Tunes For Bears to Dance to

Tunes for Bears to Dance to

By: David Cormier

Pages: 101

ISBN:0029035

Genre: Historical Fiction

Setting: A city outside of Frenchtown Massachusetts

Tunes for Bears to Dance to is written about a boy who is dealing with the death of his brother. He and his parents have moved from Frenchtown to a new city to get away from all the memories of Edward. Henry works in a store in town as a bender, he does the bending for the store owner that has a bad back. He stocks cans on lower shelves and picks things up for Mr. Hairston. Henry also lives across the street from a “crazy house,” is the way Henry puts it. Henry notices an old man that leaves each day and comes back each afternoon. This old man sparks his interest so Henry decides to follow him. Henry soon finds there are two sides to every story.

I enjoyed this short novel. It teaches a good lesson about how sometimes doing the right thing is the hardest thing. Henry learns about the old man and his past as a prisoner at a Nazi camp. He learns the truth of his boss. He learns to trust his gut feeling. I believe that this story shows that all teens struggle to make big choices in life. David Cormier does a good job of showing the turmoil that Henry goes through when his boss asks him to do the unthinkable.