Matthew Saad

Book Review #2

Period 4

14 December 2016

The Tiger Rising

Kate DiCamillo

Fiction

121 pages

National Book Award Finalist

   

  

The novel, The Tiger Rising, by Kate DiCamillo is about a sixth-grader named Rob who lives in a motel with his father. Rob’s mother had passed away from cancer, and ever since then Rob’s father has been working in The Kentucky Star Motel, which they are also living in. One morning Rob wandered into the forest and discovers a beautiful tiger that was locked up in a cage. Instantly, Rob knew that the tiger belonged to the owner of both the forest and the motel, Beauchamp. When Rob got on the school bus he noticed a girl with yellow hair, a sharp nose and a sharp chin, black eyes, and a pink lacy dress. The girl’s name was Sistine and she was also in sixth-grade. When Rob arrived at school he couldn’t think about anything other than the beautiful tiger, and even drew a picture of the tiger during school. After Rob finished drawing the picture, the teacher Mrs. Soames told Rob that the principal, Mr. Phelmer wanted to speak with him. When Rob arrived to Mr. Phelmer’s office, Mr. Phelmer told him that some of the parents were worried that Rob had a contagious disease on his legs, which was actually a really bad rash. Mr. Phelmer told Rob that he should keep using the ointment his doctor gave him, and when his legs are better he is welcomed to come back to school. Rob then was sent back into his class to finish the day of school. During lunch Rob noticed some children pinking on Sistine and told them to leave her alone. Sistine thanked him for standing up for her and promised to bring his homework to the motel everyday till he returned to school. The next day, Sistine came over to the motel to check on Rob. Rob had told her that there was something gorgeous he wanted to show her, and so he lead Sistine into the forest and showed her the locked up tiger. Sistine was concerned why the tiger was locked up and felt that it was not right and was cruel for something as beautiful to be locked up in a cage. Sistine wished that she had keys to free the tiger from the cage. The next day, Beauchamp came to check on his motel and told Rob that he had a special job for him. Beauchamp gave Rob they keys to the tiger’s cage and wanted him to feed it every day. Beauchamp told him that he eventually wanted to skin the tiger so that he could have a tiger coat. Beauchamp made Rob promise not to tell anyone about the tiger, but Sistine already knew. When Sistine found out that Rob had the keys to the tiger cage she was so excited, because she knew that the tiger was about to be released. Rob and Sistine loved the tiger so much that they wanted it to be happy so they unlocked the cage and let it free. The tiger ran out the cage and bolted through the tall green grass, and tried to attack Rob’s father. Rob’s father pulled out the shotgun and then killed the tiger. Rob and Sistine were so sad that the beautiful tiger was now dead. Rob and Sistine then dug a hole wide enough to bury the gorgeous tiger, which they had loved, and then each said a few words.

            Some of the good things I liked about The Tiger Rising are that the story actually had a meaningful lesson. The lesson was the consequences of imprisonment and allowing a prisoner to have a moment to regain their freedom, which was symbolized or represented by the cage that the tiger was locked in, and the result of what had happened when Rob and Sistine had released it. Another thing I liked about the book is that Rob had made friends with Sistine even though they had not liked each other before. They became friends after Rob had stood up for Sistine against the bullies when he told them, “Leave her alone.” Some of the things I didn’t like about the book were how sad it was. One thing, was that Rob had been bullied very much in the book. When he was heading out the classroom, Jason Uttmeir (one of his classmates) had tripped him and said, “See you later retard.” I also thought that there was too much death involved, such as the death of his beloved mother and the death of the beautiful tiger. Even though the end of the book was very sad it was an excellent ending, because it described what could result if a prisoner was imprisoned. Even though the tiger had died in the end I was extremely happy to know that it was shot before it had attacked anyone. Overall, I thought that this book was absolutely great, because it will make you laugh at some points and make you want to scream at other parts. I recommend this book not only to students interested into adventure, but also to all other students, because it is just a fascinating and enjoyable book to read.