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Bearstone #1
Bearstone
A Dramatic Tale of Grizzlies and Gold
Fourteen-year-old Cloyd Atcitty has been skipping school for years. He's run away from a group home for Native American boys, and is now being sent to work for Walter Landis, an old rancher on an isolated Colorado farm.
In a cave above the ranch, Cloyd finds a turquoise carving of a bear. Knowing that his people, the Utes, have a special relationship with bears, he keeps the small stone, hoping it will bring him strength. A terrible blow-up with Walter ends in near disaster, but the old man offers Cloyd one last they'll ride together into the mountains to reopen Walter's abandoned gold mine. Among the high peaks that harbor Colorado's last grizzlies, Cloyd's courage and loyalty will be tested to the limit.
Fourteen-year-old Cloyd Atcitty has been skipping school for years. He's run away from a group home for Native American boys, and is now being sent to work for Walter Landis, an old rancher on an isolated Colorado farm.
In a cave above the ranch, Cloyd finds a turquoise carving of a bear. Knowing that his people, the Utes, have a special relationship with bears, he keeps the small stone, hoping it will bring him strength. A terrible blow-up with Walter ends in near disaster, but the old man offers Cloyd one last they'll ride together into the mountains to reopen Walter's abandoned gold mine. Among the high peaks that harbor Colorado's last grizzlies, Cloyd's courage and loyalty will be tested to the limit.
154 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 1989
29 people are currently reading
390 people want to read
About the author
Will Hobbs
29 books170 followersWILL 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews
January 28, 2021
It was so bratty the way he ran away right at the man’s house. He didn’t try to get away before he got there; he ran after his housemother had him get out to open and close the gate and he took off. The old man said he hadn’t even met him first. I hate brats.
He went hiking up the canyon and the author wrote that he didn’t know he was climbing toward a treasure and turning point.
Walter has a hard-rock gold mine with no timber in it so it won’t cave in. His wife made him promise not to run it because she thought it was too dangerous.
Cloyd was overworking himself, wanting to finish the entire fence line in order to go to the cliffs. Walter had people illegally hunting on his land and needed a fence to put a stop to it, and Cloyd wanted to earn the trip. Every day it was nothing but work and one morning Walter could see Cloyd was unhappy and suggested he take a break. Cloyd got upset assuming Walter thought he couldn’t do it and he wanted to prove everyone wrong who thought he was lazy.
Then he told Walter that he got all the holes dug for the posts, and wanted to cut the posts himself from trees. Walter wanted to cut the posts himself and of course touchy, grouchy little brat thought he couldn’t do the job. Walter had to say that it was the chainsaw he was worried about. Then Cloyd said Walter could show him how to use it. He was only pacified when Walter told him he thought he could do anything he set his mind to.
I was pissed when Walter cooked up a turkey dinner and Cloyd barely ate. Walter asked what the letter from Cloyd’s sister was about and Cloyd was embarrassed at not being able to read. He said “It’s my letter. It’s none of your business.” Walter felt bad and said he didn’t mean to pry. Cloyd shouted that he doesn’t know what’s in the letter and he can’t read and asked if Walter was satisfied. Walter offered to read it to him and teach him to read. Cloyd said he didn’t want his help, accidentally knocked coffee all over his mining newspapers and yelled at him to leave him alone.
The next day Walter welcomed bear hunters onto his land and the man was mocking and careless to Cloyd. Cloyd thought Walter would be at fault if a bear was killed and he’d have to pay. He thought Walter didn’t care about him and these men were his real friends. He didn’t even help bale hay and left Walter to do all the work himself. I let so bad that Walter did it all himself, to prove what he was made of. He worked through the day and didn’t eat all day or take a break.
I actually hated Cloyd when he begrudged Walter his nice peach trees because they were better than his grandma’s. He got mad that the hunters killed a bear and thought he’d been eating bear sausage this whole time. He cranked up the chainsaw without using the oil that Walter told him to use or else he’d break the machine. He cut every single one of the peach trees so they’d die slowly and look like his grandma’s. He “hollered with hurt” every time he cut a tree “as if he felt the saw himself.” I wanted to put the book down then. I had to stop reading and take a break because I was so pissed off. Then he went around sawing all the fence posts down—not liking that Walter made someone else do all the work for him. He’s an old man, you little shit. He didn’t see the sense of fencing out hunters when Walter was already letting bear hunters on his land. So all his work, he destroyed. The chainsaw wouldn’t run right and eventually stopped and he’s like “Who cares?”
Then he felt terrible because he’d never liked anyone like Walter and he knew he’d ruined it. Nope. Too late. Cloyd was done, irrevocably ruined. He was irredeemable to me from that point on.
He came back to the house that night and Walter asked what the hell was wrong with him and said he wanted to get him the hell rid of him. He almost smashed the bear figurine which he’d known Cloyd had the whole time but decided against it. He said Cloyd knew how much those trees meant to him.
Then he figured out on the way to the home that Utes value bears and that Cloyd was upset after the bear hunters came.
Walter didn’t care about anything any more. He felt like he’d failed at giving. Cloyd a home and only made him work. It’s not your fault that little jerk went ape-shit and destroyed your property. How could the author spin it around that it was Walter’s fault? Cloyd is the dumbass who decided to overwork himself and wouldn’t even take a break when Walter tried to get him to.
