Saturday, December 28, 2013

2013 book 332

Claire Cameron's The Bear
The two words I would use to describe this book are HARROWING and INTENSE. And boy, did it solidify my resolve to NEVER go camping. It centers on a bear attack (apparently inspired by a true story, EEK) and the two children who escape and must try to survive in the woods until they can be rescued. Only, like, they're five and two. I will say that I had some mixed feelings about the narrative being from the five year old's POV, because narrating things in a child's voice is hard to get right, and I'm not entirely sure Cameron manages. But it's all completely riveting and terrifying, and the children do feel really . . . real. (Cameron does nail sibling dynamics at that age.) And I really loved the epilogue--it definitely made me well up a little. But I am still never going camping. A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in February.

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