Rating: 
Summary: Chick Flick?
Review: I am not a big fan of reading but when I picked up this book it snatched my attention.I thought it showed how people can change and it showed a "chick flick" but in a more appealing way for me as a guy.I would recomend it to any one from a girl to a gangster.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: Looking to read an adventure story that's full of suspense? Try Touching Spirit Bear,a great book about a boy named Cole Matthews who caused a lot of trouble. For instance, a boy named Peter was beaten almost to death by Cole. So something had to happen to Cole. So he spent time in jail, juvenile detention centers and other places to try to make him a positive person. But it just didn't work. So they decided to send him to a group called "justice circle". After several meetings Cole was sent to a remote island in Alaska where he would have to survive a year on this island. Now it's your turn to read this book and find out what happens next.
Rating: 
Summary: What I think about this book
Review: I think this book is very interesting. Honestly I have hard time usually finishing a book but, this book kept my interest. I especially love how it eneded and the two boys united. This book shows that people need to look deeper into their life before making major mistakes.
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Summary: My Thoughts About Touching Spirit Bear
Review: Touching Spirit Bear was a very good book that I read. When I first started to read it I thought that Cole was just gonna be a bad kid through the whole book. Then after when he went to the island he burned down the cabin and he tried to scare away the spirit bear. When he tried that he got mauled by the bear. So Cole is sort of like everyone else. We all make mistakes in life its just the things that you do afterward that really counts because it shows if you can change or your just another liar in the world. So this story influenced me if I ever make a mistake I have to think of what to do afterward to make things better or atleast have people trust my words instead of getting proof. If you people haven't read this book you guys should because it's a really good book.
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Summary: LIFE IS A LESSON, SO PAY ATTENTION!!!
Review: Nobody can tell Cole what to do, he is his own boss. It's not until he almost DIES for him to realize that even he needs some good lovin.And that deep down, he has a soft spot. This book tells people that you can change if you work hard at it and that you have to believe that you can change for you to change.
Rating:
Summary: This book rocks
Review: I'm reading a book called Touching Spirit Bear. It is about a boy who has anger management. This young boy, named Cole, feels as thou his separated parents dislike him. His mom is an alcoholic; his father is abusive towards Cole. Cole's father has repeatedly beaten him because as a young man himself he also was an abused child, so the cycle has not been broken. Cole has beaten another young boy up. As a consequence he was sent to an island to find himself. Does Cole break the cycle of abuse?
I would recommend this intriguing and captivating book to anyway who likes action reading. I feel this book was very realistic. The author did a very good job pulling me into the story and keeping me there.
Rating:
Summary: R U Happy MR MOnSON
Review: How would you feel if you had to live on an island by yourself for a whole year? When reading this book you get a first hand account of someone who had to. In this book you follow a juvenile delinquent named Cole Mathews. Cole is a character that many people can relate to, hopefully not too much though. Cole is not the nicest kid in the beginning of this book but he definitely makes a turn around with the help of an Indian counselor. You see Cole never really was an honor student or a teacher's pet. He seemed to always be in trouble either at school or at home with his alcoholic and abusive mom and dad. One day though Cole takes it to the extreme when he beats a kid near death. Now Cole was given two choices either to go to jail or to go to the circle of justice. (Which is a Native American court group who find better ways then jail to punish juveniles) Cole of course decides to go to the circle of justice where it is recommended that Cole be banished to an Alaskan island for one year, completely alone. Considering that his jail time would be considerably longer than his banishment he agreed.
This book takes you through Cole's struggles on the island and how he evolves into a better person. Towards the ending of Coles banishment the kid that Cole beat try's to commit suicide. In Coles knew kindness he decides to invite the child to the island to get more of an appreciation for life and nature. I think that everyone could learn something from this book, I know I did.And Mr. Monson I wrote this on my own. I did not copy it.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: Cole Matthews is a juvenile delinqient because he beat up someone so bad that they had mental problems. Because of the beating, Cole had to go to jail. Instead of going to court, he joined Circle Justice and they sent him to an island in Alaska. On the first day he tries to escape and gets severely injured. When they find him injured they take him back to Minnesota to recover. Once he recovers they send him back to the island for his year. To releave anger, every morning when he wakes up he goes and soaks in a freezing cold pond. Then carries a rock up a steep hill and rolls it down. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys adventure stories. I think 12 to 14 year olds would enjoy this book. I rated this book a 4 out of 5 because I enjoy adventure books.
Rating:
Summary: A Strong Lessons for Teens
Review: I am a teenager in eigth grade in Crystal Lake, Illinois. I'm in an accelerated reading class, but when our teacher pulled out this book and said we'd finish it in two weeks you heard a groan throughout the classroom. Nobody was really thrilled about reading this book in two weeks, but we didn't have much of a choice. Our teacher said it wasn't going to be a very challenging book, but the main point was to learn about the Circle Justice System and compare it to our Justice System. Ben Mikaelsen makes the book so realistic to feel that you're in Cole's,the main character's,position. Cole makes a bad choice of hurting a boy at school named Peter badly for telling on Cole for stealing. Cole them has to go to Alaska for a year. He ruins his first chance because he got hurt from trying to kill a Spirit Bear. He survived on bugs and animals during a huge storm until someone found him. Cole luckily got a chance to go back to the island for a second try. He was almost done when he heard Peter, the guy he hurt, tried to commit suicide. Cole has an idea to have Peter come stay on the island with him. Peter comes and eventually. Peter and Cole end up healing together. Ben Mikaelsen has some really gorey parts where Cole is eating bugs, but it makes you understand how he changed and he really wants to live. Ben Mikaelson also used many things to symbolize things. During the storm Cole sees these birds as he is laying on the ground. To me the birds portray hope. Ben Mikaelson also demonstrates things about life. For example, Cole has to try all these different ingriedients separtly then he has to try a cake made from all the ingriedients to show Cole that just because some bad things happen in life doesn't mean your life will taste bad forever. Another example is Edwin, an indian who is trying to help Cole, shows Cole a stick and says the left side is anger the right side is happiness. Break off the the anger on the left side. Cole breaks it off, but Edwin goes the left side is still there. This shows that you will never be able to get rid of the left side or anger. There are so many lessons in this book that I think are valuable for teens. The first one was an assignment where we had to research our Justice System and the Circle of Justice System. We had to choose which one we thought would've been best for Cole then have a debate about it. Surprisingly everyone in the class choose the Circle Justice System so we never got to have a debate. Some other lessons are that you have to blame yourself for your own actions, anger never goes away you just have to deal with it the right way, if you want other people to believe you all the time you can't lie, give people second chances, and a lot more. I beieve Ben Mikaelson did an amazing job with this book and I don't think there is anything bad you can say. By the middle of the two weeks everyone was totally into the book. We usually have discussions but it's usually the same people who do the talking, but with this book everone had something to say. The two weeks zoomed by and I didn't want to put the book down. This is a must read book for ,I think, 11 year old to adult.
Rating: 
Summary: Touch Me, for I am Spirit Bear!!!
Review: What...is this, people giving this book 4 and 5 stars...IT SUCKED, and I only read it because I had to!! *spirit bear and his college chum Ron the Tiger viciously maul Leanza Cornett to death* See, this book is violent, and is innapropreate for children...It should be burned, for the sake of the kids!! It teaches Peaganism,...and it also teaches children that it is ok to viciously maul people with their sharp claws and fangs, what upsets me more is that some schools require their students to read this book, why cant we read nice books like...Go Ask Alice. -Ron the Tiger Jr
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