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Summary: This Story Rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: The Tiger Rising is a really GREAT book!!!! It's about this boy named Rob Horton who's mother died and now he and his dad live in a hotel called The Kentucky Star, even though the setting is in Florida. Rob and his father have no phone and eat Macaroni & Cheese every night. Rob has a diease in his legs that make them itch like CRAZY!!! Rob's only real friend isn't even a kid. The maid of the hotel, Willie May, is always telling Rob that the problem with his legs is that Rob never lets the saddness come out. She says it stays down at the bottom of him, down by his legs, and never gives it a chance to come out. Rob never cries. Ever since his mother died, Rob has never cried. He cried at his mother's funeral, but his father told him to suck it up, that there was no need in crying, that crying was for sissies. Ever since that unforgettable moment on that unforgettable day, Rob has imagined himself as a suitcase, locked up tight, never letting anything get out.
Rob gets picked on at school. The 2 bullies call hum "Diease Boy" and "Cootie Kid". He never stands up to them though. He just lets them tease him until they get tired and eventually leave. But one day a new girl gets on the bus. She was wearing a pink and frilly dress. No one at Rob's school wears pink and frilly dresses. When Rob next sees Sistine (the girl) her dress has a hint of blood on it, a torn shoulder puff, and a girl with a black eye and a few bruises wearing it.
Sitting on the bus after school that day, Sistine plops down next to Rob. She tells Rob about her father who is supposed to come and get her in a couple if weeks. She says she hates it in Florida. She says she hates her mother too. Then she notices Rob's legs. She asks Rob if it is contagious and, without waiting for a reply, rubs her hands violently up and down Rob's legs. Rob finally works up enogh courage to open his suitcase up a little peep and tell Sistine about the tiger he found caged up earlier that day. Sistine says they HAVE to set it free no sooner had the words come out of Rob's mouth. He's scared to lrt the tiger free because he knows it owned by the owner of the hotel and Rob doesn't want his dad to lose his job as all-around good-guy and handy man. Should Rob let the tiger go, in hopes of finding a new friend? Or stay a coward all his life?
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book in the World!!
Review: The Tiger Rising is more of a short story than a novel (128 pgs). In this book young Rob Horton endures his lot in life with little or no complaint until a remarkable day when he finds a real, caged tiger and meets a tiger in the form of a girl named Sistine. In its brief pages DiCamillo allows us to enter into the lives of a small band of characters who, like the tiger, are caged in one-form or another and who long to taste true freedom. DiCamillo's writing style allows the reader to feel an immediate bond with the main characters and allows one to easily empathize with their hurts and struggles. DiCamillo has written a novel about loss and grief and the risks involved with allowing oneself to open up to the healing power of honesty in relationships. This is a children's novel and one easy for the intended age group (9-12) to understand, but its deeper meanings require a higher maturity level to fully understand. The symbolism is, at times, blatantly obvious but by the end of the book DiCamillo leaves the reader with many different ideas to contemplate. This book would be a great one to discuss in a classroom setting with children or even adults as the messages presented are universal regardless of one's age.
Kate DiCamillo has rapidly become one of those authors who doesn't write quick enough for me. She hasn't been writing long enough to have a large bibliography but her writing is of such quality that I can imagine myself reading her books again and again. The fact that all 3 of her published children's novels have been nominated for Newbery awards attests to the quality of her writing. In looking at reader's reviews on Amazon.com this is the least favored of her 3 novels and it still averages 4 out of 5 stars in the ratings. I highly recommend all her novels, whether you're a child, a grown-up, or a grown-up reading to a child, you cannot go wrong with Kate DiCamillo.
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Summary: The tiger- freedom or isolation?
Review: This book develops 4 great characters as Rob and Sistine become friends. You can feel the sadness they both experience. Willie May is the guiding light and you just know they will free the tiger. It touches on a lot of deeper issues that kids must relate to. Sadness, death, friendship, and figuring out who you want to become. Great for any adolescent.
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Summary: Mezmerizing for fourth graders
Review: This book totally engrossed my students. I read this short story aloud in five days; the children wouldn't let me put the book down. Not only did they listen to the story, but the students were quick to make predictions, compare this novel to Because of Winn Dixie and the craft of Cynthia Rylant. They loved the story, character, plot and narration. Of course, I read this book at the end of the year, and after we had read Because of Winn Dixie and The Van Gogh Cafe.
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Summary: quite different.
