World of Adventure 15 – Grizzly

Gary Paulsen's Grizzly is a survival adventure for 10 year olds about a boy who heads into the mountains after the bear that killed his lamb.

What happens

Justin lives on a Montana sheep ranch with his aunt Polly and his uncle Mack. His uncle is stuck in a wheelchair with a broken hip, so Justin does a LOT of the work (driving the old truck included).

One freezing night the dogs go wild. Justin runs out barefoot with a rifle and finds the lamb pen torn open. The tracks in the dirt belong to a grizzly.

The ranchers are furious. Mack and Polly head off to Billings to push the rangers into doing something, and Justin is left in charge. That's when the bear comes back.

She hurts his collie, Radar. Then she kills Blue, the little lamb he's been bottle-feeding and dreaming of taking to the county fair. So Justin takes his uncle's rifle and goes after her on his own.

Would you? He's so angry he doesn't stop to think, and that's really the heart of it.

From there it barely lets up. The bear doubles back and starts following HIM. There's a fall in a burnt-out forest, a night by a tiny fire with a broken arm, a tree to scramble up and a waterfall. The chapters are short and it's very hard to stop at the end of one.

It's quietly thoughtful too. Justin sets out sure the grizzly is a killer who deserves to die. A couple of days alone in the mountains with her make him a lot less sure (you can almost feel him changing his mind).

This one doesn't hold back on the animals, though. The lambs are found slashed and bloody in the first chapter, Blue is found dead in his pen and two of the dogs get hurt. Justin gets dragged by the bear and badly battered. He's also thirteen, a good few years older than your reader. If your child gets upset when animals are hurt, it's probably one to leave for now.

For a reader who loves real danger and the outdoors, it's gripping.

What to read next

If they want another Paulsen where a teenager is left holding the fort while a grandparent recovers from a broken hip, try Thunder Valley. Twins Jeremy and Jason are helping out at their grandfather's ski lodge, and something about the money doesn't add up.