Walter decided to lease the farm and quit farming and finally work in the mine. Cloyd told him of finding the bear stone and he shared his true name with Walter and said he’s the only person he’ll tell.
Rusty realized he’d killed a grizzly which is illegal since they’re protected, and that the bear must have been one of two cubs from the mom that was killed long ago. He lied and said the bear charged him and it was self-defense. He knew he couldn’t leave the bear there because someone could see it and report it and the game warden knew they were up there. He didn’t want to lose his business and license so he resolved to tell the game warden. So it turned into Cloyd being a witness to Rusty’s downfall. I didn’t want Rusty to go to jail and be fined for killing the bear—I wanted him to not kill the bear in the first place.
Cloyd prayed for the bear’s forgiveness.
He went back and found Walter missing from the tent and when he checked the mines he found Walter lying unconscious facedown, one side of his face like meat. He had overheard the hunters talking about a helicopter and rode back to the kill site and told Rusty what happened to Walter. His eyes actually looked kind and he told Cloyd he did good. He offered to take all of Walter’s belongings back home.
The warden used the bear’s body as a step stool to get into the helicopter. Was that really necessary? A final F you, bear.
The Weminuche Utes were from Durango, Colorado but had been forced out by whites when gold was found and moved to Utah.
I loved to read about the cliff houses in the cantons with handholds carved by the Ancient Ones. They were said to be unreachable without ladders.
Bears are the most important animal to the Utes. They’re a friend and relative to man, a bringer of strength and luck. If you could make a bear your personal guardian you would be strong and lucky. They didn’t kill bears because that would bring the worst luck.
A blue turquoise bear was left in a pottery jar at a burial site, to accompany the baby on its journey.
In the old days people had a secret name that only one other person knew. Now that naming isn’t done.
The Utes aren’t big talkers. The old ones point with their lips because pointing is rude, and they look away when they talk or are spoken to.
Blue Mountain is called the sacred one. There’s a mountain in the form of a Sleeping Ute. The Cedar Mesa have a wooded slope with Bear’s Ears.
The people at White Mesa viewed mining as bad. The uranium made you sick and die. Though many men worked in the mines and at the ore-shipping depot.
Gold made people crazy and dishonest. The whites promised the Utes they could keep their land, before they found gold and made them move onto reservations and grow corn.
Things were going good and then Walter ruined it this time. He became so obsessed with gold that he forgot that Cloyd wanted to go into the mountains and he didn’t want to take time for breaks and eating. It was all work.
He realized he was overworking Cloyd again and told a lie that he didn’t believe there was gold in this vein and that Cloyd could go into the mountains now. Walter wasn’t going to quit looking for gold and had Cloyd go alone and it bothered me that he couldn’t even go with Cloyd and show him around.
Then he urged the bride through a mud hole that Blueboy didn’t want to go through and the horse got stuck. He was going to kick to get himself up and would have hit Cloyd in the head but when he saw Cloyd there he didn’t kick. He ended up rolling all the way down the hill. Cloyd knew he had almost gotten him killed and I was so irritated at his insistence of reaching the mountaintop.
His grandma had told him about the old Utes who would catch fish in their bare hands. Of course Cloyd did it on the first try. He has to do everything and he capable of everything he wants to do. So annoying.
But he saw a brown bear, when they were said to be extinct or very endangered and one hadn’t been spotted in decades. He couldn’t wait to tell Walter about his journey but when he got back, Rusty was there. He asked Cloyd if he saw any wildlife and Cloyd felt bad—and knowing everything he went through, hurting Walter and destroying his property because Rusty killed a bear—this dumbass told the bear hunter that he saw a bear. He wanted to prove that he saw a bear without doing any tracking to get it to come. You freaking idiot. You got so pissed he killed a bear you went on a rampage, and you’re going to tell the hunter who kills bears that there’s a bear in the area so he can go kill it? Dumbass.
He thought Rusty was trying to make him out to be a liar and didn’t believe he really saw the bear. It took Walter to point out that Rusty was really excited about the bear and wanted to go find it. Cloyd realized his mistake for telling him right where to find the bear and didn’t know bear hunting was all year round. Yeah, you f’ing idiot, what did you think the bear HUNTER was going to do when you told him there was a bear? This kid is too stupid to live.
Walter was almost as bad. He set off a charge but some of the dynamite didn’t go off and so the live charges were still in the wall. He knew they could go off and it was dangerous but he went back in there, wanting to see what the ore contained. Stupid.
Cloyd left in the night to try to find Walter before he killed the bear, intending to scare it away. At one point he headed across a river to beat Rusty and I thought/hoped Rusty would mistake him for the bear and shoot him with his bow and arrow...Always a bad sign when you want the main character to be hurt. It would serve him right.
He was on a wild goose chase to find Rusty and when he finally saw the bear, Rusty was there waiting to shoot it. Cloyd yelled to scare it off but it was so windy his voice didn’t carry so it was all for nothing. He ended up standing there watching Rusty shoot the bear in the neck and chest and die. Way to go, dumbass. You wouldn’t have had to go through all this if you had half a brain and didn’t deliver that bear into the hunter’s hands. Live with that on your conscience the rest of your life, fool.
In a completely unrealistic, stilted, staged, and heavy-handed manner that was convenient to the author’s purposes, the hunter’s brothers asked Cloyd how he knew the helicopter was there and how he’d known to come here. And then the warden asked how he knew the helicopter would be coming and if he knew anything about the bear...
