Beardance

Bearstone #2

by Will Hobbs

Saving The Last Grizzlies

As this action-packed sequel to Bearstone opens, Cloyd Atcitty and his rancher friend Walter Landis are heading back into the mountains, this time chasing the old man's dream of finding a lost Spanish gold mine. But when Cloyd hears that a mother grizzly and her cubs have been sighted nearby, he immediately hopes it might be the mate of the bear he had tried to save from a hunter the previous summer.

When the mother bear dies in a tragic accident, Cloyd realizes that if her cubs don't survive, grizzlies will disappear from Colorado forever. He refuses to leave the cubs, determined to stay with them until they can den. But with winter deepening in the mountains, can Cloyd himself survive?

Genres: Adventure, Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Animals, Historical Fiction, School

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 1993

About the author

WILL HOBBS is the author of seventeen novels for upper elementary, middle school and young adult readers, as well as two picture book stories. Seven of his novels, Bearstone, Downriver, The Big Wander, Beardance, Far North, The Maze, and Jason's Gold, were named Best Books for Young Adults by the American Library Association. ALA also named Far North and Downriver to their list of the 100 Best Young Adult Books of the Twentieth Centrury. Ghost Canoe received the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1998 for Best Young Adult Mystery.

In outdoor stories that appeal to both boys and girls, Hobbs has readers discovering wild places, sharing adventures with people from varied backgrounds, and exploring how to make important choices in their own lives. A graduate of Stanford University and former reading and language arts teacher, Will has been a full-time writer since 1990. He lives with his wife, Jean, in Durango, Colorado.

Will's books have won many other awards, including the California Young Reader Medal, the Western Writers of America Spur Award, the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award, the Colorado Book Award, and nominations to state award lists in over thirty states.

Reviews

[Sandra Strange · Rating 3 out of 5]

This adventure novel, in which the protagonist must work to survive and save cubs of a killed mother bear, will appeal to the most reluctant teen reader who enjoys the outdoors or a good adventure.

[Heather Layne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was fine to read without reading the first one, Bearstone.

[Twyla · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite part was when the bear cubs managed to survive the winter, and when Cloyd made it back home alive after almost starving while waiting for the bear cubs to begin hibernating. My least favorite part was when the camp was destroyed by the time Cloyd got back there with the bear cubs after getting caught in an avalanche.

[SFrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. A few questions remain up in the air that are left up to the reader to figure out or hope that happened. These pertain mostly to the scene with avalanche and Rusty, Walter Landis' prospector friend, the game wardens and who sabotaged the camp.

[Kyle Porter]

Beardance By Will Hobbs is a fascinating sequel to bearstone. This book is great for people who like the outdoors and animals. The book is based out of the mountains in colorado with the main character being an utes indian.

[Lizz Donnelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book really needed another pass or three of editing.

[Danielle Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

take a little while to get into it but I think my 7th graders will love it

[Devyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm sad to discover that there are only two books in the Bearstone duology with only a combined 357 pages of Cloyd and Walter's adventures to experience, but what a wonderful two books they are.

“Dreams aren't practical, but we can't live without them.”

[Brooke lightfoot · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book

[Manuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Cloyd sprang from the boulder and leaped onto the elk trail at the edge of the boulder field, not thirty feet away from the black bear.From all fours he stood up and made himself tall with his height and his arms.From deep in his throat he brought out a roar that surprised him, hearing it come from inside himself. For a moment he even felt ferocious, growling and displaying his grizzly claws."

Cloyd Rides into the mountains with his friend Walter to look for a lost gold mine, Cloyd hears a report that a mother grizzly bear with cubs has been sighted. With the help of a grizzly expert, Cloyd finds the bears, but when the cubs are orphaned it's up to Cloyd, staying up in the mountains alone, to keep them alive.

If you like the outdoors, then you will love Beardance. The book takes place in the wilderness of Colorado. When I was reading this book, I was sad, fascinated and surprised. The book had some gory parts in it, that is what made it surprising. Some parts in the book made me fill like I was actually there in the wild with the grizzly bears.
Will Hobbs did a okay job making this book it's not to difficult to read. Once you get past the first chapter it gets better and better. I would reccomend it to people a little younger than me. It really pulls you in and makes you want to know whats goin to happen next. The book is easy to follow because it is told from one person's point of view. Because the book is not a page-turner, you can pay more attention to the important details.I connected to Cloyd because the book is told from his point of view and I understood his feelings. I enjoyed the author's style of writing because it is not too descriptive, so it was easy to read. For example "Cloyd felt like he was there, and one of those bears was charging him." Some of the sentences are cliffhangers. An example of one is: "The four of them listened until the sound stopped, and then they turned silently into the night." Some of the book was boring; some of it wasn't. What made some of it boring was that it went on and on in the same scene again and again. I think this story could happen in real life. Historical fiction readers should only read this book.

