Touching Spirit Bear(TSB) by Ben Mikaelsen was an exciting and engaging novel that hooks you from the start. I personally thoroughly enjoyed this book. It had serious and sensitive topics, but was also filled with courage, love, and perseverance. TSB was about a troubled boy named Cole Matthews who had always had trouble with empathy. His abusive childhood had a part to play in why he was aggressive, fearful, and cruel. After beating up schoolmate Peter Drisal, a quiet and sensitive kid, and robbing multiple stores, jail seemed like the only option, until his parole officer suggested Circle Justice. Circle Justice is an indigenous healing program. With Cole, you take a journey of healing instead of punishment. In this story, the characters are extremely credible and for some, relatable. They represent emotions and hardships just like people experience every day. Personally, my favourite character was Cole. I found his story inspiring how he overcame his demons and became the person he wanted to be. Cole Matthews represents not always being able to feel in control of his emotions, which I think is relatable for everyone. I don't think we always feel in control and that we have the tools to work on controlling our emotions instead of lashing out. Cole finds tools to work on his emotions and self control. TSB includes dark and upsetting themes but also beautiful eye opening themes. I loved how versatile this book was with the themes and emotions that were portrayed. The book was written in mostly third person perspective (he/she). Ben has a very descriptive writing style and puts so much detail into TSB. Overall, I 100% recommend this book; I think it is such a descriptive and beautiful novel. I personally think the age level is grade 3 and up; however, some chapters are very gory and have detail about upsetting and mature topics such as suicide, depression, and abuse. That being said, I think younger readers who are mature would enjoy this novel very much. I myself have never been much of a reader; in fact, this is the first book I've finished in a long time, let alone enjoyed. I highly recommend this book and I will be reading it again.

Touching Spirit Bear(TSB) by Ben Mikaelsen was an exciting and engaging novel that hooks you from the start. I personally thoroughly enjoyed this book. It had serious and sensitive topics, but was also filled with courage, love, and perseverance. TSB was about a troubled boy named Cole Matthews who had always had trouble with empathy. His abusive childhood had a part to play in why he was aggressive, fearful, and cruel. After beating up schoolmate Peter Drisal, a quiet and sensitive kid, and robbing multiple stores, jail seemed like the only option, until his parole officer suggested Circle Justice. Circle Justice is an indigenous healing program. With Cole, you take a journey of healing instead of punishment. In this story, the characters are extremely credible and for some, relatable. They represent emotions and hardships just like people experience every day. Personally, my favourite character was Cole. I found his story inspiring how he overcame his demons and became the person he wanted to be. Cole Matthews represents not always being able to feel in control of his emotions, which I think is relatable for everyone. I don't think we always feel in control and that we have the tools to work on controlling our emotions instead of lashing out. Cole finds tools to work on his emotions and self control. TSB includes dark and upsetting themes but also beautiful eye opening themes. I loved how versatile this book was with the themes and emotions that were portrayed. The book was written in mostly third person perspective (he/she). Ben has a very descriptive writing style and puts so much detail into TSB. Overall, I 100% recommend this book; I think it is such a descriptive and beautiful novel. I personally think the age level is grade 3 and up; however, some chapters are very gory and have detail about upsetting and mature topics such as suicide, depression, and abuse. That being said, I think younger readers who are mature would enjoy this novel very much. I myself have never been much of a reader; in fact, this is the first book I've finished in a long time, let alone enjoyed. I highly recommend this book and I will be reading it again.