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Welcome to the online book club for Emory’s Gift by W. Bruce Cameron.

“With a huff, the bear backed away from the bank, and now I could clearly see that he’d made his own marks in the smooth soil.

He’d written his own word, plain as day, easy to read.

EMORY.

‘Oh boy,’ I said.”

In Northern Idaho, a 13-year-old boy who recently lost his mother meets a bear near his house and they share a connection. He only thinks about sharing his secret to impress a girl, until the bear writes his name in the dirt. The bear – Emory – seems to have a message to share. Although his relationship with his dad has been strained since his mother passed away, he tells his father and is relieved when his father believes him. But, despite the bear’s friendliness, winter is coming and the bear will need to hibernate.

I chose Emory’s Gift by W. Bruce Cameron for the January Online Book Club book. I have read A Dog’s Purpose and A Dog’s Journey by Cameron and really enjoyed those books immensely. Living in Alaska, too, made me interested in a storyline with a bear.

You can discuss the questions in the comments section below on the blog or join us on Facebook.

Thanks for joining us!

1. This book is fiction, but presented as something that really happened to Charlie. Do you find the story believable?
2. How would you react if you encountered a bear as a lonely pre-treen?
3. What did you think about Charlie’s dad? Was the transformation of the father/son relationship believable?
4. There were flashes of Charlie as an adult in the book. Did you feel those added to the story?
5. The book develops relationships with both Charlie and a girl and his dad and Yvonne and then the news reporter – how are those relationships key to the book?
6. Which character has the most significant transformation in the book?
7. Do you feel the story would have been more believable if it had been about a tame bear from being around people instead of a reincarnation story?
8. How did you feel at the end of the story? Did you like how it ended? What do you think the message from the bear meant?
9. Have you read any other W. Bruce Cameron’s books? If so, how does this book compare with the others (A Dog’s Purpose, A Dog’s Journey)?
10. Any questions you want to discuss that I didn’t mention?

Thank you for reading with us and stopping by to discuss Emory’s Gift by W. Bruce Cameron!