Customer Reviews

The Kite Rider (Rollercoasters)

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So, who's worse--the guy who kills your father and then burns up your house and livelihood in order to get his paws on your beautiful mother, or the great uncle who is doing his best to sell off that beautiful mother to the killer? And what has Kublai Kahn got to do with this historic adventure story that poses the question to teenagers--What if you are taught to always obey your relatives and those relatives make the Dursleys look like Ozzy and Harriet?

Haoyou is the boy living this nightmare, adrift in a sea of tradition, obedience, and superstition, who takes the daring gamble of offering himself as a wind tester:

"...Again the crew tugged on the rope, to tilt it back into the face of the wind. Haoyou's head cracked against the matting, and the rope handles burned the skin off his palms. He could hear the fibers of the rope creaking under the strain, his ribs bending inward where the harness crossed his chest. Perhaps his kite would burst apart. Perhaps there would be no air at all to breathe at the top of the sky"

The key to this riveting story set in thirteenth century Cathay (China) is a strong, cunning, heroic female character--a distant relative named Mipeng. I was continually touched and astounded by her bravery and intelligence as well as her friendship and support of Haoyou. She is fiercely determined to strip that blindfold of obedience from his eyes.

"And all at once, as if fear were a cloud layer through which he had risen, Haoyou looked about him and saw the whole world beneath him. And it was his. Like a sliver shield daubed with blue and green, it throbbed, convex, complex, beautiful. He was a swimmer floating on the surface of an ocean, borne up by such a clarity of water that he could see each sunken treasure, each darting fish, each twist of coral down there in the unbreathing fathoms below. He, out of all its sluggish inhabitants, could breathe! He alone had mastery over this shining province so beautiful that it spangled red and black and green in front of his eyes."

It is also fascinating to get such a vivid taste, vision, and smell of the Cathay encountered by Marco Polo--from the grimy, oily seaside villages to the opulence of the aforementioned Mongol conqueror.

And it's a rare adventure story that could top that feeling McCaughrean gives us in THE KITE RIDER--of flying hundreds of feet in the air, over a land of long ago, anchored to Mother Earth by a kitestring.

Unlike most stories where the hero faces one evil person or group, The Kite Rider by Geraldine McCaughrean pits the hero, Haoyou, against two unassociated malevolent individuals. This exciting story takes place in 13th century China, where Di Chou, a sailor, kills Haoyou's father in the hopes of marrying his wife, Qing'an, and sets fire to Haoyou's house. At this point, Haoyou and his mother move into Haoyou's great uncle Bo's house. Bo forces Haoyou's mother to work in a drinking house, locked up in the cellar and away from sunlight for months at a time to pay for his gambling addiction.

Haoyou and his cousin, Mipeng, set out to stop Di Chou by sending him and his evil plans on a sea voyage. However, Haoyou must bribe the ship's crew to get them to take Di Chou on board. He agrees to be a wind tester - a dangerous job where Haoyou is strapped to a kite and propelled upwards into the wind to test to see if the ship's voyage will be successful.

Haoyou wanted so much for his mother to be saved from the man who killed his father that he found the courage to risk his own life. After a man in the crowd sees Haoyou's skill as a wind tester, he approaches Haoyou's great-uncle Bo to ask that Haoyou join the circus. Bo gives Haoyou and Mipeng to the circus in the hopes of them earning money for him to gamble away.

When Haoyou and Mipeng begin to earn money in the circus, Haoyou's uncle Bo is there, ready to take it away from them. Haoyou faces a difficult decision - should he be obedient and respect his elders as is correct in 13th century China, or go against everything he has been taught and save the money for his mother and himself?

This exciting and suspensful story about Haoyou's quest to save his mother from Di Chou and his own family is sure to keep you turning page after page.

