 | The Bear, by Claire Cameron is a powerful suspense story, published on February 11th 2014 by Random House in Canada. It has become a #1 National Bestseller in Fiction. You can order your copy all over the world, but here are a few places you can order it from or read about it online: Goodreads | Amazon CA | Amazon US | Chapters.Indigo.ca |
| Description: A powerfully suspenseful story narrated by a young girl who must fend for herself and her little brother after a brutal bear attack. While camping with her family on a remote island, five-year-old Anna awakes in the night to the sound of her mother screaming. A rogue black bear, 300 pounds of fury, is attacking the family's campsite, pouncing on her parents as prey. At her dying mother's faint urging, Anna manages to get her brother into the family's canoe and paddle away. But when the canoe dumps the two children on the edge of the woods, and the sister and brother must battle hunger, the elements, and a dangerous wilderness, we see Anna's heartbreaking love for her family--and her struggle to be brave when nothing in her world seems safe anymore. Told in the honest, raw voice of five-year-old Anna, this is a riveting story of love, courage, and survival. |  |
 Author Claire Cameron | About the Author: Claire Cameron’s second novel, The Bear, is published by Little Brown in the US, Random House in Canada and Harvill Secker in the UK. Translations are coming in Dutch, Turkish, Portuguese (Brazil), Vietnamese and French. The films rights are optioned. The Bear was long listed for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction (formerly the Orange Prize) and is a number 1 bestseller in Canada. It won the Northern Lit Award from the Ontario Library Service. Her first novel, The Line Painter, was published in 2007 by HarperCollins Canada. It also won the Northern Lit Award from the Ontario Library Service and was nominated for an Arthur Ellis Crime Writing Award for best first novel. Claire’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Globe & Mail, Los Angeles Review of Booksand The Rumpus. She is a staff writer at The Millions. See the other writing section of this website for more. She lives in Toronto. Website | Twitter | Facebook |
My Thoughts:
This book was a birthday present from my husband. We visit Algonquin Park often, taking our three children camping there, plus, he knows about my great love for bears, so he thought it would be the perfect gift. He was so right!
Even though I’m not fond of books told from a young child’s perspective, this story grabbed me right away. Reading the message from the author, saying this book is a work of fiction, but loosely based on a true event that happened in October 1991 had me intrigued. The author, Claire Cameron was a camp counsellor at a camp in Algonquin Park that year when the bear attack took place, and she said, "The Bear is based on my memories of and research into this bear attack. I added the kids."
I was speeding through the pages. I could not put it down. It’s been a long time since I read a book cover to cover in one sitting… and I read well over one hundred books a year. “The Bear” is about a family being attacked by a bear, while camping in a tent on an island in Opeongo Lake in Algonquin Park. The bear kills both parents. The two small children escape, but are lost in the wilderness, waiting for their parents to save them. Being a mother, it really pulled at my heartstrings, listening to Anna, the five-year old try to calm her little brother, while she was terrified of the dark. So young. So innocent. There were many conversations between the kids that made me smile, especially, the horse and moose discussion.
Cameron did a superb job bringing this unique story to life. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll be able to step into Algonquin Park again, without thinking about her amazing story. I also think, my children should probably never ever read this book. It will scare them beyond any horror story they will ever read in their lifetime.
If you are a lover of the wilderness, a lover of bears or family camping, you should read this book. I highly recommend it. I really enjoyed this book.
This book was a birthday present from my husband. We visit Algonquin Park often, taking our three children camping there, plus, he knows about my great love for bears, so he thought it would be the perfect gift. He was so right!
Even though I’m not fond of books told from a young child’s perspective, this story grabbed me right away. Reading the message from the author, saying this book is a work of fiction, but loosely based on a true event that happened in October 1991 had me intrigued. The author, Claire Cameron was a camp counsellor at a camp in Algonquin Park that year when the bear attack took place, and she said, "The Bear is based on my memories of and research into this bear attack. I added the kids."
I was speeding through the pages. I could not put it down. It’s been a long time since I read a book cover to cover in one sitting… and I read well over one hundred books a year. “The Bear” is about a family being attacked by a bear, while camping in a tent on an island in Opeongo Lake in Algonquin Park. The bear kills both parents. The two small children escape, but are lost in the wilderness, waiting for their parents to save them. Being a mother, it really pulled at my heartstrings, listening to Anna, the five-year old try to calm her little brother, while she was terrified of the dark. So young. So innocent. There were many conversations between the kids that made me smile, especially, the horse and moose discussion.
Cameron did a superb job bringing this unique story to life. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll be able to step into Algonquin Park again, without thinking about her amazing story. I also think, my children should probably never ever read this book. It will scare them beyond any horror story they will ever read in their lifetime.
If you are a lover of the wilderness, a lover of bears or family camping, you should read this book. I highly recommend it. I really enjoyed this book.
My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (because I love bears, Algonquin Park and camping).
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