Reviews

Bearwalker by Joseph Bruchac

izedriftwood's review

informative inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Found this book after using an excerpt of the preface for a reading group. A horror fan, I'm always up for a spooky story, especially ones that include mythology. Tightly written, it holds interest and is my favorite of Bruchac's I've read so far. It definitely reads more thriller/mystery than true horror, but a great one with a good message for middle grade readers. It also answered some questions that went unanswered from the preface, which I'll not share to prevent spoilers.

Only disappointment? How much I had to dig around to find a new copy! In my efforts, I've now gotten two copies. Extra handy so I can lend interested students a copy and keep one on hand when I use this again for book study. 

Curious to see if it would be as compelling in a more mature novel for older readers ...

njdewitt's review

adventurous informative inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

lolalongstraw's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

jolson's review

4.0

Read this with a small group of ninth graders and we all enjoyed it.

mommagray's review

5.0

One of my very favorite authors. This was our first time to read one of his horror books. It was exciting, but not really scary. Perfect for sensitive older kids. We loved the Native American folklore, as always.

jmillwrites's review against another edition

3.0

I read this book for my Literature for Young Readers class. The suspense comes and goes quickly, and there's a huge buildup throughout the entire novel that isn't as intense as I had hoped it would be in the end. That being said, there are a couple good moral lessons for young readers in regard to bullies and coming into your own. It also relates well to Native American oral tradition and presents an interesting struggle for Baron with his native heritage.

karter's review against another edition

3.0

Quick, easy read. Fairly enjoyable story. Did kind of have issue with how it was resolved and the villains of the story, they were quite cartoonish, and it was kind of over-exaggerated with how the camp runners would easily resort to killing people.