I devoured this book like a hungry polar bear with a jar of peanut butter. Gold’s debut is a sweet blend of friendship, conservation, and family. I adored April and her friendship with Bear, how they learned so much from each other. I was especially charmed by him teaching her to reach deep inside herself to roar, and how to put your ear to the earth to really listen. Both things all humans need to spend a little more time perfecting. I bet we’d be kinder to ourselves, each other, and nature if we did. Conservation has a soft spot in my heart and this story is a well-written balance of facing what feels like an unsurmountable problem with global warming and polar bear loss of habitat and giving children agency by listening, seeing a problem, and doing their best to make it right.
The Last Bear by Hannah Gold (List Price: $19.99, HarperCollins, 9780063041073, 1/12/2021)
Reviewed by Candice Conner, The Haunted Bookshop in Mobile, Alabama