Touching Spirit Bear is a modern-fiction book wrote by Ben Mikaelsen. The story begins in Minneapolis, but then progresses to Alaska. It centers around the characters, Cole Mathews, Cole's Mother, Peter Driscal, Garvey the probation-officer, Edwin, and the Spirit Bear.

Summary-

      Cole Mathews grew angry at Peter Driscl, who informed the local authorities that Cole had broken into a hardware store. Cole decides to find Peter, and make him pay for what he had done.. Cole beats up Peter and smashes his head into a sidewalk. During the fight, someone called the police and had Cole arrested once more. While in jail,  Cole's probation officer, Garvey often visited Cole, to try and help him become a better person. However, none of his attempts succeded, all because Cole was sworn to the anger he had achieved through the years of abuse while at home, from his drunk, abusive father, and his drunk, neglectful mother. Garvey proposed the idea of Circle Justice to Cole, which is a form of Judicial-Punishment in which someone is to try and do something to help whom they hurt.. In Cole's case, he would be sent to an isolated island in Alaska. Cole accepts it, as he believes he can escape when he so feels like it. When Cole gets to the island, he waits until the boat that brang him had left. He then proceeded to burning the cabin that was built for him, and then Cole tried, and failed to swim away from the island.. Cole eventually saw a bear on the island, the Spirit Bear, in which Cole decided to one day attack. The Spirit Bear fought back and mauled Cole. Laying nearly dead for days, Cole tried to accept death, but he was afraid. Through this, Cole learned what beauty and life had all meant. Garvey came back to the island to check on Cole. Finding his near dead body, Garvey rushed Cole to a hospital in-land. 6 months later, Cole is told that he will be returning to the island, but almost no-one believes he's changed. From this, Cole swore to never again lie, and then prove to evryone, that he has changed. Reports later came in that Peter had attempted suicide teice. Cole then had Peter taken to the island, so he could help Peter, by showing him compassion.