Now why would these men even think, in a situation where someone’s life is on the line and time is of the essence, to question this boy how he came to find them for help? That was literally the first thing the men said upon seeing him, and the first thing the warden said during the ride. No one would ever do that. They could have assumed that he heard the helicopter and saw where it landed. They could have assumed he had been riding in this direction for help. It was all a setup for Cloyd to refuse to speak because he remembered his own vengeance on the peach trees and wanted to stop that. It was enough that Rusty knew he was there. Why would Rusty assume you had followed him or was out at night at the exact place he killed the bear?! What a leap! It was all for nothing. The whole reason he witnessed it was to sing like a canary to the warden and make this guy pay.
Walter was getting worse and his kids wanted to send him to a nursing home but Cloyd knew he would die there without being on the farm. He asked the bus driver if the bus went to Walter’s house and it didn’t but of course the driver had heard of Cloyd helping Walter out and agreed to pick him up for school there.
The tribe said Cloyd could come back because the school was going to let him return, and his grandma’s job was going well and she might get her goats back. I was surprised the whole tribe was in charge of this decision. But Cloyd wanted to stay with Walter.
Cloyd mixed the foundation of the house and mixed concrete—SO exciting!—and of course he could carry 100 lb bags of concrete all by himself and mix it and lay it. “He could do whatever he set his mind to.” Cloyd can do everything! He’s perfect! All the talk of looking like a man and acting like a man and making men’s decisions was ridiculous. Seriously, how old is he??
It went on in more detail about the process of jacking up the wall and getting the cracks out...so boring. Cloyd’s surprise was that he bought peach trees for Walter and when the delivery man said they don’t grow around here, they had an inside joke of trying it because his wife’s trees had worked out so well. At least he did what he could to right that wrong. When he went back home he’d take Blueboy because he’s his. He would have kids someday and tell them about Walter and name a son Walter.
I hated to think of him leaving Walter alone and wished he’d live with him the rest of his life.The gold mine ended up going nowhere as we don’t even know if there was any gold. I hate he didn’t even get to have good strike before he had to quit. What happened with the bear? Did he get fined, what did they do with the body? How long does Cloyd stay with Walter? Does he ever come back to visit him?
He went hiking up the canyon and the author wrote that he didn’t know he was climbing toward a treasure and turning point.
Walter has a hard-rock gold mine with no timber in it so it won’t cave in. His wife made him promise not to run it because she thought it was too dangerous.
Cloyd was overworking himself, wanting to finish the entire fence line in order to go to the cliffs. Walter had people illegally hunting on his land and needed a fence to put a stop to it, and Cloyd wanted to earn the trip. Every day it was nothing but work and one morning Walter could see Cloyd was unhappy and suggested he take a break. Cloyd got upset assuming Walter thought he couldn’t do it and he wanted to prove everyone wrong who thought he was lazy.
Then he told Walter that he got all the holes dug for the posts, and wanted to cut the posts himself from trees. Walter wanted to cut the posts himself and of course touchy, grouchy little brat thought he couldn’t do the job. Walter had to say that it was the chainsaw he was worried about. Then Cloyd said Walter could show him how to use it. He was only pacified when Walter told him he thought he could do anything he set his mind to.
I was pissed when Walter cooked up a turkey dinner and Cloyd barely ate. Walter asked what the letter from Cloyd’s sister was about and Cloyd was embarrassed at not being able to read. He said “It’s my letter. It’s none of your business.” Walter felt bad and said he didn’t mean to pry. Cloyd shouted that he doesn’t know what’s in the letter and he can’t read and asked if Walter was satisfied. Walter offered to read it to him and teach him to read. Cloyd said he didn’t want his help, accidentally knocked coffee all over his mining newspapers and yelled at him to leave him alone.
The next day Walter welcomed bear hunters onto his land and the man was mocking and careless to Cloyd. Cloyd thought Walter would be at fault if a bear was killed and he’d have to pay. He thought Walter didn’t care about him and these men were his real friends. He didn’t even help bale hay and left Walter to do all the work himself. I let so bad that Walter did it all himself, to prove what he was made of. He worked through the day and didn’t eat all day or take a break.
I actually hated Cloyd when he begrudged Walter his nice peach trees because they were better than his grandma’s. He got mad that the hunters killed a bear and thought he’d been eating bear sausage this whole time. He cranked up the chainsaw without using the oil that Walter told him to use or else he’d break the machine. He cut every single one of the peach trees so they’d die slowly and look like his grandma’s. He “hollered with hurt” every time he cut a tree “as if he felt the saw himself.” I wanted to put the book down then. I had to stop reading and take a break because I was so pissed off. Then he went around sawing all the fence posts down—not liking that Walter made someone else do all the work for him. He’s an old man, you little shit. He didn’t see the sense of fencing out hunters when Walter was already letting bear hunters on his land. So all his work, he destroyed. The chainsaw wouldn’t run right and eventually stopped and he’s like “Who cares?”
Then he felt terrible because he’d never liked anyone like Walter and he knew he’d ruined it. Nope. Too late. Cloyd was done, irrevocably ruined. He was irredeemable to me from that point on.
He came back to the house that night and Walter asked what the hell was wrong with him and said he wanted to get him the hell rid of him. He almost smashed the bear figurine which he’d known Cloyd had the whole time but decided against it. He said Cloyd knew how much those trees meant to him.
