Have you ever seen a bear up close? In my book, Madeline Island Bear, we cousins create a day of mischief that leads to unsettling times. It is a light, sad, and funny story including a chapter on my family dog and descriptions of cousin relationships. I tell this novella from the point of view of a young child through adolescence to my wedding at twenty. This is primarily nonfiction, describing my childhood growing up with my parents on Madeline Island in the summers. Fiction is interspersed in a few places in the book, as in the chapter "Ghost Story." If you want to get spooked, read "Ghost Story." If you want a taste of childhood romance, read my "First Kiss." Madeline Island itself is the most beautiful world I've visited. For those of you who know the most majestic starry skies, sandy beaches, and clear, cold waters, I hope that you will appreciate Madeline again. For those who are reading about this earthly wonderland for the first time, I hope that you can appreciate the island for yourself.