Erin Hunter
HarperCollins (2010)
ISBN 9780060871277
Reviewed by Dylan James (age 13) for Reader Views (03/10)
In “Seekers: Great Bear Lake,” three bears are on a journey in which they discover many things about themselves and the world around them. The ice is receding, and some bears say it is not going to come back. A tempered grizzly bear called Toklo, a thoughtful black bear called Lusa, a desperate polar bear called Kallik, and a mysterious shape-shifting bear called Ujurak endure and overcome many challenges on their journeys. They face frightful things and add many bears to their cause – all in a fight to figure out where the ice is going. Will it come back? And if not, why is it disappearing? What can these bears do to save their wilderness? All these questions are things they have to face and work towards realizing the answers.
Unlike the “Warrior” series which Erin Hunter is best known for, where there are fights and struggles to survive around every corner, this series, appropriately titled “Seekers” deals with mysteries and questions to answer. These bears are on a quest to figure out the world around them, and it is very intriguing. Some bears, like Toklo and Taqqiq, are obviously struggling with anger and confusion coming from what happens around them and inside themselves. The best word to describe them is adolescent. All the bears are growing up and becoming who they are in different ways.
Because this book does deal with complicated emotions and questions, I think readers twelve and up will enjoy this book the most. Unlike many books, both female and male characters are dominant and centered on, and their emotions and opinions are very different from each other. As such, both genders should like this book equally.
The main problem I had with this book is that it is kind of slow with none of the fundamental questions being answered. This is not a problem with the book so much as it is with the series. I think readers will enjoy “Seekers: Great Bear Lake” by Erin Hunter as long as they go in expecting the right thing. This is a mysterious self-learning book dealing mainly with the bears’ emotions, not a book filled with action or thrill, although it does contain some of that. It definitely leaves the reader wanting to know more, although in my case at least, it leaves too much unexplained.
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