Then he figured out on the way to the home that Utes value bears and that Cloyd was upset after the bear hunters came.
Walter didn’t care about anything any more. He felt like he’d failed at giving. Cloyd a home and only made him work. It’s not your fault that little jerk went ape-shit and destroyed your property. How could the author spin it around that it was Walter’s fault? Cloyd is the dumbass who decided to overwork himself and wouldn’t even take a break when Walter tried to get him to.
Walter decided to lease the farm and quit farming and finally work in the mine. Cloyd told him of finding the bear stone and he shared his true name with Walter and said he’s the only person he’ll tell.
Rusty realized he’d killed a grizzly which is illegal since they’re protected, and that the bear must have been one of two cubs from the mom that was killed long ago. He lied and said the bear charged him and it was self-defense. He knew he couldn’t leave the bear there because someone could see it and report it and the game warden knew they were up there. He didn’t want to lose his business and license so he resolved to tell the game warden. So it turned into Cloyd being a witness to Rusty’s downfall. I didn’t want Rusty to go to jail and be fined for killing the bear—I wanted him to not kill the bear in the first place.
Cloyd prayed for the bear’s forgiveness.
He went back and found Walter missing from the tent and when he checked the mines he found Walter lying unconscious facedown, one side of his face like meat. He had overheard the hunters talking about a helicopter and rode back to the kill site and told Rusty what happened to Walter. His eyes actually looked kind and he told Cloyd he did good. He offered to take all of Walter’s belongings back home.
The warden used the bear’s body as a step stool to get into the helicopter. Was that really necessary? A final F you, bear.
The Weminuche Utes were from Durango, Colorado but had been forced out by whites when gold was found and moved to Utah.
I loved to read about the cliff houses in the cantons with handholds carved by the Ancient Ones. They were said to be unreachable without ladders.
Bears are the most important animal to the Utes. They’re a friend and relative to man, a bringer of strength and luck. If you could make a bear your personal guardian you would be strong and lucky. They didn’t kill bears because that would bring the worst luck.
A blue turquoise bear was left in a pottery jar at a burial site, to accompany the baby on its journey.
In the old days people had a secret name that only one other person knew. Now that naming isn’t done.
The Utes aren’t big talkers. The old ones point with their lips because pointing is rude, and they look away when they talk or are spoken to.
Blue Mountain is called the sacred one. There’s a mountain in the form of a Sleeping Ute. The Cedar Mesa have a wooded slope with Bear’s Ears.
The people at White Mesa viewed mining as bad. The uranium made you sick and die. Though many men worked in the mines and at the ore-shipping depot.
Gold made people crazy and dishonest. The whites promised the Utes they could keep their land, before they found gold and made them move onto reservations and grow corn.
Things were going good and then Walter ruined it this time. He became so obsessed with gold that he forgot that Cloyd wanted to go into the mountains and he didn’t want to take time for breaks and eating. It was all work.
He realized he was overworking Cloyd again and told a lie that he didn’t believe there was gold in this vein and that Cloyd could go into the mountains now. Walter wasn’t going to quit looking for gold and had Cloyd go alone and it bothered me that he couldn’t even go with Cloyd and show him around.
Then he urged the bride through a mud hole that Blueboy didn’t want to go through and the horse got stuck. He was going to kick to get himself up and would have hit Cloyd in the head but when he saw Cloyd there he didn’t kick. He ended up rolling all the way down the hill. Cloyd knew he had almost gotten him killed and I was so irritated at his insistence of reaching the mountaintop.
His grandma had told him about the old Utes who would catch fish in their bare hands. Of course Cloyd did it on the first try. He has to do everything and he capable of everything he wants to do. So annoying.
But he saw a brown bear, when they were said to be extinct or very endangered and one hadn’t been spotted in decades. He couldn’t wait to tell Walter about his journey but when he got back, Rusty was there. He asked Cloyd if he saw any wildlife and Cloyd felt bad—and knowing everything he went through, hurting Walter and destroying his property because Rusty killed a bear—this dumbass told the bear hunter that he saw a bear. He wanted to prove that he saw a bear without doing any tracking to get it to come. You freaking idiot. You got so pissed he killed a bear you went on a rampage, and you’re going to tell the hunter who kills bears that there’s a bear in the area so he can go kill it? Dumbass.
He thought Rusty was trying to make him out to be a liar and didn’t believe he really saw the bear. It took Walter to point out that Rusty was really excited about the bear and wanted to go find it. Cloyd realized his mistake for telling him right where to find the bear and didn’t know bear hunting was all year round. Yeah, you f’ing idiot, what did you think the bear HUNTER was going to do when you told him there was a bear? This kid is too stupid to live.
Walter was almost as bad. He set off a charge but some of the dynamite didn’t go off and so the live charges were still in the wall. He knew they could go off and it was dangerous but he went back in there, wanting to see what the ore contained. Stupid.
Cloyd left in the night to try to find Walter before he killed the bear, intending to scare it away. At one point he headed across a river to beat Rusty and I thought/hoped Rusty would mistake him for the bear and shoot him with his bow and arrow...Always a bad sign when you want the main character to be hurt. It would serve him right.
