Jamie Bastedo
As a professional ecologist, outdoor educator, nature tour guide, radio broadcaster, video script writer, actor and children’s entertainer, Jamie Bastedo has been involved in many projects that bridge the realms of science, art and culture. His ability to weave these realms together in creative, street-friendly formats was recognized recently when he received the national Michael Smith Award for Science Promotion (one of only five given each year) and the Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee Medal.
As for Jamie's knowledge of bears, he has published numerous popular articles, book chapters and one major novel about bears and has first-hand experience working with bear biologists in various arctic habitats. The inspiration for this project arose while doing research and creative writing for a Canadian Museum of Nature exhibit on Arctic climate change aimed at adolescent and teenage audiences.
As a biologist turned storyteller, Jamie intimately connects readers of all ages with the magic and mystery of nature. Whether hosting lively nature shows on the radio or writing about his northern home, Jamie spreads a contagious enthusiasm and love for the land. He lives in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, with his wife and two daughters.
Teen Books (1)
Synopsis:
Ashley Anowiak is in search of a murderous polar bear that may be real or mythical. The only thing for certain is that what she discovers will change her life - and her community's - forever.
In spite of its name, no one in the tiny troubled hamlet of Nanurtalik "the place with polar bears" can remember seeing a polar bear in decades. But when a teenager's dismembered body is discovered on a nearby ice road, everyone fears polar bears have returned. The community is thrown into chaos as another suspected bear attack sparks a flury of bullets that whiz through the town during a blinding four-day blizzard. Was it a real or phantom bear? No one can say for sure.
Ashley Anowiak is swept into this storm of confusion by her special link with polar bears expressed through the magic of her art and the terror of her dreams. She finds herself on the trail of Nanurluk, a giant bear that has haunted her people for thousands of years.
Ashley's bear hunt leads from the frozen catacombs beneath Itkiqtuqjuaq to the jumbled ice fields covering the Arctic Ocean. As she closes in on the bear, Ashley's inner and outer worlds are torn apart, leaving her desperate for any stability she can find.
This is the story of a gifted northern youth struggling to find her true home in a fast-changing arctic, where culture, climate and landscape seem to be crumbling all around her.
Visit the website Jamie set up focused on polar bears in a climate of change at www.onthinice.ca.
Reviews
"Traditional culture is also part of the book's charm, with several Inuktitut words adding local colour. A glossary is included at the end of the book." - CM Magazine
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