Tiger, Tiger [Library Binding]

B. Camenson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2007

Tiger, Tiger is a hugely powerful and epic novel set against the dazzling backdrop of ancient Rome. This compelling and uplifting story about friendship, brotherhood and battling against the odds will grip all who read it. Her heart was throbbing behind her ribs. A real, live tiger? But that was impossible! Of all the beasts brought from far-off countries the tiger was the most formidable. There could be no one bold enough to introduce one into Caesar's palace! Two tiger cubs are snatched from their native jungle and shipped to Rome. On arrival at this strange land crowded with noisy "two-legs" they are cruelly separated. One cub becomes the princess's pampered and adored house pet. The other, fiercer, cub is trained to become the star performer in Caesar's bloodthirsty circus. Princess Aurelia detests her father's brutal "sport", but must keep her feelings secret -- no one dares criticise the almighty Caesar! The only person she can confide in is the slave Julius, her tiger's keeper. But such a friendship is equally forbidden: should the Emperor find out, his anger would be terrible and the punishment severe. But friendship and love cannot be dictated, and neither tiger nor man is destined for a life in chains. In a world dominated by Caesar's will, all must fight for freedom!

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-7–Despite its mundane title, Banks's novel succeeds fairly well at being exotic and original. Two tiger cubs are captured and brought to ancient Rome. Brute is trained to be an aggressive killer of slaves, criminals, and Christians in the Colosseum; Boots is gentled into a pet for Caesar's beautiful 12-year-old daughter, Aurelia, and cared for by the slave Julius, who loves Aurelia from afar. When a prank goes awry and Julius is wrongly blamed for Boots's escape, Aurelia must decide where her loyalties lie. A vibrant setting and strong sense of place bring this often-neglected time period to life. Aurelia and Julius are three-dimensional, though the other characters (including the big cats themselves) are less believable and vivid. The conflict between the Roman pantheon of gods and Christianity lacks clear delineation and comes across as superficial. While not an essential purchase, this provocative title will appeal to fans of historical fiction, romance, and animal stories.–Melissa Moore, Union University Library, Jackson, TN
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. Captured in the wild, two tiger cubs are shipped to Rome. There, the larger cat is raised to attack and kill people in the Colosseum, while the other is defanged and given to the caesar's daughter, Aurelia, as a pet. Although in the end the tigers meet again, the main story follows Aurelia, who is 12 when the story begins. Aurelia is a thoughtful, rather solitary child who loves her tiger, Boots, and, even more dangerously, comes to love his trainer as well. With her younger cousin, Marcus, she joins in a game that seems innocent at the time, but has perilous consequences for them all. Banks writes well, bringing the late-third-century Roman Empire to life in a novel that blends history with timeless human emotions. In swift, sure strokes, she effectively portrays Aurelia's discomfort, uncertainty, and growing confidence as she grows from child to adult, while using the tigers effectively as both characters and plot devices. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Library Binding
• Publisher: San Val (February 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1417747315
• ISBN-13: 978-1417747313
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,160,243 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lynne Reid Banks is a best-selling author for children and adults. Her classic children's novel 'The Indian in the Cupboard' has sold nearly six million copies worldwide. She was born in London in 1929 and worked as an actress, writer and TV news reporter. Lynne has written thirty books: her first, 'The L-Shaped Room', was published in 1960. She now lives in Dorset, where she continues to write. Lynne says that writing for children comes much more easily than writing for adults. Tony Ross was born in London in 1938. He has worked as an art director at an advertising agency, a graphic designer, a cartoonist, a teacher, a film maker and as a Senior Lecturer in Art at Manchester Polytechnic.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An attention grabbing story about the barbaric times of Roman rule, August 11, 2005

By 

Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tiger, Tiger (Hardcover)

Aurelia is born to riches and power, where slaves rush to meet her every want and need, and where every citizen of Rome knows and admires her. She is the daughter of Caesar, the ruler of Rome. And Caesar adores his youngest child, so he plans an exotic and spectacular gift for her: a wild tiger cub!

