cole. He was guided by to men, named Edwin and Garvey. Cole didn't like them at first, in fact, he was irritated with them. Cole didn't want their help. But, later in the story Cole became friends with them. Edwin and Garvey said that they know what he is going through. Edwin and Garvey in the book, help Cole become a better person, even though Cole was a pain and he was rude. Garvey had been with Cole, ever since he went to the island. Edwin showed up later in the story, but still had a huge affect.

The topic that I chose for this project was Cole's transformation. Throughout the book you could see how Cole was changing. But these were two of the main parts that helped Cole change. That's all I have to say, thank you.

Credits:

Created with images by paula_mondragon - "bear polar bear zoo" • naql - "Island" • WenPhotos - "fist strength anger" • Sean MacEntee - "facebook like button" • QuotesEverlasting - ""Friendship is essentially a partnership." - Aristotle"

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