In chapter 21 of Touching Spirit Bear, we will see how Cole is tested. He is faced with trials and temptations which he overcomes very well. He is on his way to healing. He has already progressed since the last time he was on this island.

Cole starts to prove himself, reaching for his pants where he kept a clump of the bear’s fur, then decides against it. He is done trying to prove himself, he will no longer tell lies. He finds the clump of fur in his pocket when they leave him alone on the docks. He takes it and throws it into the water.

By Ben Mikaelsen Cole totally plans to kill Spirit Bear, but then the bear lunges at him and knocks him down with a blow. Cole collapses as the bear jumps onto him and rakes him with its claws. He screams at it to stop, and Spirit Bear shoves him in the chest. He feels his ribs break.

In Chapter 27 of Touching Spirit Bear, Peter and Cole’s relationship begins to change. Peter lets Cole sleep in the cabin, but still makes sure to punish him by leaving the door open and disrespecting his things. Peter also makes it very clear when he bluntly says that this does not mean they are friends.

At the cabin, Edwin shows Cole how to install the stovepipe and then he and Garvey pack up their things into the boat. Right before they take off, Garvey hands Cole a knife and tells him that it can either destroy him or heal him; he can use it to carve and discover what’s inside of him.

In this chapter of Touching Spirit Bear, Cole realizes how to become invisible. This is when he has his eureka moment. He knows what he has to do in order to see Spirit Bear again. Find out if he is successful in doing so.

In Chapter 25, Peter and his parents show up to the island. Peter’s parents are skeptical and Peter is withdrawn. Cole spends the day trying to explain to them how much he has changed. He takes them to the area where he was maimed and almost died.

Touching Spirit Bear ends with a scene where Cole and Peter have finally come together despite their past differences and have worked together to carve on Cole’s totem to represent his anger: When Garvey joined the boys, he stared down at the log and at what they had carved.

By Ben Mikaelsen Cole finishes carving the eagle on his totem and decides to do a wolf next. When he visits the pond the next day, he even washes his clothes so that he’s clean, even though there’s no one around to see him. Then he sits and waits quietly for Spirit Bear… who doesn’t show up.

Cole wakes up and goes to work on a totem pole he is carving. Since he was finally able to dance his anger dance, he wants to carve something that represents what he learned about his anger. He cannot think of what to carve, so he walks away.

Cole planned to try again to escape the island when the tide receded in the afternoon, but before he had the chance, he sees the Spirit Bear at the intersection of the stream and the bay. He rushes the bear and approaches it closely. He aims the spear at the Spirit Bear.

A movie based on the novel “Touching Spirit Bear” is in production, but doesn’t have an official release date yet. Another important location in the book is the school yard.

Peter ultimately collapses, crying about how afraid he is—and as he accepts Cole’s comfort, the Spirit Bear appears.

Q. Why does Cole attack the Spirit Bear? Cole attacks the bear because he is very hungry, and he knows the meat will provide food for a long time. Cole had vowed to kill it, and he intends to do so when he sees the bear the second time.

As Cole mentally reviews his situation, detailing where things hurt, what is broken, what he can and cannot do, he fears that his death might be delayed. He worries that the seagulls will begin to scavenge from his still-warm body when he is completely helpless.

The baby birds are a symbol of the love and affection that Cole has so craved but has not let into his life. Still he feels compassion for them as they lay there broken like he is. This is Cole’s first inclination that he can care about something other than himself, he can be a force for good.

In Touching Spirit Bear, the cake, whose ingredients only taste good when they are mixed together, represents the things in Cole’s life that make him angry but are also part of what makes his life good when viewed as a whole. The lightning represents Cole’s uncontrollable anger that is threatening his life.

The Spirit Bear that lives on the Alaskan island where Cole is sent symbolizes the power, beauty, and danger of the natural world—as well as Cole’s changing relationship to the natural world.

Why do you think Cole calls out to see if the baby sparrows are okay? Cole is lonely, scared and feels abandoned. He shares this feeling with the baby birds who are thrown from their nest and in danger of dying, just like Cole. He calls out to them the same way he is trying to decide for himself if he is okay.

What happened to the tree with the sparrow’s nest during the storm? It burst into flames. It was struck by lightning.

In Chapter 10 of Touching Spirit Bear Cole is still stuck after fighting a bear. He is injured and unable to get up. He needs to defecate and does so, but is unable to get away from it. Mosquitoes attack him and the baby birds he saw earlier are all dead on the ground nearby.

We’ve learned about the events in Chapter 12 of Touching Spirit Bear. In this chapter, the helpless and seriously injured Cole is approached by Spirit Bear. He thinks the bear will kill him, but instead it calmly walks away, leaving Cole feeling abandoned rather than relieved. Again, Spirit Bear leaves.

In chapter 16 of Ben Mikaelsen’s Touching Spirit Bear, Cole’s back on the island, and he isn’t kicking and screaming this time. He asked for this. His life lessons are to begin. He knows he has a lot to learn, and in this chapter he gets his first pearl of wisdom from Garvey and Edwin.

In Chapter Seven, Cole has trouble finding dry wood for the fire and he battles thick swarms of mosquitoes. He suddenly sees the Spirit Bear again. The bear is still not afraid and Cole realizes he needs a better weapon. Using the knife blade, he makes a spear but when he returns, the bear is gone.

Cole thinks back to one of the Hearing Circle meetings when his father said that he and Cole’s mother have devoted their whole lives to their son, but that Cole’s just a bad egg. That’s when Cole explodes and yells that if his father were such a devoted parent, he wouldn’t be a drunk who whips his kid for no reason.