Ghost of Spirit Bear- Ben Mikaelsen
Chapter 1-5
1. Why does Garvey want Cole to tear down the cabin?
pg.2 To leave this Earth the way he found it
2. Why was it okay to leave the totems that he and Peter carved?
pg. 3 the animals didn’t fear them c
3. Why is Cole sad about leaving the camp again?
pg. 7 he thinks that he will never see the spirit bear again
4. How is living on the island different from walking to school the first morning?
pg. 8 dogs barking, car exhausts, traffic, garbage truck collecting trash
5. Why did Cole feel like he was “on the outside of a fishbowl looking in” when he got to school?
pg.10 he was coming back 2 years later and in the 11th grade. He felt older
6. Why does Peter say that he wants to go back to the island?
pg.11 the kids are calling him a retard already
7. What haunting thoughts was Cole worried about that Peter may have again?
pg. 11 that he was still being attacked
8. What did Cole teach Peter while on the island?
pg. 12 not to focus on himself all of the time
9. Why does Cole tell Peter that they will have to think like they did on the island?
pg. 14 because if Cole fights then he will end up back in jail
10. Why does Cole want permission to sit inside the grocery store freezer?
Pg.15 to be able to clear his mind so he won’t get angry
11. What are they going to use for ancestor rocks and where are they going to get them?
Pg. 18 bowling balls at the Salvation Army
12. How does Cole want his mother to realize that he has changed?
Pg 24 by watching his actions and not listening to his words
13. What does Garvey mean when he tells Cole to control his reality?
Pg 31 to control what happens inside your body – how you react
14. What advice did Garvey give Cole after he got in a fight with Keith?
Pg 33 don’t use your fists for fighting
15. What is the purpose of dropping the bowling balls out of the windows?
Pg 36 to pretend that they are dropping their anger away
16. What weapon does Cole plan to use if he and Peter get attacked again?
Pg 40 his cell phone turned on inside of his pocket
17. How does Betty say that you can find happiness?
Pg 42 you have to want to be happy
18. What did Cole do the second time the gang tried to fight him?
Pg 44 sat down and refused to fight
19. What does the principal tell the gang to do instead of picking on Cole and Peter?
Pg 46 pick on the football team
20. What did Cole do when the police tried to arrest the homeless man with the knife?
pg 52he explained that the two boys were bullying him and the knife was for carving only
21. When Peter talked to the circle, what did he explain had changed between he and Cole?
Pg 56He said that they had become friends
Chapters 6-10
(p.60) Q. What did Peter and Cole want to give back to the homeless man?
A. a bear the homeless man had carved
(p.62) Q. What did the old homeless man remind Cole and Peter of?
A. Spirit Bear
(p.65) Q. How many choices did Cole give Keith when Keith saw him walking home from the mall and
threatened to beat him up?
A. three choices
(p. 65) Q. What were the three choices that Cole gave Keith?
A. To leave him alone, beat him up, or kill him
(p. 67) Q. What did Keith’s friends do when Cole was beaten up?
A. They backed away and went home because they feared getting in trouble with the police.
(p.68) What did Cole think Garvey’s reaction would be when he told him he did not fight Keith?
A. He thought Garvey would be proud
(p.69) Q. What choice did Garvey want Cole to use instead of going to the police or using trickery to catch
Keith and his gang?
A. To fight with his heart
(p.72) Q. What did Cole and Peter remember about Spirit Bear that they wanted to do too after Cole was beat
up?
A. They wanted to become invisible
(p. 73) Q. What did Cole imagine running down the side of Spirit Bear and wetting the roots of a tree?
A. A drop of rain
(p.75) Q. Who did Cole want to go visit and did not want Peter to go with him?
A. His father
(p. 76) Q. What are two things Cole told his father he is guilty of?
A. Drinking and getting violent
(p. 77) Q. What did Cole tell his father while he was visiting him?
A. That he missed him
(p. 78) Q. Who got hurt on the skateboard?
A. Keith
(p.79) Q. Who was the first one to help Keith after he was injured on the skateboard?
A. Cole. He remembered what it was like to be mauled by the Spirit Bear.
(p. 83) Q. What did Cole decide to do after he visited Keith in the hospital?
A. Drop the assault charges
(p. 84) Q. What did Cole tell Peter about how he was still fighting with Keith?
A. He was still fighting him with his heart
(85) Q. What did the old man leave in the grass for Cole and Peter?
A. A miniature bear
(p.88) Q. What happened to Peter in the bathroom?
