Pocket Bear
by Katherine Applegate

 Katherine Applegate has written another winner.  Big time!  If you think this looks like a cosy little book, think again.  Her stories are always nail biters, adventurous, and have an underlying message of doing the right thing.

In WWI, pocket bears were made for soldiers to put in their front pockets.  The eyes of the bears were sewn so they always looked up.  When the soldier glanced down at his pocket, he saw the bear looking up at him.  Really nice.

The story is complicated in the best of ways, just how Katherine Applegate engages her readers.

The book opens with the cat, Zephyrina, the underlying character who weaves the story.  She is the glue, the humor.

Elizaveta (mother) and Dasha (daughter) are immigrants from Ukraine.  After losing their dad/father to the war, they settled into a home and started Second Chances, a home for stuffed animals that have been abandoned.  The toys are cleaned, mended, and ready for the lost and found.

Welcome to Second Chances Home
for the Tossed and Treasured.

Pocket Bear is in charge of the animals.  Since he was in WWI, he is called Sarge by the other animals.  They come alive at midnight, party, and settle down by dawn.

Zephyrina the cat is the one who often scrounges and finds stuffed animals for Second Chances.  She finds Spaghetti, renamed Berwon, who happens to be one of the first teddy bears, made in Germany.  Pocket Bear and Berwon become, of course, WWI war soulmates.

Enter evil Picky Vicky and good guy Jim who know the value of the bear.  Of course the bear is stolen, and everything reaches a crescendo.  Zephyrina somehow finds a way to recover the stolen priceless bear.  More importantly, she sheds her aloof demeanor and understands the importance of kindness and stepping up to the plate to become a leader of the toys.

This book is one of the best.  If you are a cat lover, a teddy bear lover, a history buff, wanting adventure and humor, or just wanting to feel good, this book is for you.

While Katherine Applegate writes for older children, frankly she is high on my list for adults.  Really!

One of my favorite lines from the books is, “You can never lose a true friend.  True friends are like stars: always there, even when you can’t see them.”

Her other books that I love are WishTree, The One and Only Ivan, and the DogTown series.

Jennie