TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR

Fifteen-year-old Cole Matthews, victim of beatings and neglect at the hands of alcoholic parents, is damaged goods. Now an abuser himself, he viciously beats a classmate. To escape prison, he enters the Native Circle Justice system. Lee Tergesen faces the formidable task of portraying a thoroughly unsympathetic main character in a manner that offers the listener a reason to care. Tergesen reads the challenging, and at times heavy-handed, story of Cole's year of isolation on a remote Alaskan island with an effort to be true to Cole's desperate, sneering defiance; hard-won rage; and well-hidden vulnerability. He adds to his challenge by differentiating all the other characters, as well, sometimes falling short of the mark by lapsing into the wrong voice or portraying voices inconsistently. Nevertheless, adventure-loving boys will find much to enjoy here. T.B. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 02]