He was on a wild goose chase to find Rusty and when he finally saw the bear, Rusty was there waiting to shoot it. Cloyd yelled to scare it off but it was so windy his voice didn’t carry so it was all for nothing. He ended up standing there watching Rusty shoot the bear in the neck and chest and die. Way to go, dumbass. You wouldn’t have had to go through all this if you had half a brain and didn’t deliver that bear into the hunter’s hands. Live with that on your conscience the rest of your life, fool.
In a completely unrealistic, stilted, staged, and heavy-handed manner that was convenient to the author’s purposes, the hunter’s brothers asked Cloyd how he knew the helicopter was there and how he’d known to come here. And then the warden asked how he knew the helicopter would be coming and if he knew anything about the bear...
Now why would these men even think, in a situation where someone’s life is on the line and time is of the essence, to question this boy how he came to find them for help? That was literally the first thing the men said upon seeing him, and the first thing the warden said during the ride. No one would ever do that. They could have assumed that he heard the helicopter and saw where it landed. They could have assumed he had been riding in this direction for help. It was all a setup for Cloyd to refuse to speak because he remembered his own vengeance on the peach trees and wanted to stop that. It was enough that Rusty knew he was there. Why would Rusty assume you had followed him or was out at night at the exact place he killed the bear?! What a leap! It was all for nothing. The whole reason he witnessed it was to sing like a canary to the warden and make this guy pay.
Walter was getting worse and his kids wanted to send him to a nursing home but Cloyd knew he would die there without being on the farm. He asked the bus driver if the bus went to Walter’s house and it didn’t but of course the driver had heard of Cloyd helping Walter out and agreed to pick him up for school there.
The tribe said Cloyd could come back because the school was going to let him return, and his grandma’s job was going well and she might get her goats back. I was surprised the whole tribe was in charge of this decision. But Cloyd wanted to stay with Walter.
Cloyd mixed the foundation of the house and mixed concrete—SO exciting!—and of course he could carry 100 lb bags of concrete all by himself and mix it and lay it. “He could do whatever he set his mind to.” Cloyd can do everything! He’s perfect! All the talk of looking like a man and acting like a man and making men’s decisions was ridiculous. Seriously, how old is he??
It went on in more detail about the process of jacking up the wall and getting the cracks out...so boring. Cloyd’s surprise was that he bought peach trees for Walter and when the delivery man said they don’t grow around here, they had an inside joke of trying it because his wife’s trees had worked out so well. At least he did what he could to right that wrong. When he went back home he’d take Blueboy because he’s his. He would have kids someday and tell them about Walter and name a son Walter.
I hated to think of him leaving Walter alone and wished he’d live with him the rest of his life.The gold mine ended up going nowhere as we don’t even know if there was any gold. I hate he didn’t even get to have good strike before he had to quit. What happened with the bear? Did he get fined, what did they do with the body? How long does Cloyd stay with Walter? Does he ever come back to visit him?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 10, 2019
I'm understandably leery when a white person writes about a Native American protagonist, but Bearstone is a wonderful middle grade book with a truly gratifying ending.
December 6, 2018
The ending of this book will leave you with the warm and fuzzies.
September 4, 2024
Even though I distinctly remember reading this book in sixth grade, I thought I hallucinated it for the longest time.
(Fourteen-year-old Cloyd was trouble. Trouble to himself and everyone else. He'd grown up without his parents, without schooling, half-wild and alone in remote Utah canyons. Sent by his tribe to a group home for Indian boys, his feeling of isolation turns to desperation - and even more trouble. But high in the majestic mountains of Colorado where Cloyd is taken to live with an old rancher, he finds a small carved turquoise bear in an Indian burial cave. Secretly renaming himself Lone Bear, Cloyd calls upon the strength of his ancient ancestors - first to do battle with his own hostilities, but finally to discover the magic power of an old man's love, and the secrets of living in a world he has just begun to understand. An IRA/CBC Teachers Choices book
Notable Children's Trade Book in the field of Social Studies
Mountain & Plains Bookseller Association Children's Book Award) ~ Blurb from Goodreads
I thought Cloyd was a pretty interesting character. So it's very clear that Cloyd has a lot of issues (including severe depression and loneliness, trust issues, and so on), but it's also clear that these issues seem to stem from him having little to no adequate support in processing them, let alone overcoming them. So when he does actually receive some support and does overcome his issues, it's all the more heartwarming and satisfying. Not only that, but the way the novel characterizes Cloyd makes him feel like a real person.
I also liked how Walter grows and changes too. For example, Walter used to forego eating regular meals after the passing of his wife, but when Cloyd came to live with him, he had to pivot to planning and cooking actual meals. While his growth as a character isn't as drastic as Cloyd's, the growth he does experience really allows him to stand out and add to the realistic and down to earth tone this novel is going for.
I think keeping things simple for the most part was a smart move. While there's a minor antagonist (whom I'll talk about in just a bit), there's no five billion subplots or anything like that. It's mainly about two broken people living together, trying to overcome their issues. It may not seem like enough material to fill an entire novel, but it actually does manage to have plenty of compelling conflict, character development, and intrigue.
Honestly, the only real problem I had with this novel was Rusty the Bear Hunter. So he's the closest thing this novel has to an antagonist and he only shows up every once in a while (and I do mean, every once in a while). But even when he does, he really doesn't leave that much of an impression because his only real character trait seems to be, "I want to hunt bears and I'm really good at it." Now, I don't need to know every single thing about the guy, but maybe allowing the character some moments for the story to flesh him out a little more or making the moments where he does appear more interesting and impactful would've really helped. Yes, But, it's the only real piece of character development he receives and it just comes out of nowhere, making it feel extremely rushed.