Boots the tiger is born to the green wilds of the jungle, where he lies in the sun with his brother and learns to hunt and survive with lessons from his mother. But when their mother is murdered, he and his brother are taken captive and dragged miserably across the ocean in the dark, dank hold of a ship.

Upon arrival, Boots is defanged, neutered and forced to wear leather coverings over his razor-sharp claws. But despite this, he is the luckier of the two brothers, ending up with the pampered palace pet of Aurelia. His brother Brute, on the other hand, gets caged in the dungeons of the Colosseum and is abused, tormented and starved in preparation for the deadly entertainment of the arena with the armed gladiators and other exotic animals.

When sheltered Aurelia attends the Colosseum for the first time, the images of the cruel and horrid deaths of the gladiators, the outlawed Christians and the beautiful animals linger in her soul, haunting her dreams and days. It is then that she begins to realize that the father she's admired her entire life isn't as honorable as she'd believed, for he is the one responsible for the horrors at the Colosseum.

Then comes the day when a seemingly harmless prank lands Aurelia's beloved pet tiger and her secret love right into the dangerous depths of the Colosseum's arena to face Brute, the hungry and angry brother of Boots, in a fight to the death. Aurelia is forced to watch and finally face the injustices of her society.

As the author of THE INDIAN IN THE CUPBOARD, and over 40 other books, the talented Lynne Reid Banks is no stranger to writing awesome stories. Her style flows elegantly and almost musically throughout the pages. In TIGER, TIGER she travels back through time to the barbaric years of the Roman rule where fellow men were enslaved and forced in the bloody arena to fight to the death in the name of entertainment. Readers will love this attention-grabbing story, and will learn a bit of history along the way.

A slight warning to those more tenderhearted readers: the cruelties done to animals (and people) in this time period can be difficult to read.

--- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excitement and Drama in Ancient Rome, May 29, 2009

By 

J. Grambo "Teacher" (Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tiger, Tiger (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a youth book. I've been teaching 7th grade Language Arts this school year, and I wanted to coordinate their literature curriculum with their social studies curriculum, so they would have an interdisciplinary literature experience.

Seventh graders here are supposed to study ancient civilizations from ancient Egypt up through Roman empire and medieval Europe. I must have read 25 different youth books to come up with the ones I chose. I wanted books that are historically accurate, while entertaining enough to keep a 7th grader engaged in learning.

This book gives a picture of life in ancient Rome that is painfully accurate, but it is not appropriate for elementary school age children. They are not old enough to handle the hard facts of life in ancient Rome(e.g., people thrown to the lions when accused of a crime), just as they don't understand the Holocaust.

The story is about twin tiger cubs captured in the wild, and brought to Caesar's palace. One is neutered, tamed and becomes the pet of Caesar's daughter. Tame Boots wears soft leather boots to cover his claws, and is in the constant care of a trainer who was hired to make sure that he will never harm anyone. His twin is taken to the dungeons of the Colosseum where he is bullied, tormented and starved to make him a killer, in preparation for his part in the "entertainment" of the day -- bloody battles to the death between wild animals and condemned prisoners or armed gladiators.

The two tiger brothers do not see each other again until the day a childish prank causes gentle Boots and his trainer to face Boots' wild brother in a fight to the death in the arena.

A strong reason for my choice of the book is a parallel story of the young princess (Caesar's daughter) who falls in love from afar with the young man who is her tiger's trainer. He loves her, too, from afar, but both of them recognize their own place in the society of the time and never step out of bounds.

I think that books that show young lovers restraining their impulses are few and far between, and I like to support that type of perspective in a youth book.

Plenty of both excitement and drama for the 7th to 9th grade student. Reluctant readers and others can enjoy this book on CD.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible story!, October 8, 2005

By 

Beverly (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tiger, Tiger (Hardcover)

We loved this book! It is designed for children and adults that can cope with the truth of history (the colosseum was not a pleasant place) but our whole family was spellbound!