Terrier (The Legend of Beka Cooper, Book 1) [Hardcover]

Tamora Pierce (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Tamora Pierce begins a new Tortall trilogy introducing Beka Cooper, an amazing young woman who lived 200 years before Pierce's popular Alanna character. For the first time, Pierce employs first-person narration in a novel, bringing readers even closer to a character that they will love for her unusual talents and tough personality.

Beka Cooper is a rookie with the law-enforcing Provost's Guard, and she's been assigned to the Lower City. It's a tough beat that's about to get tougher, as Beka's limited ability to communicate with the dead clues her in to an underworld conspiracy. Someone close to Beka is using dark magic to profit from the Lower City's criminal enterprises--and the result is a crime wave the likes of which the Provost's Guard has never seen before.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Tamora Pierce has been creating strong, appealing heroines for teen fantasy fans for years, creating 2 main universes to house her multiple series. With Terrier, Pierce returns to the Tortall universe (home to her Song of the Lioness, Immortals, Protector of the Small, and Daughter of the Lioness series). Want to learn more? Read an exclusive essay from Tamora Pierce below. --Daphne Durham

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An Essay from Tamora Pierce

Sixteen-year-old Beka Cooper lives far removed from knights, palaces, and the nobility. Her world revolves around thieves, beggars, taverns, and the lowest of the low. She's a trainee for the Provost's Guard—a rookie cop, in a world where a cop makes her own name based on her personality, her attitude toward money, and her love of the law. Beka means to prove that she is out to make her mark in this hard and physical world.

She does face a large obstacle. She's shy. Painfully shy. Left to her own devices, she would have no friends. It's hard for her to talk to people she doesn't know. It's a problem for the Guards who train her, a real problem for Beka—unless she can figure out that a uniform is a kind of costume, one she can hide behind. One that will make her a more outspoken person. It will help a lot if people come to realize that under her shyness is a clever, determined young woman. It will help even more if she can make friends who can give her good advice. Luckily, she has one such friend living with her in her slum apartment: a purple-eyed black cat named Pounce. He can make himself understood in human speech if he wishes to. He's capable of doing weirdly intelligent things to help his young companion Beka. With Pounce to assist her, Beka cannot have an ordinary career.

Beka tells her own story in a journal that she keeps from her very first day as a Puppy. The Guards are dubbed "Dogs" in her time and their trainees are called "Puppies." In its pages she writes of her days with her training Dogs, the pair who are to teach her what they know of survival on the streets in the city's toughest slum. Both are veterans. Tunstall is an easygoing, funny man who can be a little crazy in a fight. Goodwin is a small, tough woman who is opposed to Beka's presence at the beginning, a hard Dog and a smart one. They take charge when Beka brings them word of two vicious sets of crimes. Like everyone else in Beka's life, her partners find out that once Beka gets a case in her teeth, she hangs onto it like a terrier until it's been solved.

I have all kinds of reasons why I went to the past of the Alanna books. In part I wanted to show how present-day Tortall came to be. I also knew George's fans would welcome any kind of return to the Lower City, even if it wasn't the Lower City of his time. I wanted to get away from the courts and nobility, the setting for so many of the Tortall books thus far. Since I didn't want to show any of the characters I've come to love as being old or even dead, I couldn't write books in the future of the current Tortall. I turned to the past, and I'm pretty sure my readers will be glad I did! --Tamora Pierce