Review: This book was odd in A good way.I was really used to reading nice happy books.The book is about A boy who keeps things to himself, A girl who is filled with anger, and A tiger who needs to be free.Its different and A page turner.Every one needs A book like this every once in A while.
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Summary: So close to perfection... so far
Review: This was a well-crafted book in many ways, and a flawed piece of literature in many others. I've rarely read such an honest acceptance of the ways kids act at school. Moreover, the realistic ways in which Rob, the protagonist, and Sistine, his new friend, deal with grief is fantastic. Most characterizations were right on the money. Though seen only briefly, I loved the portrayal of Sistine's mother. I've met women like that. Unfortunately, DiCamillo falls into a trap so many writers and screenwriters have fallen into before. She has inserted "the magical black friend" found in many a modern text. Such characters usually don't show any weaknesses (or if they do they're either vaguely eluded to or not their own fault) and serve simply as enormous founts of wisdom and patience. While the character of Willie May does come right out and say that she is not a prophetess, she may as well be. She's never wrong and she serves the infuriating purpose of showing the white people how to work through their emotions. And while I like that DiCamillo even had a black person in the book, one with a little more complexity beyond serving the plot would have been nice. The book is rather similar to "Bridge to Terabithia", in terms of a new girl opening a boy's eyes to a world of possibilities. Recommended with reservations.
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Summary: Book Review:The Tiger Rising
Review: Tiger Rising, by Kate DiCamillo, is about a girl named Sistine who has just moved to a town in Florida, and meets a boy named Rob. Rob doesn't have to go to school for a while because he has a rash on his leg. One day he is out in the woods and he finds a tiger. The owner of the Kentucky Star Motel, where he is living, pays him to feed the tiger. Rob shows Sistine and she thinks he should let it go. In the end Rob ends up letting his emotions out of his "suitcase" that have been closed up for years. This book is about Rob finding himself. I thought it was a great book. I loved how Kate DiCamillo created the characters. They weren't really described very much, but you could picture them in your head. I really enjoyed reading this book. I'm sure you will to.
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Summary: The Tiger Rising
Review: Title of Book: The Tiger Rising
By: Kate DiCamillo
Reviewed by: R. Gabayeron
Period: 5The book The Tiger Rising is about a young boy named Rob Horton getting used to his surroundings after this mother died. Everyday on the school bus, his two brothers always tease him. Their names are Billy and Norton Threemonger. One day before the bus arrived, Rob went out into the woods and discovered a tiger locked in a cage. On that same day, there was a new girl named Sistine Bailey. At school, Rob was called into the office because the principal was concerned about something he had on his legs. The principal told him that his parents thought what was on his leg was contagious. He gave Rob a note to give to his father. Rob's father disagreed with what was on the note. While Rob wasn't at school, he did a lot of woodcarvings and helped his father. When his father didn't need any help, Rob helped Willie May, the housekeeper. Rob told Sistine Bailey about the tiger, and she wanted to free him. Rob wasn't sure it was the right thing to do. Beauchamp, the owner of the motel (where Rob lives) gives him the keys to the cage to feed the tiger everyday. Later on, Rob asks Willie May if he should free the tiger and she told him about her bird and when she let it free. Her bird died and it reminded Rob when his dad shot a bird. When Rob and Sistine freed the tiger, it ended up dying because Rob's father wanted to protect him. They had a funeral for the tiger, and everyone had some words to say. Sistine said a poem about him. Rob went back to school with Sistine and they became best friends. I thought the book was okay because Rob and Sistine freed the tiger, but it died. "It ain't our tiger to let go," said Rob. This showed that Rob didn't touch things that weren't his. In one part of the book, Rob was scared to let the tiger out because he thought it might eat him. Sistine told Rob that it wouldn't eat them unless it was hungry. At the end, Rob let the tiger out because he wanted it to be free. "You want to get introduced proper?" said Beauchamp. Beauchamp, the owner of the motel, asked Rob to feed the tiger everyday. Rob asked him if he was going to free the tiger. Beauchamp said he might sell it or just kill it and make a coat out of the skin. The owner didn't seem to care about the tiger. Beauchamp told Rob to keep the tiger a secret, but he told Sistine and Willie May. My favorite part of the book was when Beauchamp gave Rob the keys to the cage of the tiger. This was my favorite part because Rob told Sistine that he got the keys. Sistine was so excited and then they freed the tiger. The sad part was when the tiger died and they gave it a funeral. Everyone loved the tiger very much. Rob's father was sorry to kill the tiger. He just wanted to protect his son.
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