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Rating: 
Summary: Hometown Classic
Review: Growing up in Shelby County, Indiana, the setting for the classic book and home of the annual Bears of Blue River Festival, this book has always held a special place in my heart. It was one of the first books I was ever read in school and as I got older, I found myself in many of the exact places that were used in the book, such as the Blowout Hole which is where the Fire Bear supposedly fell off the cliff and exploded.The actual story is even more interesting. In that part of Indiana, there are many natural gas pockets deep in the ground. A settler had been burning brush and caused one of these pockets to explode, creating a deep hole (Blowout Hole) where the Flat Rock River and Conns Creek flow together. Both streams flowed backwards for a week, and the windows on houses were shattered for miles around. In fact, a childhood friend of mine lived in one of the nearby houses and it still exhibited a crack from foundation to roof from the mighty explosion. The tiny farming community even made the front page of the New York Times. Anyways, just wanted to give you some background. If you're ever in the area, go visit the fields and streams south of Waldron, Indiana and your sure to see some of the settings in Majors' book. You'll probably come across a lot of Native American arrowheads and other artifacts as well--if you look close enough. And if you haven't read the book, do so at once!!!
Rating:
Summary: Bears of Blue River
Review: My mother "made" me read this book when I was in 5th grade -- I really had no interest in it, but once I got started, I couldn't put it down!! It's appealing to boys and girls, well written, and really exciting. A great read for kids of all ages.
Rating: 
Summary: The Amazing Story of The Bears of Blue River
Review: The Bears of Blue River was written by Charles Major a native of Indiana. The story takes place in the early nineteenth century in rural Indiana. Indiana was just a baby state during the time of the story.
The characters of this story are very significant. Balser Brent and his wife moved their family including three children, Little Balser, a younger brother Jim and a one year old sister, to Indiana. The family moved from North Carolina. When they moved to Indiana the family purchased 80 acres of land. The land was located on the east bank of the Big Blue River.
Little Balser is the main character of the book. He was a very brave young man. He was brave because he always had encounters with bears and wildlife. One day Little Balsers mother told him to go fishing and take his fathers gun incase he ran into some bears. As he was on his way back home with the fish he had caught, he ran into a bear. It was standing in front of Balser. Balser fed the bear one of the fish and then Balser shot the bear with his father's gun.
Little Balser had a big dream to own his own gun someday. Balser helped a young couple to escape to be married. The couple wanted to repay Balser, but they didn't know how. So they asked Balser if there was something they could bring him. Balser told them he really wanted his own gun. A few weeks later the couple brought Balser back his very own gun from Indianapolis.
There are many other exciting adventures with Balser. One significant part is when Balser and his father found two cubs in a cave close to Conns Creek. They had killed the momma and papa bears, so Balser took the cubs home to raise. Balser named the cubs Tom and Jerry. This is significant because the statue on the north end of the circle in Shelbyville, Indiana is Balser holding up the two cubs. Every summer Shelbyville holds a celebration "The Bears of Blue River." The celebration consists of a parade and entertainment to remember Shelbyville, Indiana and how it once was in the past
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