The Kite Rider, by Geraldine McCaughrean is a fairly good book based in China. It is about a boy named Haoyou. Haoyou's father (Pei) owns a ship. The first mate of the ship (Di Chou) had him killed at the very beginning so he can marry Qing'an (the mom); the boy's new guardians are Qing'an, the great uncle, Bo, a mean man, and the great aunt Mo. As the Great Miao, master of the Jade Circus, offers Haoyou the opportunity to make and fly kites, Haoyou and his family receives fortune, gratitude, and respect.
Another main character is Mipeng, a distant relative, a young widow, medium, and supporter of Haoyou.
He is influenced by his dead father to soar high, find and talk to his spirit. In order to see him, he must do what Pei always taught him and that was to respect his father, be obedient to his mother, and faithful to his ancestors. Some would say that respect is everything in this book.
Due to his talent, Miao also instructs Haoyou to perform in front of Kublai Khan who was the conqueror of the thirteenth century Cathay (China). Little does he know, this would be the end of his career. He was faced against a Mongolian boy, who tried his hardest to hurt Haoyou.
I wont tell the conclusion, you need to read the book for yourself.
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This book is a bit to verbose. This 307 page novel can easily be finished in about half that. My opinion is that it is well written and somewhat enjoyable book besides this factor. When you have a lot of free time on you hands, read this book, or just a better book. In some parts though, you might be bored to death as I was.

The Kite Rider is a story about a boy, Haoyou, who goes through the pain of seeing his father die. Haoyou went to see his father off of the harbor and watched in horror as his father was put on the kite tester. His father died in the air. The man who killed Haoyou's father wanted to marry his mother. Haoyou's great uncle, Bo approved so Haoyou and his cousin Miping put him aboard a ship that was set to sail. Later that day in the house of his great uncle, the Great Miao master of the Jade circus, offers Haoyou the chance to become a kite rider. Bo agreed that it would be a great way to earn money. Haoyou had no say in the matter and said he would only go if Miping could come with him. The Miao agreed so they went to travel with the Jade circus. They have many adventures and find out the Miao's great secret. Haoyou even got to perform in front of Kublai Khan himself.
Haoyou has much talent he makes kites for a living to support his mother and sister after his father died. He stays calm when others would be panicking he trusts the spirits of his ancestors to take care of him when he is up in the air. It takes Haoyou time to understand some things he is slow of mind. He is always thinking, which his uncle says is bad, and gets himself and his cousin into trouble more than once.
Personally I liked this book it is full of adventure and customs I have never heard of. This is a book that can teach you something not only is for fun reading. It is also my opinion that you could read this book over and over again and learn something new each time. Yes I would recommend this book to my friends.

This book takes us back into the 13th century in China with the point of view from a boy named Hoayuo. After waching his beloved father, Pie, die. Hoayou's life is filled with misery, but more trouble comes when a Di Chou, the person who killed Hoayuo's father by making him test the wind for a long journey, shows up and gets proposed to Hoayou's lonely and widowed mother. Afterwards Hoayuo gets engaged with kites and starts making some for money for his family. Hoayuo is then noticed by the noble Maio Jeand his circus. Maio invites Hoayuo to be his circuses kite rider. Then the evil, Kublai Khan strikes and gets trouble in Hoayuo's journey.

This book is absalutely great for time passing and entertaining. You really get the images and pictures in your mind once you start reading this book. So take a look at this book, and start reading it, because you will want to read the story.

The Kite Rider. A book centered completely on the importance of obedience. A small boy living in a small village of 13th century china has to overcome everything that is taught to him and above all from the importance of obedience to the importance of respect for your elders. Through being strapped to a kite and being used as a wind tester for a merchant vessel, Haoyou's father, Gou Pei, is brutally killed by first mate Di Chou, and that sets Haoyou's life in for a whirlwind of events he could not have imagined possible.
After the horrific loss to Haoyou's family, Di Chou even tries so marry his mother -Qing An- an ambition he has long had. When Haoyou's greedy, gambling addicted uncle agrees immediately, Haoyou and his cousin Mipeng know they must do something. They send Di Chou (completely drunk) on a vessel, but to do that Haoyou bribes the seamen by being a wind tester. This brings The Great Miao, circus master of the Jade Circus looking for Haoyou to be one of his acts. Once again, Great Uncle Bo agrees for the money that he knows he can make out of it. Haoyou's kite riding act does well until the Jade Circus reaches the court of Kublai Khan, ruler of Cathay in 13th century china. There Bo challenges the Mongols to a kite ride, where the first person to come back to earth lost the bet. Haoyou wins, but he also happens to land in the Khans place of worship, a wagon full of grass and earth from the Mongolian steppes. This infuriates the Khan, and Haoyou is almost killed for his crime, had he not been offered as a secret weapon in the Khans moving army.
This novel was really not that great a book for me personally. It was just too short and lacking that factor that makes me want to read more of it. It was far too simple a plot too. Its like a ten page book with 250 pages of vague details scattered in between the words. This is the first book I have read by Geraldine McCaughrean, and it is not inspiring me to read the second.

