Tiger, Tiger

Title: Tiger, Tiger

Author: Lynne Reid Banks

Pages: 194

Cover Rating: 4/5

Character Rating: 4/5

Plot Rating: 5/5

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it wonderful in it's story line, and very well thought out. I will definitely look up more of the author's books. I thought that it was enchanting, and had very good characters. It was a good read, and I liked it alot, but I was not that happy with the ending. I highly recommend it.

Plot:

Two tiger cub brothers are torn from the jungle and taken to Rome. The stronger cub is trained as a killer at the Coliseum. Emperor Caesar makes a gift of the smaller cub to his beautiful daughter, Aurelia. She adores her cub, Boots. Julius, a young animal keeper, teaches Aurelia how to earn Boots’s trust. Boots is pampered while his brother, known as Brute, lives in the cold and darkness, let out only to kill. Caesar trusts Julius to watch Aurelia and her prized pet. But when a prank backfires, Boots temporarily escapes and Julius must pay with his life. Thousands watch as Julius is sent unarmed into the arena to face the killer Brute.

Bound

Title: Bound

Author: Donna Jo Napoli

Pages: 184

Cover Rating: 5/5

Charater Rating: 3/5

Plot Rating: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3/5

I really liked this book, and thought it was good. It was, in my opinion a very good, but different retelling of the story Cinderella. I have to admit, I am a Donna Jo Napoli fan, and thought she did a very good job with this book. She followed closely to the Cinderella story line, but yet made it her own, in that you forgot at certain points that it was in fact a Cinderella Story. I liked the way she weaved the story, though once again, it had a little to much of ancient Chinese religion in it. But other than that, I really liked this book, and would recommend it.

Plot:

"Xing Xing is a small child who is coping with the recent death of her kind-hearted potter father. Her mother died years ago from illness, which forced her to live with the stepmother her Father had married with her Half-Sister Wing-Pei.
The "Family" lives off selling what remains from Xing Xing's Father's collection of unsold pottery, Xing Xing fears she may be sold into slavery once the supply runs out as her step mother as threatened her with. Step Mother's increasing vainity is shown early on by her obsession with Wing-pei undergoing the painful procedure of "feet binding".
Feet Binding is a painful procedure where all the bones of a womans foot are shattered via blunt-force trauma and re-arranged as to appear smaller and more "beautiful". Xing Xing's Father was greatly against such a horrific procedure, but now against his wishes his daughter Wing-pei is put through it.
Xing Xing finds solace and seculsion from the torments of Stepmother who forces her into servitude and border-line slave work through practicing chinese writing "Caligraphy" as well as reading and seeing "Mother Fish". Mother Fish is her pet of sorts who seems to be a reincarnation of her late mother.
The book depeicts Xing Xings' struggles as well as an adventure she must go on for the sake of Wing-Pei. Xing Xing begins to learn the ways of the world and through her own cunning and intellect learn a way out of her horrible prediciment."

Climbing the Stairs

Title: Climbing the Stairs

Author: Padma Venkatraman

Pages: 256

Cover Rating: 5/5

Character Rating: 5/5

Plot Rating: 5/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

I have been meaning to write about this book. I read it a long time ago, but I thought it was very good. As you can see from my ratings, it is one of my favorites. I thought that the characters were very well thought out. I liked them especially because at times they gave you reason to hate them for their decisions, yet you still loved them. All in all, I DEEPLYrecommend this book, especially to those who like to gain an understanding to other cultures. (I think you would like this book Bostan.)

Plot:

Fifteen-year-old Vidya dreams of going to college, an unusual proposition for a girl living in British-occupied India during World War II. When tragedy strikes, Vidya and her brother Kitta are forced to move into a traditional household with her grandfather and her extended family, where men live separately upstairs and the women who live below are meant to be married, not educated.

Breaking the rules, Vidya finds refuge in her grandfather’s second-floor library. There she meets Raman, a young man also living in the house. Surprisingly, he treats her like an equal and encourages her intellectual curiosity. But soon it’s clear Raman wants more than just friendship, and when Kitta makes a shocking choice the family cannot condone, Vidya’s life becomes a whirlwind of personal and political complications. Will she be strong enough to survive the storm?

With the lush settings and heady emotions that mark the best Indian literature, Padma Venkatraman’s debut novel is an epic story of love and loss set against a unique moment in history. Readers of all ages will find deep empathy with Vidya as she battles between ideas and emotions while struggling to pursue her dreams.

The Ramsay Scallop

Title: The Ramsay Scallop

Author: Frances Temple

Pages: 310

Cover Rating: 3/5

Charater Rating: 5/5

Plot Rating: 4/5

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

I have to say that I really LOVED this book. And it did make it into my favorites. (Which is hard to do) I immensely loved all of the characters and how human they were. They were very relateable, and yet very strong. I think the most changed character in the book was Elenor(Nora), she changed from an uncertain child, into a strong womanly figure. Thomas also changed greatly, I think mostly in his opinion of Elenor. He also became more forgiving of himself and others. All in all I GREATLY LOVED this Book, and recommend it to all who have a love for historical fiction.

Plot:

14-year-old Elenor of Ramsay's fiance, Thomas of Thornham, returns from the Crusades. The couple, uncertain of their roles in life and their feelings about each other, are reluctant to wed. Wise Father Gregory sends them on a pilgrimage to Spain; this not only buys them time but forces them to become better acquainted. Their journey is full of unexpected adventures, joys, and hardships. They see new sights, make new friends, and learn new things. By book's end, both are at peace with themselves and gracefully accept their lot.