Recommended for readers ages 11 to 17. Hey, I'm 44, and I really enjoyed it. My 14 year old got right in to it too.
Cole was a violent kid. He beat up Peter, causing permanent brain damage. His punishment was exile to a remote island off of Alaska. Peter was invited to be on the island with his. Yes, the same boy he beat up.
While on the island Cole learns a lot about himself and his heart. Being attacked by a spirit bear his perspective really changes.
Cole and Peter head back to the city after their time on the island. They are met with a high school that is full of violence, bullies, vandals, etc.
Cole and Peter are told to fight from their heart, not their fists. Besides, if they get in to a fight, they will go to jail. One group of 5 boys is especially hard on Peter. Being handicapped due to his beating makes him a prime target.
Together, the boys try to do things as close to how they did them on the island. Things like sitting in a store freezer to clear their minds. They bought used bowling balls and went to an abandoned building to throw them down the stairs.
It was at this building that they ran into an old homeless man. He never realy spoke to him. They were a little afraid of him. Throughout the story, this homeless man pops in to a lot of places where they are, and then disappears. They compare him to the spirit bear, in fact, at one point they see him lay something in the grass before he disappears. When they go to investigate they find it's a small carved statue of a bear.
When things go from bad to worse at their school....Peter gets beat up by a gang in the school bathroom, and one girl that is constantly being called a slut commits suicide.....Cole takes a stand with the principal and tells her that things must change.
She agrees, no longer afraid of losing her job, that the students come first. They put together some things and the students seem to warm up to the ideas. One of the ideas is to change the school mascot from the Raging Bulldogs to The Spirit Bear.
Changing the school mascot becomes a fight for Cole as he has to take on the school board and angry parents. In the end he does get the approval for the change.
Wondering what ever came about with the homeless man? I was wondering too as the book came to an end. It's a nice surprise ending with that (and no, I'm not telling).
I hope I've told you enough about the book to spark an interest in reading it. It's a touching tale of making the world a better place, one person at a time. This is where I agree with the recommended reading for ages 11-17. I'm not sure that it shouldn't be required school reading!
Buy the book here:
Ghost of Spirit Bear
Or buy it in audiobook here:
Ghost of Spirit Bear, Narrated By Jason Harris, 3 Cds [Complete & Unabridged Audio Work]
This review is part of the 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge that I am taking part in.
Welcome to Shop Hop Saturday, hosted by abitosunshine! Please click the button at the bottom of my post to join in and/or look around at what others are sharing.
I made myself a goal this week to complete 2 fabric bags and to complete the current toothbrush rug I was working on. I did make that goal!
I have 5 more fabric bags in the works and yesterday rounded up material to make 3 more! I'm in the bag business.
One of my other all time goals is to work at least a bit each day on my quilting. I've kept up with that goal. It will be awhile before I complete another quilt, but always in the works. I am wanting to try my hand at making some quilted table runners as well.
In the mix of having 4 grandkids over last weekend I had lost my printed out paper on what I currently have listed at homeschoolbuy. I found the paper yesterday, so have worked some in there. It's still going to take me some time to go through pages and pages of listings and get what isn't currently listes re-listed. Yep, one of those kick yourself for not keeping up on because you have to work 10 times harder in the end. You can see what I currently have for sale here.
Now, here is the list of items I got put into my etsy store today:
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Groovy Fabric bag
Soft Pink Butterfly Fabric Bag
Toothbrush Rug
I will have a couple more bags listed by next Saturday in different patterns. I do have some pattern repeats to make as well as one bag that is already listed, but not complete yet. As I said...I'm in the bag business.
Now....click below and hop on over and join us!
Welcome to WIP Wednesday. Click the button at the bottom of my post and join us in the fun. I love looking at what others are up to each week.
I'm trying to remain a busy little bee on my crafts. Currently I am sitting here cutting t-shirts in to rounds. I won't do anything with them for awhile yet, but I use the tops of the t-shirts for rags. I'm out of rags under my sink, but I also take them to church to use when I clean each week. However, when I am ready to start a rug with the t-shirts, most of what I need will already be cut and ready to use.
I have been working more on the current toothbrush rug I am making. I have hopes of finishing it up and listing it in my etsy store by Saturday morning.
I did finish up ironing the material I have for my strip quilts. I also got more of it cut into strips. I'm amazed just how much material was in this bag I bought at a yard sale for just $1! The gal had it all rolled and pinned so a lot fit into that bag. That's a good thing. I'm going to just make as many squares as I can out of just that material and go from there. I didn't choose to take a photo of it this week.
I got my material all ironed, cut and pinned for my stack of fabric bags. So far all I have sewn are all of the handles. That way I can at least sit in front of the computer working on my other money making ventures while I turn and iron them. I am heading in next to work on sewing on some of the bags.
The book I am currently reading is Sorrowed Souls by Brenda Youngerman. It's a great read just as the last book by her was that I read. I will be having a book review of it on Saturday the 29th. I already have my book review ready for this coming Saturday.
