“They call me Yanka the Bear. Not because of where I was found. Only a few people know about that. They call me Yanka the Bear because I am so big and strong.” Discovered in a bear cave as a baby, 12-year-old Yanka dreams of knowing who she really is. Although Yanka is happy at home with her loving foster mother, she feels out of place in the village where the other children mock her for her … mock her for her unusual size and strength.
So when Yanka wakes up one morning to find her legs have become bear legs, she knows she has no choice but to leave her village. She has to find somewhere she truly belongs, so she ventures into the Snow Forest with her pet weasel, Mousetrap, in search of the truth about her past.
But deep in the forest there are many dangers and Yanka discovers that even the most fantastic stories she grew up hearing are true. And just as she draws close to discovering who she really is, something terrifying happens that could trap her in the forest . . . forever.
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Once upon a time, a girl named Yanka longed for answers about her past so that she could know where she belonged. Yanka remembers the bear who raised her as a baby in the snow forest. Though she has lived with her loving Mamochka since infancy, twelve-year-old Yanka still hears whispers from the forest, calling her back. The magical stories told by their friend Anatoly must have some truth to them. How much of it is her truth, she wonders?
When Yanka awakens from an injury to discover her legs have turned into bear legs, her past can no longer be brushed aside. So begins Yanka’s determined quest to uncover the secrets of her past and chart her way towards a future where she belongs.
With The Girl Who Speaks Bear, Sophie Anderson draws on Russian folklore to craft a uniquely heart-warming, soul-stirring brand of story magic about home and family, identity and belonging, finding and loving yourself, and doing life in partnership with others. It was equal parts joy and sorrow as I followed Yanka on her journey.
I was enchanted by the power of story, Anderson’s larger tale, as well as the stories within the story — little anecdotes that begin with “Once upon a time” are related by several different characters: Anatoly, Yanka, Mousetrap, a bear, a wolf, and a Yaga girl. Although Yanka’s story has emotional depth, it never grows too dark. Instead, it is buoyed by the humorous exchanges between Yanka and her house weasel Mousetrap, and the magical, comical movements of the house with chicken legs.
Underneath and through it all, hopeful, loving threads are woven. Yanka will find her happily-ever-after ending, but it’s more poetic, more nuanced, and more fully actualized than any sugar-coated, homogenized fairy tale. Anderson’s Yanka is bright, brave, and strong, and her world is populated with friends of all shapes and sizes, each drawn with a little magic and a lot of love. As Yanka describes the night sky, “There are scattered stars, wispy clouds, and a pale, sinking moon. All different, but there’s room in the sky for them all. Just as there’s room on earth for all kinds of people. If I believe I belong, I’ll find my space.” She remarks about her house weasel friend nuzzled around her neck, “We don’t have to be the same to fit together.” What beautiful messages.
Sophie Anderson stirs all her magical pieces into a beautifully cohesive story. It’s not often you find such a perfect mixture of fantasy, folklore, magic, and adventure that also carries a great message. It’s this combination of whimsy and humor with a deep heartbeat underneath that will keep The Girl Who Speaks Bear at the forefront of my mind. This is a story that will whisper to me from memory. One that I’ll want to hear again. One that I’ll likely hear again as I’m walking through the woods. One that starts with “Once upon a time…”
5 of 5 Hearts: A Magical, Lyrical Fantasy Adventure that Lacks for Nothing!
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I would like to thank Scholastic Press and Edelweiss for providing me with an electronic ARC of The Girl Who Speaks Bear.