Overall, Bearstone was a delightful novel chock full of simple charm and great characters and I'm glad I was able to rediscover it.
Overall Grade: A-
(Fourteen-year-old Cloyd was trouble. Trouble to himself and everyone else. He'd grown up without his parents, without schooling, half-wild and alone in remote Utah canyons. Sent by his tribe to a group home for Indian boys, his feeling of isolation turns to desperation - and even more trouble. But high in the majestic mountains of Colorado where Cloyd is taken to live with an old rancher, he finds a small carved turquoise bear in an Indian burial cave. Secretly renaming himself Lone Bear, Cloyd calls upon the strength of his ancient ancestors - first to do battle with his own hostilities, but finally to discover the magic power of an old man's love, and the secrets of living in a world he has just begun to understand. An IRA/CBC Teachers Choices book
Notable Children's Trade Book in the field of Social Studies
Mountain & Plains Bookseller Association Children's Book Award) ~ Blurb from Goodreads
I thought Cloyd was a pretty interesting character. So it's very clear that Cloyd has a lot of issues (including severe depression and loneliness, trust issues, and so on), but it's also clear that these issues seem to stem from him having little to no adequate support in processing them, let alone overcoming them. So when he does actually receive some support and does overcome his issues, it's all the more heartwarming and satisfying. Not only that, but the way the novel characterizes Cloyd makes him feel like a real person.
I also liked how Walter grows and changes too. For example, Walter used to forego eating regular meals after the passing of his wife, but when Cloyd came to live with him, he had to pivot to planning and cooking actual meals. While his growth as a character isn't as drastic as Cloyd's, the growth he does experience really allows him to stand out and add to the realistic and down to earth tone this novel is going for.
I think keeping things simple for the most part was a smart move. While there's a minor antagonist (whom I'll talk about in just a bit), there's no five billion subplots or anything like that. It's mainly about two broken people living together, trying to overcome their issues. It may not seem like enough material to fill an entire novel, but it actually does manage to have plenty of compelling conflict, character development, and intrigue.
Honestly, the only real problem I had with this novel was Rusty the Bear Hunter. So he's the closest thing this novel has to an antagonist and he only shows up every once in a while (and I do mean, every once in a while). But even when he does, he really doesn't leave that much of an impression because his only real character trait seems to be, "I want to hunt bears and I'm really good at it." Now, I don't need to know every single thing about the guy, but maybe allowing the character some moments for the story to flesh him out a little more or making the moments where he does appear more interesting and impactful would've really helped. Yes, But, it's the only real piece of character development he receives and it just comes out of nowhere, making it feel extremely rushed.
Overall, Bearstone was a delightful novel chock full of simple charm and great characters and I'm glad I was able to rediscover it.
Overall Grade: A-
November 19, 2025
Read this one with my fourth grader for his battle of the books. Good story with strong characters who navigate some big events. Cloyd was a little hard to relate to sometimes, and some parts of the story just seemed to get kind of glossed over, but it was a good read and my son enjoyed it well enough.
February 16, 2023
3.5 starts. Book got better as it went.
January 14, 2008
This is a great book! It is all about this kid named Cloyd who believes a stone gives him strength and invulnerability. Cloyd, who is a teenager from White Mesa, Utah, has a rough time getting along with a guy named Walter, who is taking care of him since both his parents passed away. However, Cloyd eventually persuades Walter to take him into the mountains with and go up to the gold mine. Cloyd really wants to go up there to climb an ancient Ute pyramid, though, instead of mining for ore. They spend a couple days in the mine, and when they don't get a thing, Cloyd asks if he can go exploring. He goes to climb the pyramid and on the way back he sees a bear. He thinks it's a brown bear, but soon learns that there is no such thing. A bear hunter named Rusty hears of this encounter with the bear and decides to go after it, realizing it is really a grizzly bear. Cloyd has to try to stop him from killing the bear. If you are wondering what happens next, you will have to read the book on your own.
This is one of the best books I have ever read. I really like adventure books, and this author does a great job of making every event very clear. He does a great job of explaining the characters indirectly through other characters. This is known as indirect characterization. You learn a lot about Cloyd from Walter talking and vice versa. I could actually visualize the actions in this book as they happened. One of the most important things this book shows is that some things are best kept a secret. This book provides a great theme with a great hook that keeps you wanting to read more. Your feelings are always changing when this book is being read. The mood changes a lot. For example, when Cloyd and Walter are arguing in the beginning, you get a mad feeling, and when the bear is seen, you feel a bit frightened.
I would definitely recommend this book to any guy who likes action and adventure books. Without a doubt, this is one of the best books I have ever read. I would give it five stars because I thought it was awesome. The only bad thing about this book is the beginning is kind of slow. All the action is at the end. Overall, this is a great book.
This is one of the best books I have ever read. I really like adventure books, and this author does a great job of making every event very clear. He does a great job of explaining the characters indirectly through other characters. This is known as indirect characterization. You learn a lot about Cloyd from Walter talking and vice versa. I could actually visualize the actions in this book as they happened. One of the most important things this book shows is that some things are best kept a secret. This book provides a great theme with a great hook that keeps you wanting to read more. Your feelings are always changing when this book is being read. The mood changes a lot. For example, when Cloyd and Walter are arguing in the beginning, you get a mad feeling, and when the bear is seen, you feel a bit frightened.
