A Bear Named Trouble

Title: A Bear Named Trouble

Author: Marion Dan Bauer              Copyright Date: 2005                       

Genre:  Realistic Fiction                  Pages of Book: 120 Pages

Publisher: Clarion Books                Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary: Jonathon a young boy has to move with his dad to Alaska while his mother and sister are still back home for a few months until his mother finishes the school year. While he is in Alaska he is lonely and misses his old friends and his little sister. Every day after school he goes to the zoo his dad works at to spend time with a goose. He loves this goose and feeds her popcorn and talks to her. One night he hears something outside and he goes out and is face to face to a grizzly bear. Which they later name, trouble. He runs back inside but he doesn’t tell his father. In the morning his dad see his footprints along with bear footprints outside on the deck. He isn’t happy about it and lectures Jonathon to not go outside at night. When his dad gets to the zoo he finds out that a grizzly broke into the zoo and tried to get into the other bears cage. Trouble is gone by the time everyone got there though. The next night Jonathon leaves out a loaf of bread hoping to see the bear again. Sure enough the bear came and gobbled it up. This time Jonathon follows him to the zoo. Trouble breaks in again just like he did the night before however this time Jonathon’s favorite goose is squawking loudly. Trouble walks over and kills it. Jonathon screams and runs back to his father. Now Jonathon hates the bear and thinks he deserves to die. However his dad tells him there is nothing they can do. Jonathon decides to call the news station. It now is broadcast all over the city and fish and game say if they catch it around town they will kill it. This makes Jonathon sad and he wishes he never called the tv station. When he is getting on the bus one morning he hears people talking about the bear being at the zoo again. Jonathon goes over there to warn his dad that fish and game were waiting outside the zoo to kill Trouble. Jonathon then risks his life to stop the bear from getting out of the zoo. His dad shoots Trouble with at tranquilizer and then puts him in an empty cage. Later Trouble is transferred to the zoo in his old time and Jonathon visits him. His family is united and Jonathon is happy again.

Reaction: I was a little surprised at the extent I liked this book. At first it was confusing and hard to get into but I stuck to it and it actually turned out to be a great book. I like all the facts about bears that it included throughout the story of Trouble and Jonathon.

Problem: Trouble is lonely after he has to leave his mother. Jonathon is lonely because he is in a new place. The big problem is though that Trouble is going to get shot if the fish and game find him.

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to everyone. It is a little confusing however because it switches back and forth from Jonathon and Trouble. I really think it’s interesting that the story about the bear was pretty much true. The author just put incorporated the story from a child’s eyes.