I think that's all I can think of for this week, so it's time for me to hop over, share my link here and check out what others are up to this week.
Welcome to my linky!
Please share your current giveaways here. Be sure to include the name as well as the ending date.
Please link directly to the giveaway, not your blog home page.
Good Luck and Have Fun!
Welcome to Mailbox Monday in conjunction with afrugalfriend.net. Please click the button at the bottom of my post and join us.
I had a good week this past week!
I have a photo, but only of some of the mail (this all came in on one day)
Magazines:
People
Time
Sports Illustrated
Bloomsberg Businessweek
Family Fun
Entertainment Weekly
Other mail:
Sleep Kit from Tylenol--includes sleep mask, CD, guide & journal and coupons
4 other pieces of hausernet mail
$10 Check from Neilson Digital Voice (sweepstakes win)
Max Perk Coupons
Let My Spirit Live poster made by Ruthi Cox that I won in her blog giveaway
Camel Snus coupons
The Idea book from The History Channel
Timed Release plant food packet and packet of Cosmos flower seeds from The Garden Club (no, not joining, but will enjoy the seeds)
Coupon for free Athenos Greek strained nonfat yogurt and $1/2 coupon from Kraft First Taste.
6 plug in adapter that I redeemed points for from National Consumer Panel
Mighty Dog dog kit (I haven't got to see this yet as it's still at my mom's house)
In my email:
$8 paypal from beezag
$40 paypal from gather
$25 paypal from sidetick
Woo hoo! I would sure like to have this kind of week every week!!
If God is Good by Randy Alcorn
ISBN 978-1-60142-132-6
If God is Good --Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil.
I chose this book to be my first book to review for bloggingforbooks.com.
I'm sure that I am among many Christians who can't help but wonder why God allows so much evil
and suffering in the world.
Randy Alcorn goes into depth on the subject. 512 pages in depth in fact!!
This is not a book to be taken lightly. This is not a book you can sit down and read in a day
or two....not even in a week or two. It's a book that you need to read when you have peace and
quiet and can really allow what you are reading to sink in. Praying for understanding before reading would be good.
The author has spent a very long time researching this subject to put this book together. At
the end of each chapter he cites all resources used in that chapter. Throughout the books you
will find many quotes. You will find an extreme amount of Bible passages as well as Bible passages to look up. You will find the beliefs of Christians, as well as non-Christians throughout each chapter. Another thing you find are testimonies from those who have suffered but found the good in God amidst their suffering.
Based on my own church teachings, I've been taught exactly what he is pointing to in this book
(as a Christian) I can highly recommend this read to all--Christian or not! In today's time,
the timing of the printing of this book is all important. I can not do the book it's proper justice in a book review.
Buy your copy here: If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil
Disclosure: Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes. I was not compensated for my review in any other way. All opinions of the book are my own.
Business wise I didn't get a lot accomplished this week.
I did get some more updating done with my homeschoolbuy auctions. This is a slow going process as I've let over half of them end and now have to wade through to re list the books. I will get there!
Otherwise, I started ironing material and cutting strips for my next quilt. I had to find a day that I had time to finish up the quilt I had previously been working on. I found that time yesterday and stayed up until after 1 am last night to finish it up. It's pictured below and is now listed in my etsy store!
Please join me in abitosunshines Shop Hop Saturdays by clicking the button below. Let's help support each other and our shops.
Good Morning! Welcome to WIP Wednesday in conjunction with Every Day Crochet. Please click the button at the bottom of my post to join in the fun, or to see what others have been working on.
I spent a couple of days just working on dish scrubbies, so my jar is getting fuller:
I finished sewing together the top of the quilt I've been working on. My next step is to find the time to set up the tables upstairs and get it laid out and pinned. Finding that time is hard for me since that does take awhile. It won't be today like it could have been because I'm heading to the dentist soon to have these 4 teeth pulled.
Sewing club ended up being cancelled yesterday due to the weather, so I cut out the squares and got them cut down ready to be sewn. This won't happen until club meets again as one of the gals wants to show me a different way to put them together.
I'm anxious to start on my own next strip quilt. I was sick in bed over the weekend, but I had my daughter bring in my ironing board and material and I started ironing what I have to make the quilt. I still have about as much to get done, as what I got ironed and cut that you see below. I'm pretty well planning on staying in bed after the dentist so plan on trying to iron the rest of the material this afternoon. I don't want to start the actual squares until all of the material is cut. I like to try to alternate evenly putting on the strips by all the material that I have.
I'm still reading If God Is Good. I plan on the book review for it on Saturday. I will need to be reading all I can in it between now and then.
Until next week....hop on over and check out what others are up to. We would love to have you join us each week as well with your own WIP's.
Time to share those giveaways!
Please post the name of the prize and the end date. Link directly to the giveaway, not your blog home page.
Thank you! Good luck, and have fun!!
Linky remains active until Next Tuesday, so add your giveaway any day.
