The Tiger Rising
Name of Book: The Tiger Rising
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Cover Illustrator: Chris Sheban
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Audience: Ages 9-12
Summary: Twelve-year-old Rob Horton has recently moved with his father to a seedy motel in Lister, Florida. Ever since his mother’s death, Rob has shut up his feelings in a big “suitcase” and clamped it down tight. He is determined that nothing will make him cry again – not the bullies who torment him at his new school, not the ugly rash on his legs, and especially not missing his mother, whom he is very skilled at not thinking about.
But then two extraordinary things happen: Rob discovers a real-life tiger in a cage near the motel where he lives. On that same day, he meets Sistine Bailey, a feisty, independent-minded girl who lets out her feelings as readily as he holds his in. As Rob and Sistine learn to trust each other and, ultimately, to be friends, they prove that some things – like memories and heartache and tigers – can’t be locked up forever.
Literary elements at work in the story: Fiction novel set in an apparently small – even “backwoods” – town in Florida. It’s hard to tell by the story when it takes place…sometime after the invention of automobiles and vacuum cleaners is about the only hint we get.
Perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/ability: The main characters are quite diverse. Sistine is apparently the daughter of well-to-do (and recently divorced) parents: she dresses in fancy clothes that cause her to be teased at school and her grammar is better than anyone’s in the story. Rob’s dad comes across as being uneducated by using poor grammar but that could be simply a colloquialism – I grew up with many people in the deep South who spoke in a similar manner though they knew better. The wisest person in the story, the one Sistine refers to as a “prophetess,” is a black woman named Willie May who has befriended the motherless boy.
Scripture: John 15:12-14
Theology: This is a poignant story of loss and redemption and the part that friendship and love play in the healing process.
Faith Talk Questions:
- Throughout most of the story, how does Rob cope with things he can’t change? Why do you think the Threemonger brothers bully him and how does he deal with their threats and abuse?
- Sistine and Rob handle problems and situations in opposite ways. Which way do you believe is better?
- What is the rash on Rob’s legs? What do you think the cure for his rash might be?
- What is the significance of the tiger’s cage for Sistine? For Rob?
- What are some of Rob’s feelings that begin to surface with Sistine’s help and friendship? What occurs at the end of the story that allows Rob to “open the suitcase”? What happens to his relationship with his father then?
Review prepared by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Kelly Hames
The Tiger Rising by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
I am surprised this dark book is recommended for such young ages in this review. This novel deals with some heavy themes that are not appropriate for children under the age of 13: Rob’s father is abusive, Sistine’s father has an affair, the bus driver lets boys beat up on Rob, and the Lord’s name in vain is used through out this book. The BN recommended reading level is 12 and up – not because of verbiage, but context.
It is frequently difficult to determine what ages we put for ‘audience’. For a standardized approach, we tend to go with what Amazon says and they do say Ages 9-12. Candlewick Press, the publisher of the book, says ages 10 and up. And in our own categorization of the book, we say it is appropriate for older elementary (which would be 9-10 year olds), middle schoolers and up into high school. An adult will always want to use their own discretion in choosing books to use with children and youth, and we appreciate you sharing your own sense of what you think would be the best age range.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who feels this way. Completely inappropriate for school children, especially ones who are in fourth grade as mine is and who has a teacher reading this book to the entire class. This is beside the fact that this is basically therapy and counseling. This should not be things that are taught in school. What happened to wonderful imagination books or fact based books. Somehow I feel our kids are being brainwashed and no I don’t approve. When a teacher has that type of degree, then let them go open a practice and be a counselor or therapist. This is not classroom material.