Bear Witness: A Novel

by Melissa Clark

What if you witnessed the kidnapping of your best friend? This is when life changed for 12-year old Paige Bellen. Just three years after her friend Robin's kidnapping and murder, Paige is expected to continue on with life as usual. Now, with her closest friend out of the country, a messy relationship with Robin's boyfriend, and a family that handles her with kid gloves, Paige isn't sure if she'll ever be able to move forward in life. Bear Witness explores the aftermath of a crime in a small community and what it means when tragedy colors the experience of being a young adult. USA Best Book Awards: Fiction: Young Adult, Finalist

• ISBN10: 1940716756
• ISBN13: 9781940716756
• Publish Date: 21 May 2015 (first published 7 April 2015)
• Publish Status: Transferred
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: SparkPress
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 118
• Language: English

Reviews

[readingwithwrin]

This book starts with the main character being in 10th grade and still trying to come to terms with what happened to her best friend. From there we see her try and find distractions from playing sports to putting her all in getting good grades to not doing anything.
We see her go from trying to figure out what college she wants to go to, to being a sixth grader and having fun with her two best friends. In between these two times we also get to see her like a boy, get the pets she's always wanted, go to trial to try and convict the man who stole her best friend.

Overall I thought this story was okay. The format of going back from tenth grade all the way to sixth was a little confusing at times, but it showed more of what happened and what the main character had been like before. I also liked how in this story dealt with how a sibling might feel when there other sibling was apart of something terrifying. And how it affected everyone in the whole town not just the girls that were there that night.

I got this book from a goodreads giveaway from the author.