Tiger, Tiger

by Lynne Reid Banks

Book Overview

Two tiger cub brothers are seized from their jungle home and taken to Rome. The larger, stronger cub is trained as a fierce killer of gladiators and Christians at the Colosseum. The younger, smaller cub becomes a special gift from the emperor Caesar to his beautiful daughter, Aurelia. This cub's fangs are removed, and his claws are covered with leather pouches. Aurelia is delighted by the cub and calls him Boots. Julius, a handsome young animal keeper,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385732406
• ISBN13: 9780385732406
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: Delacorte Press
• Length: 195 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.7"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

Excitement and Drama in Ancient Rome

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.

tiger, tiger, whats not to love?

Tiger, tiger was an exciting novel with suprising twists that captured the mind. this book pulls you in as soon as you lay eyes upon it. there were three main characters. Aurelia, ceasers young 12 and later on 13 year old child. marcus who is a year youger than aurelia and is her cousin. tinally there is julius. he is the young tiger tamer for aerulia. in the book two tiger cubs were taken from the jungle and brought to ealy rome. they both take extremly different paths. some, life threating. when the tiger cubs are taken from the jungle they are both used to serve rome. but in very different ways. the smaller more scrawny cub is taken to be aurelias' personal pet. the stronger more husky cub, is taken to the colosseum to learn to fight, and eventually kill. he becomes a ficious killer and his abouse to the christians rapidly becomes know throught rome. however, "boots" as aeurlia now refers to him as, is living a pampered life amongst the "two legs." he is petted, pampered, fed a large assortments of meat, and never gets bored with the palace life. but while he is treated like the "real" king of the jungle, his brother known as Brute, lives in a small dark cage, only let out to kill. Brute, the cold man-killer sits alone in a small dark cage surrounded by other dark cages filled with animals that have been to the arena or awit the day they get to go up. All brute can smell is the stence of fear and anxiety. There are thrillings to the thought of going to the arena, but all the same there is extreme fear. When an animal goes up, they more than likely dont come back down. When brute's day finally arrives, he can not wait to tear, rip, and feast. for when HE goes up, he will come back down. one evening when julius, and aurelia venture to marcus's house. all is well until julius falls asleep. when marcus and aurelia plan to make a horrible joke onhim for failing to commet to his duties, some thing terrible happens. Boors temoraily escapes and the puts julius's life on the line. when the tiger is finally found, julius and boots go into the arena, unarmed to face the wild killer Brute. with all the trust, hope and over whelming fear, boots and julius go and are ready to face their death. but when julius is supposed to be sent in un-armed, before the doors open for him to proceed to enter, some one places a sword in his hand. Praying his last prayers, julius enters the arena the the crys, and wild screams of the crowd. The moment his life was to fall, julius fights like there was somthing to live for.

i loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove this book

i highly recomend this book to anybody with sense,please read it.

Incredible story!

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!

An attention grabbing story about the barbaric times of Roman rule

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