Exit, Pursued by a Bear

By: E. K. Johnston

Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie

Veronica Mars meets William Shakespeare in E. K. Johnston's latest brave and unforgettable heroine.

Hermione Winters is captain of her cheerleading team, and in tiny Palermo Heights, this doesn't mean what you think it means. At PHHS, the cheerleaders don't cheer for the sports teams; they are the sports team - the pride and joy of a tiny town. The team's summer training camp is Hermione's last and marks the beginning of the end of...she's not sure what. She does know this season could make her a legend. But during a camp party, someone slips something in her drink. And it all goes black.

In every class there's a star cheerleader and a pariah pregnant girl. They're never supposed to be the same person. Hermione struggles to regain the control she's always had and faces a wrenching decision about how to move on. The assault wasn't the beginning of Hermione Winter's story, and she's not going to let it be the end. She won't be anyone's cautionary tale.

©2016 E. K. Johnston (P)2016 Listening Library

Critic reviews

"E.K. Johnston's latest gripping novel for young adults...is both a well-plotted whodunit and a tightly woven examination of how we as a society respond to - and often judge - rape victims." (The Chicago Tribune)

“Unflinching and powerful, and completely necessary” (Bustle)

"A powerful rape survival story to make you believe in a better world." (The Rumpus)

Captivating and Carefully Real

This story captivates E. K. Johnston's style and talent as a writer of realistic and honest stories. Johnston demonstrates, through her incredible cast of characters, various reactions to difficult, scary, and hard situations without ever making any situation larger than real life. Because every hardship is realistic, even sad scary moments never leave the reader in a state of panic. The situations are always able to be faced as a reader, even the situations no one would ever choose. This story has many good, happy, and funny moments too. In keeping with her realistic writing style, some of the best moments are simple victories. When Polly rolls onto a bag of chips making a royal mess of Hermione's bed. Or the moment Mallory takes one for the team by dancing with Leo. The afternoon the senior girls get together to fill out each others resident applications for university. These simply real wonderful memories perfectly balance this story. Congratulations to E. K. Johnston, for another story worth savoring!

Jorjeana Marie's narration of "Exit, Pursed by a Bear" is elegantly emotional and equally controlled. Her voice for Hermione fluctuations gracefully between emotional moments and moments of pure golden bear strength. Marie flawlessly convinces her audience that they are listening in on the real life of Hermione Winters. Excellent work, Jorjeana Marie!



Hermione Winters: high school senior, cheer team captain, the girl who can fly, friend to many, and family to more.

or

Hermione Winters: victim of rape, the broken girl, the girl that got grabbed, the one with a personal therapist, and the class check mark.

Which labels become Hermione Winters? She decides in her story: "Exit, Pursued by a Bear".

Difficult topic excellently done

This book was recommended to me and I'm glad I read it, but it was difficult to start. I knew the main character was going to get hurt and I didn't want it to happen. I am impressed how the author handled the topic and how well thought out the characters are. I haven't been through something as terrible as what happened, but in trying to work toward a big goal of mine, I was defrauded out of a large portion of my savings. I could relate to the loss of trust and the pain of reliving the crime to help with the investigation. Hermione's strength and the good people around her helped me realise how someone could recover from something so terrible as what happened to her.

YA reality at its best

I loved this book. It overturns multiple YA stereotypes and features a believable heroine who refuses to be portrayed as a victim. I kept dreading that the author was going to turn moralistic or sentimental in dealing with this challenging subject, but she (I assume it's a "she") didn't let me down, and I was cheering all the way to the end for Hermione and her wonderful friends. This is the kind of fiction I want my daughter to read. The narration is perfect and allowed me to seamlessly appreciate the emotional content of the story.

Good book

It was a quick story which I liked and I also liked the ending a lot.

Let me just say this is my first review

Even if you care nothing about cheering you will still enjoy this book. Very moving.

very enjoyable

it was really sad reading about a girl who was doing so well and life was just starting to go through a rape and to not even remember it. but the truth is that it happens to a lot. this was really a good book and i would definitely recommend it

An interesting change in a YA novel

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in YA novels or in feminist literature. This is one of the few book I have ever read that dealt with rape in such a 'in your face' way. In most books, the person who is raped takes on a victim's mentality, which is understandable. However, in this book, the protagonist moves through the stages of grief to take control of her body and life. I wanted to cheer for the girl. She was strong without losing her humanity. I would wholeheartedly recommend this audio edition.

What other book might you compare Exit, Pursued by a Bear to and why?

I think that is some ways this book felt like a modern Judy Blume.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

When I finished the book, I actually wanted to clap for the author and the narrator. The author did such a good job bringing the protagonist to life. I loved that the girl was strong and still humane to herself. Without spoiling the ending, I was surprised at what Hermione decided to do and why.

Rated 4 stars for teens

If you could sum up Exit, Pursued by a Bear in three words, what would they be?

Good For Teens

What did you like best about this story?

The narrator did a great job

Have you listened to any of Jorjeana Marie’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

First one

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not really - had a hard time finishing as the target audience is much younger than me

Any additional comments?

I am destined to learn the hard way when it comes to YA books

Wonderful

Beautiful in so many ways. Wonderfully written and narrated. I want to listen to it again, and I just finished it. Moving and inspirational, had me cheering out loud and gasping in shock. My personal favorite.

Not for me

I thought it would be interested in it but no thank you. So I tried