A. He was attacked by some bullies in the school
(p.89) Q. What happened to the girl at school who everybody called a slut?
A. She committed suicide with an overdose of drugs.
(p.90) Q. What does Garvey tell Cole on how to fix the school?
A. “When the ground is torn up, that’s when you plant the seeds.”
(p.91) Q. What does the principal do first to help stop the school’s violence?
A. She calls an assembly of the whole student body.
(p. 94) Q. What is one of the first things the principal does to begin to change the school and
get it back on track?
A. Enforces a new dress code
(p.96) Q. How does Cole think he can help the school?
A. By getting the whole student body in a Circle
(p. 99) Q. Who was Mrs. Holms?
A. She was the keeper of the Circle for not only the school but Cole’s group.
(p.100) Q. What did Mrs. Holms want the students to do once they got into a Circle?
A. She wanted them to hold hands
Chapters 11-16
(105) Q. What was Cole’s suggestion for how to heal the student body?
A. change the school mascot from bulldog to Spirit Bear
(104-5) Q. Why does Cole think the Spirit Bear is the best mascot?
A. The students’ greatest strength comes from the spirit inside each of them; the mascot shouldn’t be a
snarling dog.
(105) Q. After the Circle broke at school, who did Cole see watching?
A. The homeless man
(106) Q. What does Peter want to give the homeless man?
A. at.oow
(107) Q. Where did Cole suggest Peter get a blanket for the homeless man?
A. Salvation Army
(108) Q. What was the homeless guy pushing in the shopping cart?
A. a tree stump
(112) Q. How many students chose to be in the group to change the mascot?
A. nearly 200
(112) Q. In order to change the mascot, the students had to get permission from the
__________________.
A. School district
(113) Q. What did the principal need from the students before she could submit the school mascot
change to the district?
A. a petition with student signatures
(115) Q. Which group did Keith first sign up to help?
A. The newspaper
(116) Q. How many students signed the petition?
A. More than 90%
(118) Q. Why were Peter and Cole dancing in the rain?
A. To prove reality is what one makes of it (If they choose to be happy they will be-rain or shine).
(121) Q. What did Cole do after the district office turned down the mascot petition?
A. Went to Ms. Kennedy (principal)
(121) Q. After the mascot petition was denied, what was the next step to get the mascot changed?
A. Go before the school board
(124) Q. What did the school board say to Cole’s initial mascot request?
A. Come back in 2 weeks and we will put it on the agenda.
(125) Q. What does Keith admit to Peter?
A. Keith knew about the plan to attack Peter, but he didn’t try to stop it.
(125) Q. How did Keith change after Peter was attacked?
A. He stopped being friends with the guys who beat up Peter.
(127) Q. To what did the principal compare public speaking for Cole?
A. The fear of getting caught stealing (but Cole did it anyway).
(129) Q. According to the principal, “Fear is just life telling you to be _____.”
A. careful
(130) Q. Why isn’t the principal afraid of gangs hurting her?
A. Her husband died of bone cancer 5 years ago.
(130) Q. What did the principal recommend the school board do at the end of the 2nd meeting?
A. Hold a special meeting for the community to decide the mascot.
(135) Q. Cole said, “If we can change the mascot, maybe students will realize that they can control their own
______.”
A. futures
(135) Q. Why did the principal ask for a special session to consider the mascot change?
A. The students would have lost that night if she didn’t.
(137-38) Q. How did Cole get the principal to decide to do a school wide pep rally before the board meeting?
A. He said, “Everybody talks big, but nobody wants to stick their neck out.”
(139) Q. What did the school body chant after Peter spoke at the Pep Rally?
A. “Go Spirit Bears! Go Spirit Bears”
(143) Q. Which business said they would match money raised dollar for dollar?
A. Olson Lumber
(144) Q. What did the principal do to show her support of changing the mascot?
A. She turned in her resignation if they voted against changing the mascot.
(146) Q. What was the final vote?
A. 7 for; 2 against
(147) Q. What did Keith do at the end of the book?
A. Told the principal who beat up Peter.
(147) Q. Cole said, “Maybe change starts by _____.”
A. forgiving
(148) Q. Which unexpected person came to the board meeting?
A. Cole’s father
(149) Q. What did Peter and Cole do after the board meeting that decided the mascot?
A. They went out for ice cream with their families and Garvey.
(153) Q. When Peter and Cole go to take the at.oow to the homeless man, what do they find?
A. A spirit bear carved out of the tree stump.
(154) Q. What do Peter and Cole decide to do with the at.oow at the end of the story?
A. Put it on display with the carved Spirit Bear.