I would definitely recommend this book to any guy who likes action and adventure books. Without a doubt, this is one of the best books I have ever read. I would give it five stars because I thought it was awesome. The only bad thing about this book is the beginning is kind of slow. All the action is at the end. Overall, this is a great book.
March 23, 2013
I haven’t read much of Will Hobbs's books; but this book really seemed realistic as you see the world from Cloyd’s eyes. The pain, revenge, and love in this book showed the ups and downs of being a young troubled teen. I really like where you see Cloyd transition from boy and almost to man in this tale. The pain and loneliness feels real as you read along in the book. It wasn’t just Cloyd’s point of view that I loved but also Walter’s. Suffer and building strength after his wife’s death is very touching, how Cloyd and Walter depend more on each other than they do themselves. The native America culture in this book is very interesting as it plays out, though I really wish there was more of it. Overall it was a very good book to see the change you can make in life, and also the suffering you can overcome. Thank you Will Hobbs for a good book about a chance to change.
February 4, 2016
This is a unique bildungsroman novel. The protagonist, a troubled thirteen year old Ute Indian, is sent to live with a grieving widowed elderly man who at heart is a miner but who has farmed for the last forty years of his life. It doesn't seem like this novel would hold much appeal for middle school boys because the challenges of a displaced Native Indian boy may be difficult to understand. However, there is plenty of action. What appealed most to me was the sensitive handling and honoring of different cultures. Despite the differences in age and backgrounds, gentleness, patience and love prevailed. There were characters and events that I would like to have seen expanded, yet this is a good read for preteens. As my husband says, "Any book with a bear in it is a good book!"
June 16, 2009
This book is the suckiest book on the market if you want to be bored out of your mind then read it { this is for school}like when cloyd found the bearstone and then the oldman makes a big dinner [it sucks:]
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 6, 2010
I had to read this for English. It was terrible!
October 8, 2010
ugh! i didn't like it!
June 18, 2015
This managed to be both dramatic and boring at the same time. I read it in fourth grade and I'm still mad about it.
February 20, 2022
I first read this for class in 6th grade, and I've held it in fond regard every since. I'd forgotten a lot of the details, but so many others came rushing back. The finding of the title object, Blue Boy the blue roan and their trip to the mountains, Cloyd's ancestry and information about the Ute people, Walter's way of understanding what this troubled boy needs and knowing when to draw him out and when to let him be, and more. I also realized, once I came to it, that this is where I learned the word "hobble," at least in the context of tying two of a horse's legs together so they can't run off.
Given all that, I'm surprised I didn't get all the way up to 5 stars in my revisiting, but the truth is I found some of the things Cloyd does too infuriating to enjoy*. The message of "patience and perseverance are important when working with kids who act out" is a good one, but I am in short supply of both and have no interest in changing that fact.
*
I still think schools should go ahead and keep assigning this one, though. It's made of good stuff.
Side note: I'm revisiting it now because I ran across it on Libby while looking for an audiobook, and this format was wonderful -- narrated by George Guidall, whose voice is definitely more like the elderly Walter's than a boy's, it felt exactly like I was listening to my grandfather tell a story.
Given all that, I'm surprised I didn't get all the way up to 5 stars in my revisiting, but the truth is I found some of the things Cloyd does too infuriating to enjoy*. The message of "patience and perseverance are important when working with kids who act out" is a good one, but I am in short supply of both and have no interest in changing that fact.
*
I still think schools should go ahead and keep assigning this one, though. It's made of good stuff.
Side note: I'm revisiting it now because I ran across it on Libby while looking for an audiobook, and this format was wonderful -- narrated by George Guidall, whose voice is definitely more like the elderly Walter's than a boy's, it felt exactly like I was listening to my grandfather tell a story.
October 11, 2021
Bearstone is an awesome adventure novel, about a young, troubled Ute indian named Cloyd Atcitty, and how he was sent away to work on a farm with an old man named Walter Landis. they spend the summer together, and have some ups and downs, but overall they get along. the story takes many unexpected turns, like Cloyd cutting down all the peach trees, but in the end they all turn out posative, because walter takes that opertunity to reopen a gold mine on his property. this book definately deserves 5 stars, the ending is so beautiful. Even durring the bad parts of the story the author still finds ways to keep you entrested, like when the bear dies, he added how cloyd was tracking the outfitter hunting the bear, and how he tried his best to spook the bear so it would run away. after everything that happened in this book, I could not stop reading, it was so good.
Out of everything in this book, my favorite quote is when cloyd is visiting walter in the hospital, and offers for walter to keep his bearstone, "Waltersaw into Cloyds dark eyes and felt the conviction of a man, not a boy". This quote was at such perfect timing in the book, and Cloyd deffinately deserved that, after everything that he did for walter. the two of them have deffinately had a lot of ups, and downs, but at the end they really pull together, and strengthen their relationship, and walter builds a lot of trust in cloyd. this quote really shows how much their friendship grew from the beginning of the book to the end.
I think their are many possible themes in this story, but I think the main theme is forgiveness. in the begenning of the story Cloydis just a troubbled kid who ruined walters peach tree, and the fence that he built, but after all of that walter finds a good outcome and the two of them go up to the hard rock gold mine. also cloyd saves walters life in the mine, andoffers to take care of him on the farm, instead of moving him into a home. throught the story both characters forgive eachother for things they have done, and they end the story with a really strong friendship.
