Meredith+Young

Meredith Young Touching Spirit Bear Ben Mikaelsen



=__ Character: __=

== Cole Mathews- "My name is Cole Mathews and I am proud to be a deliquent. I have short, dirty blond hair and have a baby face. I'm 15 and short, so I look like an innocent little baby. I am not an innocent little baby, though. I recently smashed some dweeb's head on the concrete. How innocent do you thing I am now?" ==

==Cole Mathews is a 15 year old juvenile delinquent. If you saw him walking down the street, you'd think he was just like any other 15 year old boy, but he is one like no other. ==

==His father and mother get drunk all the time. If he stays out too late, his father beats him with a belt. Coles sometimes has bruises and cuts on his body from all the beating with a belt. ==

==A distinct feature on Cole is his baby face. His baby face seems to make him look so innocent. His baby face is also what makes people feel a little sorry for him when he pleads not guilty. ==

==Everything about Cole makes him look innocent, but one thing doesn't. The anger inside of him boils up and he gets angry at every little thing. His anger actually shows on his face. His mouth is always in a straight line, and he never smiles. The only time Cole ever smiles is when he scares someone and he knows that they're afraid of him. ==

== Cole Mathews- "I'm always angry, and no one can change that. Not even that stupid circle justice thing. That Indian guy usually makes no sense, but when he said anger is something never forgotten, he's so right. The only time you'll ever see me smiling is when I'm rubbing something in somebody elses face or when I see somebody that is afraid of me." ==

=__Setting: __= = =

The setting in this book is somewhere that could still be used as what it is used for in the book today.
===Touching Spirit Bear takes place in a banishment ground on an island in Alaska. THis island has lots of Devil's Club (a plant that shoots tiny thistles in your hand if you touch it) and wildlife. The wildlife includes; birds, foxes, rabbits, and a mysterious white bear called a spirit bear. ===

===The area around the island is very isolated and is just a lake of cold, cold water that is a main drinking source for anyone who is banished there. ===

==Before the island became a banishment ground, it was a home to many ancient Tlingit Indians. The island was home to these indians many years ago, but when Cole gets banished there, it is the year 2001. ==



=__**Conflict: **__=

= = The conflict in Touching Spirit Bear is mainly that Cole is banished on an isolated island in Alaska. His banishment isn't the only problem Cole has to face on the island, though.

===First of all, Cole has to find out a way to survive a whole year on an island and figure out how to get all the things that he needs to survive. ===

===Next, Cole keeps on getting strange visits from a ghost-like all white bear called a spirit bear. He thinks that the bear wants to kill him, but really it is just curious about why Cole is there. ===

Last, Cole has to build a shelter to keep him alive through the year, since he burned the other one down.
The problem with trying to survive is that different things grow at different times, and when winter comes, Cole will have to find a new way to get water because the lake will be frozen. A problem with the Spirit Bear is that Cole doesn't know if the bear wants to harm him or just watch him. Cole thinks that the bear wants to harm him, but it really just wants to observe him to see what he's doing in its territory. Last of all, the problem with Cole having to build a shelter is that if he fails then he will not last through the entire winter. A future conflict for Cole is returning to Minneapolis because that is where everything that makes him angry is. This could be a problem because he might change on the island and then go back to his old life of being a criminal and be full of rising anger again.

media type="youtube" key="VjvpOU349zY" height="315" width="420" align="left"

***This is an educational video about the 'Spirit Bear' that Cole encounters during his banishment.**