Press Kit
For other inquiries, please email justinmbarker@gmail.com
About the Author
About the Book
Short Bio
Justin Barker wants you to stand up for yourself and your fellow earthlings. He loves the Spice Girls and he thinks zoos are the worst. He is a San Francisco-based TV producer, writer, and activist. Justin and his wife, Bridget, are parents to Noah and their rescued pup, Beatrice, and are queer AF. They believe #LoveisLove, #BlackLivesMatter, and thirst for a more just and equitable world.
Short Description
Bear Boy, is coming-of-age story about how two bears inspired a teenage boy to turn his passion for rescuing zoo animals into three year campaign to stand up for Brutus and Ursula, two sibling black bears living in abysmal conditions in a California Zoo. With a foreword by Jane Goodall, this book aims to inspire the next generation of young people to question the role of animals in our daily lives and imagine a kinder, more inclusive world.
Long Bio
Justin Barker is an American animal activist, producer, and author of Bear Boy: The True Story of a Boy, Two Bears, and the Fight to Be Free. He was 13-years-old when he launched Citizens Lobbying for Animals in Zoos. Known for his activism, Barker was named "One of Twenty Teens Who Will Change the World" in Teen People Magazine and featured in National Geographic, Animal Planet, NBC, and CBS standing up for Brutus and Ursula, two black bears living in horrific conditions in a California zoo. With his YA debut, Justin hopes to highlight the plight of zoo animals and inspire young people to stand up for themselves, animals, and their fellow humans. As director and producer, Barker has circled the globe and crisscrossed continents directing TV shows, documentaries, and producing online education series. He is a Sacramento native who lives in San Francisco with his son Noah and wife Bridget, who both identify as queer. Barker has a BA in Communications, Media Arts and Production from the University of Technology, Sydney.
Long Description
Justin is a typical teenager, dodging school bullies, struggling with his identity and waging an endless war with his parents. But when he discovers Ursula and Brutus—two sibling black bears being kept in horrific conditions at a nearby zoo—his life begins to change. He finds a cause that ignites his passion and an animal sanctuary willing to take the bears. But there’s a catch: he’ll have to cover the quarter-million-dollar cost.
Undaunted, Justin takes his seemingly insurmountable quest to an international audience, gaining media attention and support from celebrities. With television cameras rolling, Justin fights to free the bears, and it turns out himself.
Justin Barker’s surprising and moving debut offers the optimism of the ’90s while exploring timely issues of activism, animal rights, and being queer with tenderness, unblinking honesty, and heart.
Photography and Videos
Photography is free to use with proper photo credits. Raw video available by request.
Press Release
“Bear Boy” Triumphs as True Tale of Young Animal Rights Activism
Justin Barker’s Debut Tells of Honest, Heartfelt Journey to Save Two Captive Bears
A bullied teen finds purpose and passion fighting for the lives of two bears languishing in a defunct, flood-prone Northern California zoo. In his seemingly futile quest to find a more suitable home for the bears, Justin Barker not only learns how to be a compellingly effective activist, but how to love himself and embrace his identity.
“Bear Boy,” the true-life, coming-of-age story of Justin Barker and the bears he saved, will be published June 22, 2021 by Brutus & Ursula,LLCBarker’s debut comes exactly 25 years after he launched his impassioned effort to relocate the bears.
Ten years in the making, Barker’s book already has received enthusiastic reviews from leading animal rights and other activist and authors.
“This is a book that will encourage you to follow your dreams, to work hard to achieve a goal no matter how often you are told it is impossible,” writes Dr. Jane Goodall, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute. “It is a fascinating and compelling read, a story told in excellent prose with a perfect balance between Justin’s passion for justice, his determination to free the bears, and problems he went through and overcame along the way… I simply couldn’t put it down.”
Jo-Anne McArthur, author of “We are Animals” and “Captive,” calls “Bear Boy” a “beautiful, badass hero. I’m inspired by his creative spirit and his courage to speak up, stick to his convictions and act on them… This is an epic page-turner.”
Barker, a San Francisco-based TV producer, writer and activist, hopes his book both entertains and inspires young and young adult readers to believe in their own power to change the world, and maybe even discover more of themselves along the way.
“My journey to save Brutus and Ursula was anything but simple, but it was a triumph, not only for the bears and for the cause of animal rights, but for me personally,” Barker says. “I hope that “Bear Boy” can be a user’s manual, of sorts, for any reader who wants to achieve something important, however fruitless the effort may sometimes seem, and at time when there is so much riding on our willingness to act on what we believe.”