The Last Bear

January 1, 2021

Gr 3-5-A novel that immerses the reader headfirst into the cold, bare landscape of the Arctic melting under the effects of climate change. Young April and her scientist father travel to Bear Island for his research. Ironically, no bears are believed to be left. That is, until April catches a glimpse of a malnourished polar bear. They form a friendship as April nurses him back to health. She discovers that he has been stranded on the island for many years and devises a plan to get him home to Svalbard before her time in the North comes to an end. Gold's debut middle grade novel is a bold, unapologetic look into the devastating effects of climate change and its impact on wildlife. Scientific facts and statistics are seamleassly integrated into the narrative, strengthening the book's urgent tone. While the themes are clear and compelling, certain plot points remain nebulous, such as how April is able to communicate so well with the bear (a gift briefly tied to her late mother) or how her father seems unconcerned with her wandering the island alone all day. These small details will likely not bother young readers, who will be eager to find out if Bear makes his way home. Sections of the book are divided by gentle black-and-white illustrations that help bring April's story to life. The author includes a helpful and informative note at the end about the real Bear Island she used as inspiration. VERDICT A fast-paced novel that will awaken or strengthen readers' concern for their environment and that has the potential to act as a powerful discussion tool in classrooms and book clubs.-Katherine Hickey, Metropolitan Lib. Syst., Oklahoma City

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2020
A girl and a polar bear forge a unique, loving friendship. April Wood and her widowed scientist father travel to uninhabited Bear Island in the Arctic, where April's dad has been commissioned to spend six months studying the effects of global warming on the area. Lonely April hopes to get closer to her distracted father, who still grieves his wife's loss. Instead, incredibly--as dad had said there were none left--she bonds strongly with the island's lone, injured polar bear, whom she dubs Bear. How April and Bear become best friends, how she cares for him, learns his ways, and masterminds a harrowing rescue effort to save Bear and deliver him home to Svalbard comprises the bulk of this unusual, amiably written tale. The novel incorporates facts, capably raises awareness about the perils of global warming, and makes a strong case for humans' negative impact on the Arctic. April is an intelligent, independent, resourceful animal lover who staunchly advocates for the environment. Like-minded readers will relate to her and her desire for positive change in the world--and her yearning for loving relationships. The novel's conclusion is touching and poignant, but some plot elements strain credulity or feel clich�d, and April's dad is not a fully realized character. Sparse, unexciting, black-and-white illustrations fail to capture the setting's grandeur. An author's note includes information and websites. For animal lovers, defenders of the environment, and fans of female-powered stories. (Fiction. 9-12)

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January 1, 2021
April's widowed father is a scientist who has taken a temporary job at Bear Island's weather station, above the Arctic Circle. Her initial hope that moving to a remote location would lead her dad to pay more attention to her quickly disappears when she realizes that, just as at home, he will be working all the time. April wants to meet a polar bear on the island, although she knows it's unlikely, since melting sea ice has kept bears away from the island for some time. Nevertheless, she spends weeks on the lookout for bears -- and she does find one, trapped and injured by garbage from the ocean. She feels an immediate connection to the creature, eventually getting close enough to cut off the debris and treat its wound. As her relationship with her father becomes more strained, she grows closer to the bear. After she figures out how it became trapped on the island (the bear doesn't speak, but April is able to understand it on an emotional level), she decides to take it home to Svalbard, more than two hundred miles of open ocean away. Gold has an ear for descriptive language ("April could feel the power of it, the way sound travels invisibly through the air and shifts the membrane of the universe somehow"), and the close narration of April's story keeps readers intimately engaged. The book's environmental message is clear without being overpowering, and the combination of internal and external conflicts allows the story to be quiet and dramatic at the same time.

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

May 1, 2021
April's widowed father is a scientist who has taken a temporary job at Bear Island's weather station, above the Arctic Circle. Her initial hope that moving to a remote location would lead her dad to pay more attention to her quickly disappears when she realizes that, just as at home, he will be working all the time. April wants to meet a polar bear on the island, although she knows it's unlikely, since melting sea ice has kept bears away from the island for some time. Nevertheless, she spends weeks on the lookout for bears -- and she does find one, trapped and injured by garbage from the ocean. She feels an immediate connection to the creature, eventually getting close enough to cut off the debris and treat its wound. As her relationship with her father becomes more strained, she grows closer to the bear. After she figures out how it became trapped on the island (the bear doesn't speak, but April is able to understand it on an emotional level), she decides to take it home to Svalbard, more than two hundred miles of open ocean away. Gold has an ear for descriptive language ("April could feel the power of it, the way sound travels invisibly through the air and shifts the membrane of the universe somehow"), and the close narration of April's story keeps readers intimately engaged. The book's environmental message is clear without being overpowering, and the combination of internal and external conflicts allows the story to be quiet and dramatic at the same time. Sarah Rettger

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)