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From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 7 Up—Orphaned Beka Cooper, 16, is a trainee-a "Puppy"-in the Provost's Guard. Having spent the first half of her life in Tortall's slums, she is driven by the need to do what is right and see justice done. Paired with two of the best Guards, or "Dogs," in the organization and aided by her own gifts of magic, Beka learns her job, makes friends with two mages and a thief, and uncovers two serial killers who prey on the poor and unnoticed. With Terrier, Pierce tries out a new style of storytelling and succeeds admirably. Beka, the ancestor of George Cooper from the "Song of the Lioness" series (S & S), tells her story through journal entries, making for a thoroughly engaging read. The characters are recognizable types, but all have their own personalities. Readers will enjoy meeting the Lady Knight Sabine of Macayhill, Alanna's precursor in profession and temperament; Rosto the Piper; and Beka's friends. The level of violence is comparable to that found in "The Circle Opens" series (Scholastic) but isn't as gratuitous. This seems mostly to be due to the journal format, which gives readers only Beka's thoughts and feelings as opposed to those of the killers as well. With its rollicking adventure, appealing characters, and inclusion of Tortall's history, Terrier will be in strong demand by Pierce's fans. It will keep readers on the edge of their seats.—Lisa Prolman, Greenfield Public Library, MA
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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 592 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers; First Edition edition (October 24, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 037581468X
• ISBN-13: 978-0375814686
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 1.8 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (113 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #560,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tamora Pierce is a bestselling author of fantasy books for teenagers. Her books, known for their teenaged girl warriors and wizards, have received critical acclaim and a strong fanbase.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tamora Pierce was drawn to books from a young age. Raised in rural Pennsylvania, the child of a "long, proud line of hillbillies," her family never had much. "We were poor, but I didn't know it then. We had a garden where my folks grew fruit and vegetables and our water came from a well," she explains. But one thing they did have was plenty of books. So Tamora read.

A self-proclaimed "geek," she devoured fantasy and science fiction novels, and by the age of 12 was mimicking her literary idols and writing her own action-packed stories. It was thanks to her father that Tamora began writing. "He heard me telling myself stories as I did dishes, and he suggested that I try to write some of them down," Pierce says.

But Tamora's novels had one major difference: unlike the books she was reading, her stories featured teenaged girl warriors. "I couldn't understand this lapse of attention on the part of the writers I loved, so until I could talk them into correcting this small problem, I wrote about those girls, the fearless, bold, athletic creatures that I was not, but wanted so badly to be."

Seventeen years later, after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, a brief career in teen social work and some time spent writing for radio, Tamora Pierce held true to her childhood crusade, and published Alanna: The First Adventure, the first in a quartet about a valiant, young, female warrior. Pierce's heroine struck a chord with readers across the country and quickly earned her a loyal following.

Pierce is now a #1 New York Times bestselling author and has written twenty-five books, including her newest, BEKA COOPER #2: Bloodhound. "It's a pretty good life, if I do say so myself. Struggling along as a kid and even through my twenties, it's the kind of life I dreamed of but never believed I would get. Yet here I am, after a lot of work, a lot of worry, a lot of care for details, and a massive chunk of luck, the kind that brought me such strong friends and readers. Pretty good for a hillbilly, yes? And I never take it for granted," she says.

Pierce lives in upstate New York with her husband Tim and their three cats and two birds.


PRAISE

"[Tamora Pierce's heroines] faithfully reiterate an ideal of feminine power that relies on brains, not beauty; of feminine attractiveness that relies on competence, not helplessness; and of feminine alliances that grow stronger, not weaker, in the face of conflicts." -The New York Times

BEKA COOPER #1: TERRIER

"With its rollicking adventures [and] appealing characters . . . Terrier will be in strong demand by Pierce's fans. It will keep readers on the edge of their seats." -School Library Journal, Starred

YOUNG WARRIORS
"Memorable characters and well-drawn settings. . . . This timely and appealing anthology will surely help swell the ranks of teenage fantasy readers." -School Library Journal

TRICKSTER'S QUEEN
"The plot sweeps readers along in a whirlwind of court intrigue, deception, murder, and romance. The humor is wicked, and the plot twists will keep the pages turning to the supremely satisfying end. Teens will be inspired by Aly's determination, her resourcefulness, and her heart." -School Library Journal

TRICKSTER'S CHOICE
"Aly arrives fully formed, a snarky, talented uber-heroine. Cameos of old favorites complement a rich cast of new characters. Aly's difficulty with the complexity of colonialism adds surprising, welcome depth." -Kirkus Reviews

