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Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic, as perfect and beautiful as any tulip
Review: For over a year I have anxiously awaited the release of this installment in the Girls of Many Lands series. About 4 weeks ago I finally got it and devoured it! It is one of my personal favorites in the 8-book series and I highly recommend.
The story opens upon 12-year-old Laleena, the daughter of a Georgian artist. Ever since a war broke out involving the neighboring Ottoman Empire, Laleena's father has been missing. Without his financial support, Laleena, her mother, and her brother, Cengiz, have been searching for opportunities to raise money. While doing so one day, Laleena and her brother happen upon a meadow scattered with unfamiliar flowers--tulips. Gathering as many bulbs as possible through trips to the meadows, Cengiz and Laleena become experts in growing these flowers that became a phenomenon around the time. Holland even almost went broke when they bought tulips from Georgia and the Ottoman Empire! Well, Laleena and her brother raise money by selling some bulbs and flowers, but that isn't enough. At a town festival one day, Laleena catches the eye of a group of mysterious men, who also catch her eye. Turning out to be men who are supposedly looking for women to be paid to marry men in the great Turkish city of Istanbul, the Ottoman capital, Laleena sells herself to these men to raise money. However, she soon finds out the terrible mistake she's made. Spending weeks in a ship's hold she finds out the truth, she is to be sold as a slave. She befriends a young girl, named Lena, whom she becomes a guardian over. After weeks in the suffocating hold, the ship arrives in Istanbul, where Laleena has the luck to be sold as a slave to the royal harem at Topkapi Palace. It is here that we dive into the life of the harem. Every movement, every piece of art, and every gesture has its own meaning. Laleena is re-named Leyla and is assigned to work in the gardens of the harem. She befriends Belkis, a fellow Georgian, who trains her in the rules and regulations of harem life. Leyla's life in the harem is scattered with fear and sadness. From the shocking death of the taster, Ceylan, to Leyla's punishments after lying to the Mistress of the Household when she was painting, to Leyla sneaking into a royal garden party, which could have ended in her death. However, this book is also blessed with many happy moments, including the happy ending, which is too good to mention here. The only thing I somewhat disagreed with about this book is that Leyla was able to make a black tulip. This is virtually impossible. People have been trying to do it for centuries and scientists today have proven that a black tulip cannot be made. I still found the 'black tulip scene' in the book a happy part in the heartwarming ending, but I wish it were a little bit more realistic. There was also another problem. It is known, and I believe even mentioned in the book, that slavery of Muslims is forbidden, and not one harem girl was allowed to be Muslim. But there are references that Leyla is Muslim, as is Belkis, and they both end up in the harem. I don't get it. I was also a little sad to find out that Leyla would have gone to the Palace of Tears by the time she was in her 20's, as the padishah she was a harem girl under died in the 1730's. However, I still highly recommend this book and I will treasure it in my vast book collection. Also, I found it interesting that Alev Lytle Croutier's grandmother lived in the last Ottoman harem! I hope to read Ms. Croutier's other harem books someday.
Rating:
Summary: Recommended - regardless of age
Review: I'm kind of old to be reading American Girl books, and I always hated the boring-and-blah books about the American Girls of Yesterday, but I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was babysitting for an 11-year-old and her copy was on the coffee table, so I started to read it and couldn't put it down. It isn't slow to get started and it has a very interesting storyline. The fact that it was written by a woman who grew up in Turkey makes the narration that much more authentic and engaging. Even though the age recommendation is 9-12, I didn't find the writing style patronizing at all. I'm interested now to see what the other books in the "Girls of Many Lands" series are like.
Rating: 
Summary: A fascinating glimpse at a vanished world...
Review: Leyla is a twelve-year old living in Georgia in 1720. Her artist father went off to war and never came home, leaving Leyla and her brother Cengiz to find food and keep their mother and twin brothers afloat in a time of poverty. Leyla'a special skill is working with flowers, particularly tulips, which she cultivates. One day four foreign men come offering money for girls to be married, and Leyla chooses to go with them, leaving the coins for her family. She soon discovers that the group of girls she is travelling with are not to be married, but to be sold as slaves. Leyla befriends five-year old Lena and acts as an older sister to her, but the two are split up in Istanbul, where they are sold to the highest bidder. Leyla ends up in the harem at Topkapi Palace as a gardening apprentice and quickly learns the rules and manners of the court, and through hard work and new friendships she realizes her dream of painting, growing tulips and being reunited with her family once more. "Leyla" is full of intriguing descriptions of the opulent palaces and gardens of Istanbul, life in the Georgian countryside, some of the basic tenets of Islam, gardening, and harem life. There are many Turkish/Arabic words scattered throughout, and a handy glossary at the back, along with a segment on girls' life in Turkey today. Out of the six "Girls of Many Lands" books that I've read (there are currently eight), "Leyla" is my new favourite.
