Genre: Young adult literature.
Key Stage: Year 6+
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Last Bear by Hannah Gold (2021)
The Last Bear is about an 11-year-old girl named April who is going on a 6-month meteorological research trip with her dad. April hopes that this will be a wonderful adventure with her father but sadly that is not to be. Her dad is very sad as he is grieving for April’s mum who died and he spends all his time shut away working leaving April alone to explore the uninhabited isle named Bear Island.
April wonders if she might see a polar bear but is told that there are no bears living there anymore because the ice caps around the island have retreated further north due to global warming. However, April has not been on the island long when she finds and befriends a stranded polar bear. The bear is not in a good way. He is very thin from a lack of food and his paw is wrapped tightly in plastic rubbish from the sea. April builds trust with the bear and helps him by removing the plastic from his paw.
April is a very brave and special girl and finds she can communicate with Bear. Their bond grows as April brings him oat biscuits and peanut butter to eat, soon they’re such good friends that she begins to go “bear riding” and Bear teaches her to listen to all the sounds of nature and to roar like a bear not a girl.
I liked all the adventures and the sneaky pranks in the book, and the amount of friends April made. She becomes an inspirational leader. I disliked the sad ending but won’t reveal what happens.
There are so many incredibly well executed points of tension and high emotion in this story. It is exquisitely written and a book that I cannot wait to read again. The Last Bear was well written and a fast-paced read. An adventure story filled with nature, animals, and friendship I recommend this to people who like action filled adventures, friendship and family relationship drama.
Reviewer: Sahra, Year 7