LADY KNIGHT
"Unrelentingly realistic in its depiction of the horrors of war, this novel draws the reader into a complete and believable fantasy world. Pierce provides exquisite details of the weaponry, topography, and culture of her world, and her control of a voluminous cast of characters is masterful." -Voice of Youth Advocates

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Patrolling the Cesspool, May 31, 2007

By 

Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Terrier (The Legend of Beka Cooper, Book 1) (Hardcover)

Terrier (2006) is the first fantasy novel in the Beka Cooper series. Rebekah Cooper grew up in the Lower City section of Corus, the capital of Tortall. She is able to talk to the dust spinners and to hear the spirits of the dead riding on pigeons (but the dead rarely hear her). At eight years of age, she stalked the man who beat her mother and ran out with everything of value in their household.

After finding the man meeting with his pals in the Bold Brass gang, she turned them in to the Lord Provost himself when none other would listen. The Provost took Beka, her mother, and her four siblings into his own household. Beka eventually became a trainee in the Provost's Guard.

In this novel, Beka is a Puppy, assigned to two experienced Dogs for training. Clara Goodwin and Matthias Tunstall are the best Guards of the Evening Watch, which is reputed to be the best of the three Guard shifts. Goodwin has been a Provost's Guard for seventeen years and Tunstall has been a Guard for twenty years, thirteen as Goodwin's partner.

Now they are being saddled with a Puppy and Goodwin is not very happy about the whole thing; Tunstall, however, is rather pleased to have Beka as his Puppy. Both know of her part in bringing in the Bold Brass gang, but do not know anything about her magic. They also know nothing about Pounce, the cat who has adopted Beka. This new partnership is going to be a learning experience for all of them.

On her first night, trailing behind Goodwin and Tunstall, Beka is told to chase an escaping thief and falls -- literally -- for an old trick. She lands facedown in a pile of fish and is called Fishbelly for the rest of the shift.

The next night, she takes off after a crazed drunk who has struck Goodwin with the hilt of a knife. She chases the woman all across the Lower City nearly to the North gate and then brings her hobbled to the Provost's Guard kennel. Very few call her Fishbelly after that run, but some call her Terrier for the first time.

Then Goodwin and Tunstall find out that Beka is extremely shy. She can talk with friends, but public speaking ties up her tongue. Since she has to testify before the Provost's Magistrate, she forces herself to utter a few words. Fortunately the Magistrate is kind and helps her to tell the story of the chase and capture, with Goodwin and Tunstall filling in some details. Strangely enough, she doesn't appear have any problems telling malefactors that they are under arrest, even in public places.

In this story, Beka learns of two different crimes from her sources in the Lower City. The son of her friend Tansy is abducted and killed by someone calling himself the Shadow Snake after a childish fable. When she talks to Tansy, she is given a strange gemstone. Soon her pigeons bring new riders who complain of being killed in a hole that they have been hired to dig and the gemstone is somehow related.

In this story, Beka becomes the center of a small social circle that meets in her boarding house. Other trainees, experienced guards and even some rogues eat breakfast most mornings in her room or elsewhere in the house or on the grounds. This circle of friends also joins her in the search for the abducted diggers and the Shadow Snake.

This story takes place earlier in the history of Tortall, well before Alanna and her friends. Yet Beka is the progenitor of one of those friends. The story starts with the young George Cooper being told of his illustrious ancestor.

Based on past publications, this book may be the first in a tetralogy. Maybe the author is getting into a rut, always starting with a novice and then taking the series on to higher skills, but who cares when the stories are this good. This volume is definitely a fine start to a new series. Enjoy.

Highly recommended for Pierce fans and for anyone else who enjoy tales of minor magic, grubby police work and hardearned experience.