I was trying to find a book that would interest both boys and girls. The Kite Rider fit the bill. The story is emotional and exciting. The decriptions in the book can help students make a picture of the story. It has just enough history and culture that teachers can suppliment their lessons with the book. My students like the book better than reading the text book.

This story is about a 12 year old boy named Haoyou and his relatives who live in China in the 13th century.After the death of of his father occurs Haoyou's mother and sister find themselves at the mercy of his uncle.Haoyou's uncle really only cares about gambling more than his family. Soon Haoyou's mother has no other choice than to marry his uncle. Later on Haoyou and his cousin Mipeng join the circus Haoyou sets his job as a kite rider. During his career as a kite rider Haoyou's attitude begins to change questioning beliefs. Haoyou's life is about to change as he performs in front of Kublai Khan. He didn't know this would be his last performance.Haoyou was later beaten up by a mongolian boy. Hoayou had been left alone until returnig home to his mother.

By:JT Lanier
Ms.D

the kite rider

By: Geraldine McCaughrean


This story takes place in 13th century cathy(china). In east china. The story starts like this. There's a kid named Haoyou and his father pei.they went fishing on a boat called the chabi. On the trip they saw the jade circus come in to town. The first mate wanted to marry pei`s wife. So he stabbed him to get his wife. haoyou didn't do nothing , but watch. So first mate, Di Chou , was going to marry Qing'an .haoyou didn't him to marry his mom. So Di Chou got drunk on the night before the wedding. Haoyou took advantage of that and put him on a fishing boat. He was still drunk. He left for a long time. Haoyou saw his father in the clouds. His father told him to be a kite maker. So he became a kite maker. He made all kinds of kites. Then finally he sold them .He wanted to talk to his father again . So he rode the kite! Haoyou was close to the circus. He got up high. He fell down and dislocated his shoulder and the circus master , mio, fixed his shoulder. He also got knocked out. Mio was inpessed whith him and asked him to join the circus . he said yes he could send the money to his family. But his mom did not know! So the great uncle bo went looking for him. He found him in the circus. The great emperor khan was at the circus and saw haoyou flying. He was impressed. So khan and khan were talking and khan asked him to make fighting kites. He agreed. So he made two fighting kites. He was going to fly with his kite(the red one) and was going to fight chiggis (the blue kite). So they were fighting in the air. All he could do was back off after he swung his hatchet. He dropped it after a long time of sweating. It was china vs. Mongolia. The army down on the ground was fighting each other. No one hade control over the ropes. Chiggis rope got stuck in a tree and he fell down and died. Haoyou fell too, but landed on a cart of grass. He didn't want to tuch thec ground or he would had lost the bet his uncle made. He eventually got off and lost the bet. The mongals were going to kill him. Mipeng(a cousin) told khan you don`t have all seeing eyes. You are not all powerful. Khan said fine he lives , but he must be my eyes and in my army. His army had to go to a city, and Haoyou was going to drop a bomb on the village, but decided not to. He thought of him self as a sky demon. He returned to his home town after he crashed due to the storm in the area.He returned only to find that his mother worked at a beer house. He went over there and took her from there and live in the first mate's house. When leaving the beer house he stole money. In the morning the first mate had arrived and was going to kill him. He made a bet for his life. He lost the first time made an other bet and lost it again. He did this one other time. He lost. So when going to give him the money and other things he lost the first mate was caught with the money Haoyou stole, and went to jail. The family never found out and they lived happily ever after.

If you ask me if I would recommand this book to peoples, I would say yes. The author makes very descriptive sceans but I believe that it is not historically very accurate. The boy whose name was always changing goes to perform with the Jade Circus. One reason was in an attempt to escape from his evil and selfish Great-uncle Bo. Yet his great uncle catches up and demands all his money that he earns. The ending could be predicted but the boy lost his sight for one eye. In conclusion, I would say that the adventure is too short and makes you think about certain things.