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Summary: Leyla: the Black Tulip
Review: Leyla: the Black Tulip is about a young girl named Laleena, who is living in Georgia near the Caucasus Mountains with her mother and three siblings. Her father was a painter and went to war and never came back. One day, two men come and suggest to Laleena's mother that her daughter could go to Istanbul for the chance of marriage. Laleena's family is poor, and her mother knows that the money could help their family a lot, but instead she says no. Laleena hears the whole discussion, and knows that it would be best to go, so in the middle of the night, she sneaks out and gets on the boat to Istanbul. It is a long ride from Georgia to Istanbul, but Laleena meets a friend named Lena. Laleena serves as a mother figure to Lena and cares for her greatly. It turns out that all of the girls on the ship are not going to Istanbul to find a husband, but to be sold as slaves! Laleena is bought by a man, and taken to the Topkapi Palace, where she is forced to change identities and become "Leyla". At the palace, she is told to work in the gardens (something she enjoys very much), and spends time specializing in the tulips. When it is time for the Tulip Festival, the sultan announced that if anyone could grow a black tulip, they would receive a large amount of gold as an award. Leyla tries as hard as she can to nurture her tulip bulbs and win the prize. Will Leyla produce the black tulip? Will she ever see her father or Lena again? You can find out if you read Leyla: the Black Tulip.
This book is a great story about a girl learning to be independent. It is an intriguing story that you can learn a lot from. It made me think about how tough it would be to live in a palace back then. Any girl that reads this book will love it.
Rating:
Summary: Leyla The Black Tulip
Review: Part of a "Girls of Many Lands" series, this volume tells of a girl from the Caucasus who is sold into a sultan's harem in Istanbul. It is set during the Ottoman Empire's brief Tulip Period-a golden age-in the early 1700s. Croutier possesses excellent credentials for interpreting Turkey's cultural history for young readers. Raised in Turkey, she has written two novels (adult level) set in that country, as well as the non-fictional "Harem: The World Behind the Veil." In "Leyla," the protagonist spends her early years in the Caucasus, learning to paint from her artist-father and to garden from her mother. When war broke out between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, Leyla's father was mustered into the army and is now assumed missing. Leyla believes she will keep her mother and three siblings from starving by selling herself to men claiming they'll find her a wealthy husband-in far-off Istanbul. Leyla soon learns she has been sold into slavery; she is eventually purchased to become part of the sultan's harem. At the sumptuous Topkapi Palace, she is assigned to work in the flower gardens. The ending is marred by an incredulous array of serendipitous happenings. A handsome, young prince befriends Leyla and arranges for her to teach art. During the Tulip Festival, she wins the sultan's favor as well as a hefty prize for her green thumb. Then she learns her father is alive and working in the palace! And much more! Despite this, the story is engaging and does provide a good picture of life in a harem, where women are physically protected, even pampered, yet deprived of basic freedoms and subject to the jealousies and intrigues of a highly politicized setting.
Rating:
Summary: From slavery to sultan's harem
Review: Part of a "Girls of Many Lands" series, this volume tells of a girl from the Caucasus who is sold into a sultan's harem in Istanbul. It is set during the Ottoman Empire's brief Tulip Period-a golden age-in the early 1700s. Croutier possesses excellent credentials for interpreting Turkey's cultural history for young readers. Raised in Turkey, she has written two novels (adult level) set in that country, as well as the non-fictional "Harem: The World Behind the Veil." In "Leyla," the protagonist spends her early years in the Caucasus, learning to paint from her artist-father and to garden from her mother. When war broke out between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, Leyla's father was mustered into the army and is now assumed missing. Leyla believes she will keep her mother and three siblings from starving by selling herself to men claiming they'll find her a wealthy husband-in far-off Istanbul. Leyla soon learns she has been sold into slavery; she is eventually purchased to become part of the sultan's harem. At the sumptuous Topkapi Palace, she is assigned to work in the flower gardens. The ending is marred by an incredulous array of serendipitous happenings. A handsome, young prince befriends Leyla and arranges for her to teach art. During the Tulip Festival, she wins the sultan's favor as well as a hefty prize for her green thumb. Then she learns her father is alive and working in the palace! And much more! Despite this, the story is engaging and does provide a good picture of life in a harem, where women are physically protected, even pampered, yet deprived of basic freedoms and subject to the jealousies and intrigues of a highly politicized setting.
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