-Arthur W. Jordin

44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great new series!, October 29, 2006

By 

N. Burt "nikkles" (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Terrier (The Legend of Beka Cooper, Book 1) (Hardcover)

I bought this book because it was by Tamora Pierce and I read everything she writes. I opened it up to find that it was written as journal passages . . . this made me very nervous as I dislike books written in this style more times then not. However, I soon got passed this obstacle and got into the story of Beka Cooper. As a fan of all of Pierce's books I can honestly say that Beka may be very favorite heroine through all the books. I also really enjoyed the idea of the Dogs as a whole. I think fans will love this book and so will readers new to Pierce's work. I also think Terrier may hold more appeal for a male audience then some of Pierces other characters and series.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Veteran Tammyians and New Readers Alike: READ IT!!, November 29, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Terrier (The Legend of Beka Cooper, Book 1) (Hardcover)

Okay, I'll admit this part outright - I'm a Tamora Pierce fan. Her series are all amazing, for me at least. But even if you're not a huge (wish I could triple underline that) fan like I am, you'll STILL want to get this.

I'm going to start with a mini-review for fans of Tammy in particular.
New readers can scroll down and I'll give a review for you specially.

---SUPER TAMMY-FAN REVIEW---

Rebakah Cooper's story is completely new from her other stories. For the first time ever, two things have happened.

First, we've moved away from the nobility's side of things in the capital. Even Daine the Wildmage didn't see much of Corus' Lower City, and she's been the only commonborn heroine so far. In Alanna, the series set 200 years after Beka Cooper's, we get a brief description of the area surrounding the Dancing Dove in the Lower City, but never before have we truly seen what it was like to be living there before. This brings a whole new perspective to Tortall, and I for one am VERY glad for this new look at one of my favorite worlds.

Second, it's the first person perspective. The whole story is set out in journals, not in the narrator's eye like we're used to. It's a welcome change to switch to, something new to look at, but you can still see that bit of Tammy humor. Sure, I love the 3rd person, but 1st person is PERFECT for Beka's personality.
Speaking of her personality, there's another reason why I like the first person. It gives us Beka's world, and how she sees it. You can tell just from the first day of her experiences that she's a very straight-forward person, who knows what she wants, and isn't afraid to be frank about embarassing things. She describes with minute detail, and is always very calculating. Then, to prove that she's human (or at least half human), she has some emotional outbursts when she can't write in frustration.

Oh, and everybody remembers (cough LOVES cough) Faithful, right? He's back, except he's Pounce now. Pounce or Faithful, even 200 years back, he's got that prickly sense of humor and refusal to leave his mistress alone.

P.S. We all love our Lady Knights, don't we? My thanks to Tammy for putting in a lady knight. She did mention that female knights had only dissapeared a hundred years ago in Alanna, and this is two-hundred years back. Give a warm welcome to the AWESOME character of Lady Sabine. You'll see.

Now, I suggest you read the new-people review too. I'm going to mention the plot more, etc.

---NEW PEOPLE REVIEW---

Do you like any or all of the following?
a. Action and Horror
b. Suspense and Romance here and there
c. Kick-butt Heroines (as Ms. Pierce says herself)
d. Mysteries beyond recognition
e. Secrets hidden right before your eyes

If so, Terrier is 100% for you. If not, Terrier is still 90% for you, because it's simply that good. I'm NOT reciting the summary. Read it above, please.

The plot is written thorougly, with no details missing, even in the first-person form. It's extremely suspenseful. You're always waiting on the edge of your seat to see if she finds out more about what's happening in the Lower City slums/Cesspool of Corus. She also always have stuff to fill in here and there, stuff that has nothing to do with the plot, but is still so very interesting to read that you screech for more.

Beka, the main character, is very straightforward and easy to listen to. She has honesty that's somewhat like mine. She tells all she can possibly bear to, and a few things she can't, for the sake of keeping the journal. I'm much the same, telling as much as I can. It helps me relate to her.

It's very easy to relate to Beka on any level. Beka is the kind of girl who thinks about a whole lot of things. Chances are a reader will at least connect with her in some way. If they don't (which I believe to be impossible) then they can focus on the other characters, who are all richly developed as Tamora Pierce's are always, and they can focus on the rich plot.

I would suggest reading this to ANYBODY. AN-Y-BO-DY at all.
I can't wait for the sequel!!!