Out of everything in this book, my favorite quote is when cloyd is visiting walter in the hospital, and offers for walter to keep his bearstone, "Waltersaw into Cloyds dark eyes and felt the conviction of a man, not a boy". This quote was at such perfect timing in the book, and Cloyd deffinately deserved that, after everything that he did for walter. the two of them have deffinately had a lot of ups, and downs, but at the end they really pull together, and strengthen their relationship, and walter builds a lot of trust in cloyd. this quote really shows how much their friendship grew from the beginning of the book to the end.
I think their are many possible themes in this story, but I think the main theme is forgiveness. in the begenning of the story Cloydis just a troubbled kid who ruined walters peach tree, and the fence that he built, but after all of that walter finds a good outcome and the two of them go up to the hard rock gold mine. also cloyd saves walters life in the mine, andoffers to take care of him on the farm, instead of moving him into a home. throught the story both characters forgive eachother for things they have done, and they end the story with a really strong friendship.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2025
Bearstone by Will Hobbs is a type of book of like an adventure story about a 14 year old boy named Cloyd who goes and lives with an old man in the Colorado mountains. Cloyd has had a tough life but over time he begins to change. Being in nature and having a special connection with a beat helps him heal and grow. The story is all about finding trust, hope, and a beginning that is new. What I liked most about this book was how Cloyed felt. He was angry and hurt at first but as the story went on I could really see him change. My favorite part was when he started to hang out with the beat and it was quiet but powerful. The setting was also really well described. I felt like I was in the mountains with him it was crazy. One thing I didn't love was that the middle of the book felt a little slow. Honestly the ending should have given a bit more about what happened to Cloyd next. I'd recommend Bearstone to people who like to read and that like nature and growth in their life. It's a great book for Tennagers and honestly even for adults who could enjoy this type of book because of all the nature and stuff. If you like bears you like bears this is also perfect for the readers that do like that animal.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars it's actually not even bad of a book you can literally find it online.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars it's actually not even bad of a book you can literally find it online.
April 8, 2021
I can see why teachers like this book: it's not a difficult read, it goes along the same lines as the popular Hatchet and Ghost of Spirit Bear, and it's got a common theme (finding that who you are isn't defined by who your family is).
The author is not Native himself, but I read that he based the character Cloyd on someone he knew (and I believe Cloyd's housemother is loosely based on the author's wife).
To me, the most stand-out note of this book is the setting! In fact, I get a real sense of the setting as a character throughout! And bears, of course. "Bears are special... they bring strength and good luck" (pg 44).
"He'd never get over the bear... the hurt you get over makes you stronger" (pg 87).
The author is not Native himself, but I read that he based the character Cloyd on someone he knew (and I believe Cloyd's housemother is loosely based on the author's wife).
To me, the most stand-out note of this book is the setting! In fact, I get a real sense of the setting as a character throughout! And bears, of course. "Bears are special... they bring strength and good luck" (pg 44).
"He'd never get over the bear... the hurt you get over makes you stronger" (pg 87).
April 7, 2019
Cloyd is a young man with a chip on his shoulder. He is trying his best not to fit in and learn where he is. He is living in a group home when the house mother decides to send him to a farm for the summer. At the farm he meets Walter. Walter has just lost his wife and needs some help. The two of them have a lot of discovering to do. They learn to love and work together. They save each other many different times. The writing is well paced and fitting for a younger audience. Hobbs doesn't shy away from the complicated feelings of the youth and older characters. It was quick paced and wonderfully written. I look forward to reading it with my students.
March 17, 2023
This one fell short for me. I read it with my fourth grader because it was on the 3rd/4th Battle of the Books list, and overall I felt like it was too dark/mature for her. She personally rated it 2 out of 5, and I think her distaste for it colored my experience reading it to her. Maybe it was just too much 14-year-old-boy for the both of us. 😂
June 11, 2017
this book is okay, what I did like is it takes place in my hometown and I like Cloyd and Walter's relationship. what I didn't like was that it was pieced together strangely to me. I also am not big into this genre. might be a good read for someone who like outdoors
May 21, 2019
The book was amazing and very thrilling. It’s interesting how he didn’t go to school and lived up in the mountains taking care of the goats. I would recommend this book to anyone, because it definitely catches your attention
January 7, 2023
I read this with my eight-year old for battle of the books. It's a little much for 3rd a grader. I experience the book with him and I can't help but echo his feelings. I wish this book would have been suggested to him in 7th grade as it think it would have been right up his ally.
July 1, 2017
This will be a great read aloud for 4th graders. And of course the narrator is phenomenal. I truly enjoy George Guidall.
July 2, 2017
Its hard to bare in mind while reading a book for YA, that Geez, I was that stupid, foolish, childish, brave and adventurous. Bearstone by Hobbs, was excellent.
November 10, 2017
it was okay.
May 12, 2019
For the Book Battle. The setting for this is Durango, Colorado and the country around Blanding.
September 8, 2019
Pleasant, warm, and charming.
September 9, 2019
Good story with good lessons. Some swearing
Read
October 31, 2019Very interesting and kind of action packed.
January 1, 2020
Truly enjoyed reading this book with my girls. The landscape descriptions are beautiful and it had me teary-eyed at times.
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