• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7
• Reading age: 9 to 12

While volunteering at the local zoo, Robyn, Nick and Trevor learn that grizzly bears are being poached.

The bears' gallbladders are being removed for use in alternative medicine. Always ready to solve a mystery, the kids set out to find the poachers. Bear is not only big game, they learn, but big money to poachers. The stakes are high and the suspects many, as the kids head into their most dangerous adventure yet.

This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for middle-grade readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read! The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

Michele Martin Bossley was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but grew up in Calgary, Alberta. Her sixth grade teacher encouraged her to write down the stories she enjoyed creating, but it wasn't until high school that Michele really began to consider writing as a career. She graduated from the University of Calgary in 1991, and began working seriously on writing children's books.

Michele is the author of eighteen novels for young people. Ten of her books have been chosen by the Canadian Children's Book Centre for the Our Choice list. Others have been nominated for the Manitoba and Alberta Reader's Choice Award, and she was runner-up for the 1997 Writer's Guild of Alberta R. Ross Annett Children's Literature award.

Many of Michele's books focus on different sports. As a former athlete, she was involved in synchronized swimming in her teens and competitive swimming in university. She has also coached young swimmers, in addition to coaching her twin sons' soccer and hockey teams, and draws on much of that experience for her books.

A frequent speaker at writing conferences and schools, Michele divides her time between writing and parenting her four sons. She lives in Calgary, Alberta.

Michele Martin Bossley's profile page

"A fast-paced story filled with interesting facts about bears, poaching, and animal rights activism…The camaraderie established among the three friends in this story is appealing, and the humourous quips between them are some of the best dialogue in the book…A solid addition to the "Orca Currents" library and is an appealing choice for mystery fans. Recommended."

CM: Canadian Review of Materials

"A really catchy read. Sure, there's the suspense element, but just reading the nuts and bolts about how her characters talk is oddly fascinating…The joy of Bear Market is just how forthright and sincere a read it is. The book captures the tween/teen energies of today's kids in a way I haven't read before."

CD Syndicated

"A combination of twists and turns, with an encounter with a bear and a conservation theme, makes this a good addition to a fiction collection."

Tacoma School District #10