The Tiger Rising (Paperback)

by Kate DiCamillo (Author)
Key Phrases: Willie May, Kentucky Star, Sistine Bailey (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Kate DiCamillo's first novel Because of Winn-Dixie won a Newbery Honor in 2000 for the no-nonsense charm and wisdom of its down-home young heroine, Opal. Also set in Florida, The Tiger Rising is more of a short story in scope, the tale of 12-year-old Rob Horton who finds a caged tiger in the woods behind the Kentucky Star Motel where he lives with his dad. The tiger is so incongruous in this setting, Rob views the apparition as some sort of magic trick. Indeed, the tiger triggers all sorts of magic in Rob's life--for one thing, it takes his mind off his recently deceased mother and the itchy red blisters on his legs that the wise motel housekeeper, Willie May, says is a manifestation of the sadness that Rob keeps "down low."

Something else for Rob to think about is Sistine (as in the chapel), a new city girl with fierce black eyes who challenges him to be honest with her and himself. Spurred by the tiger, events collide to break Rob out of his silent introspection, to form a new friendship with Sistine, a new understanding with his father, and most important, to lighten his heart. This novel is about cages--the consequences of escape as well as imprisonment. The story and symbolism are clear as a bell, and the emotions ring true. (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly
After Rob's mother dies, he and his father move to a new town to get a fresh start, he discovers a caged tiger in the woods. An emotionally rich story about a boy caught in the powerful grip of grief. Ages 8-up.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick (July 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763618985
• ISBN-13: 978-0763618988
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,880 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Tiger Rising, January 3, 2003

A Kid's Review

In the book The Tiger Rising a boy named Rob Horton is just getting adapted to the new changes that has been happening in his life. Rob has been lonely ever since he has moved to a new town and when his mom pasted away. All Rob really wants is a friend or two, but instead he keeps getting bullied.
I really liked this book because it was really about his friendship with a girl named Sistine Bailey. When Rob made a friend, Sistine was a good friend because they were always going on adventures and doing other things.
The author of this book wrote it with great detail. There is so much detail that it feels like I am with the characters. That is why detail is important in this book. By having detail it makes the characters come to life.
I recommend this book because it is every thing I said, and more. It has good friendships,adventures, great detail, and much more.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Power of Friendship, April 1, 2001

By	Sheila Monk (Missouri) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tiger Rising (Hardcover)

An adult reader, I had just finished reading a news story of the young shooter at Santana High School when I opened Kate's Tiger Rising. I was struck by the similarities of that young shooter and Kate's Rob: They were similar in age and each had moved to a new school, where each encountered taunts and ridicule; each had a emotionally distant father and a physically absent mother; each household held guns; each boy kept much pain deep inside. Where the shooter's friendships offered too little, Rob was blessed with a powerful friendship through which he healed himself and perhaps his father as well.

This story has haunted me ever since.Yes, it's a darker tale than Di Camillo's Winn Dixie, but still hopeful and a testament to the kind of friendship we would wish for all our children.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Tale of Sorrow, Freedom & Redemption..., August 18, 2004

By	J. M. Hannam (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

All too often Children's books are filled with unoriginal, stock plots and characters who fulfill a role rather than instill a purpose or inspire their readers. The Tiger Rising is just the opposite. Dicamillo is an exquisite writer, who is able to probe and understand the thoughts of young readers and the problems they face.

The Tiger Rising is a book for all ages. The main character, Rob Horton, is an outcast at school, his mother has died, and he lives in a hotel, in Florida, with his father. One day he stumbles upon a tiger locked in a cage in the forest behind is motel. He later befriends a girl named sistine, who is in dire need of friendship, as is Rob, and the two are faced with many life problems throughout the story.

This is a story which strikes the very human condition of freedom, loss, hope, and most importantly friendship. Dicamillo is on top of her game with a story which will ring true to everyone who reads it.