"He felt like he was being watched. Even the tought of this man called La Sombra made the skin on the back of his neck crawl. Keeping low to the ground, he pulled up two pegs at the back of the tent, then poked his head inside"

[Zakaria Faid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cloyd is a curious young adult that gets thrown at a simple journey to the mountains with his friend, Walter. The purpose of this journey begins from Walter's dream: finding a lost Spanish gold mine. The two friends embark on their journey to the mountains immediately and begin to hear more about the place they are in from other people and their own knowledge. In addition, they learn that among the grand multitude of animals that surround the mountains are the last Grizzlies on earth. Cloyd separates from his friend after he hears that there is indeed an existing grizzly family from an Indian young woman. As he is promenading through the wilderness, he observes two grizzly cubs besides their dead mother without their father. Subsequently, he decides to save the two cubs as he refers back to what he had heard of the last Grizzlies in that area and then continues his adventure with them and slowly builds an affectionate relation with bears in general. Luckily, he didn't encounter any misunderstandings with the bears ever since he rescued them, however as a group of three they were unlucky; as they got separated for a few days, forasmuch as the cubs fell in a deep hole known to be a dangerous and ghostly tunnel. Cloyd was able to rescue the cubs once again by following an old sheepherder's instructions and warnings. Furthermore, Cloyd and his cubs resumed their adventure to a suitable area for shelter and food, however tremendous amounts of snow prevented them from moving quickly. As a result, Cloyd and the bears began to starve and lose hope prior to their return journey despite the shelter that they found.

Just like any other adventurous novel, the big question comes down to Luck or Fate? although some adventures end up in failure or success.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was our read aloud book and the boys really liked it. J especially was really into the outdoor adventure and close animal contact.

A young Native American boy goes with his caretaker into the mountains to look for gold and find something even more rare; Grizzly bears- a mama and two cubs. Surely these are the offspring of the large bear he saw the summer before that died at the hands of another mountain man. The bear he had a hand in killing when he told others that he saw it. Riddled with guilt over the lost bear, he decides he must save these new bears to redeem himself. When the mama bear is killed in an avalanche, can the boy get them to denning time on his own and before the wardens take them to a zoo?

[Nathan Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my opinion, the story "Beardance" by Will Hobbs was a great book. I thought this was a great book because of the adventure that Cloyd Attcity embarks on. He starts out looking for a mine, but ends up "becoming a mother bear." Throughout the book, he acts and dresses as the mother bear for the two cubs because their mother died in an avalanche. I thought it was great how he led them and taught them how to be bears, even though he's not a bear himself. He even has to save them from being caught and killed by hunters and by game wardens. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book because how Cloyd risks his life for the lives of the bear cubs.

[Mattf013 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nature vs. Modenization - I wasn't too excited to read it. I got it at the end of the school year when my library was giving away their old books. However, it's a lovely tale about an orphaned Native American boy trying to find his roots within nature. It starts off slow and has characters that are flawlessly introduced and that all a purpose in the story. I found no trouble reading it without reading Bearstone, the first novel. It had its dull moments but the book has a great message -- I'll let you find it out on your own.

[Dayna Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sequel to Bearstone. Cloyd is still living in Colorado with Walter Landis. They head back into the mountains to look for gold and discover a mother grizzly and her cubs. Cloyd is still haunted by the death of the grizzly he feels he caused last year. When the mother grizzly is killed in a freak accident, Cloyd is determined to stay with the cubs until they are old enough to den. But winter is deepening in the mountains, can Cloyd or the cubs survive? Another Hobbs masterpiece.

[Macoy M]

Macoy M I think that the book I have to read might be a good book. I read the back of one on google and it sounds like it might be a really good book but we'll just have to see. I found a book I thought I might thought and I got half way through and it still hasn't got any better from the introduction

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one took a little while to get into, but halfway through it really picked up steam. I love the detailed descriptions of the Weminuche, the conservation messages, and the increased character development and adventure from the first book. A winner.

[Sara]

A sequel to Beatstone...Hobbs description of the areas that Cloyd is exploring are so vivid that I feel like I am right there even though I've never been there. Again, Hobbs takes real events and melds them with fiction.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Old Children's Book. Liked it as a kid, but haven't read it in years.

[Cws]

JAR5-Hob

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

sequel to Bearstone, southwest Colorado mountains, Ute Indian boy, Klinkit professor from Montana, old mountain men and bear cubs and family. Lots of Indoan lore, mountain ways and bear knowledge.

[Theo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. it was a little magical, but it was really cool. the kid is so determined that it is unbelievable. Also the bears seem really cute.

[Helene Forst · Rating 5 out of 5]

This YA novel is a suspenseful, page turner that explores Native Amerrican legends with real life adventures.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is for the boy who seriously likes animals, the outdoors and being independent. Good action/adventure.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing book, you really become one with the characters.

10 out of 10
It is amazing and is full of suspense and drama and much much more, I'm so sad that it ended.

[Justin]

The story is that Cloyd found 2 grizzly cubs alone in the cave without the mother and he is trying to be the mother to them to keep them safe. In the Rocky Mountains up in Colorado, Cloyd is in search for looking to see if there are any grizzlies left. He has his partner named Walter and he is old, Cloyd and Walter are going up to the mountain and Cloyd is worried that Walter might get hurt. When they both got up to the mountains they saw cubs but they didn't see the mother anywhere so Cloyd have this crazy idea that he wanted to stay and live with the cubs to keep them safe. The plot made me happy because he wanted to protect the cubs so there will be more bears left. The book was excellent because I got excited when Cloyd went off to look for more bears and that was really adventurous. But, I was kind off upset because after Cloyd started protecting cubs, Rusty was the one who killed the mother and he wanted to get the cubs when they fully grown.