I Survived the Attack of the Grizzlies, 1967

My favorite I Survived book from the series! This book has two problems. The main character Mel is battling her own personal conflict of mourning her mother who died the winter before. Being in Glacier National Park made it really difficult because everything reminded her of her mother. The main problem in the story is that grizzly bears were starting to go "mad!" Two humans were killed by grizzly bears for the first time in Glacier National Park history. Find out if these two conflicts are solved in this amazing historical fiction.

I found this book at a Little Free Library and it reminded me of when my nephew requested some of them for his school reading. So I borrowed it, but I do plan to take it back so someone else can enjoy it.

This book deals with Glacier National Park in Montana in 1967. Though the book is fiction, it is rooted in historical fact--two girls were killed by grizzly bears in 1967. They were attacked while they slept. And this event led to widespread changes in how Glacier National Park operates.

I Survived the Attack of the Grizzlies, 1967 is narrated by eleven-year-old Melody Vega, during what should have been a peaceful family summer in Glacier National Park. When tragedy strikes in the form of a grizzly bear attack—a rarity in that region—Melody must find the courage to survive amid grief, fear, and natural danger. Combining vivid scene-setting, emotional depth, and historical backdrop, Tarshis crafts a suspenseful tale of survival and healing in the American wilderness. At 144 pages, a Lexile of roughly 660–700L, and AR level ~4.6 (2 points), this title is ideal for readers who enjoy real-event adventures grounded in resilience and nature.

{My thoughts} – Melody, her Grandpa and her younger brother Kevin are spending time at the family cabin. They are more or less camping in Glacier National Park like they do every year. Although, this year things are very different. This is the first year they are camping there without her mom. Her mom passed away in a car accident a few months earlier. Melody blames herself for the death of her mother. She had begged her mom to let her have a sleep over with a friend the night of the accident. Melody was in the car. She will never forget that night and completely blames herself, which at eleven I can see how that can be an issue and how that can happen.

Fast forward to camping. One night she is outside dousing the camp fire and a show more grizzly bear comes out and scares her. It scares her so much that she freezes and then remembers what her mother had taught her about similar situations. Melody does what she can remember and then gets safely inside the cabin. Once she is inside she tells her grandpa and brother. Her grandpa can’t believe what he is hearing, that is until he sees for himself that the bear is outside. It is on the porch waiting to strike.

Kevin her little brother makes some noise and gets it’s attention which causes it to attack them from the outside of the cabin. They grandpa figures out a way to scare it off. When Melody goes looking for answers about why the bear attacked the forest rangers act as if it isn’t that big of deal and that they know that some of the bears are acting off.

A childhood friend of their mom comes to visit them at the cabin. She helps them to investigate what is going on with the bears. The things they uncover are unbelievable and unfathomable. I can’t imagine why anyone would be so dumb as to put theirs and other peoples lives in danger just so that they can carry on, in an attempt to pretend like nothing was wrong. The acts they carried out against the bears is unspeakable, immoral and uncalled for.

I really enjoyed learning about this topic while reading this book. This is something I’d only heard of but never fully investigated.

I look forward to reading the next book in the series very soon! show less

Book 17

Adventure

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