The Tigers in the Tower by Julia Golding
Release Date: November 18th, 2020
Publisher: Lion Fiction
Genre: Middle Grade Historical Fiction
Pages: 224
Cover Artist: Keith Robinson Illustrations
Synopsis
“A Little Princess – with tigers! Orphan and outcast Sahira Clive is a brave and plucky heroine with a brightly burning heart. I was rooting for her all the way to the end of this thrilling – and thought-provoking – adventure.”Ally Sherrick, award-winning author of Black Powder
Sahira’s family are travelling to England to deliver two majestic Indian tigers to the menagerie in the tower of London.
But tragedy strikes and sickness steals Sahira’s parents from her on the journey. Left alone in London, Sarhira finds herself confined to a miserable and dangerous orphanage. Despite her heartache and the threats she faces, Sahira is determined to carry out her father’s last request – to protect God’s beautiful creatures: her tigers. To do so, Sahira must set out on an adventure and use all her powers of persuasion to engage the help of some new friends along the way.
Can the quest to find her tigers a safe home, lead Sahira to find her own place of hope and belonging in this strange and foreign land?
Review
Thank you to TBR and Beyond Tours, Lion Fiction, and Julia Golding for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. For the rest of the TBR and Beyond Book Tour Schedule please click here!
As soon as I saw the words “A Little Princess” in the blurb I knew I had to read this book. Growing up I adored the movie “A Little Princess” and I even remember crying in elementary school over Sara and her situation at the boarding school. It is a story that has stayed with me all the way to adulthood. What Julia Golding did with this spin on that classic story just amazes me. The stories of Indian folklore that Sara tells during her time in the boarding school come to life in Golding’s The Tigers in the Tower.
I knew that I liked Sahira from the moment we first meet her on the pages of this story. She is resilient, kind, smart, and quick-witted. All of these traits served her so well over the course of her journey. She manages to make friends, fend off bullies, and make her own way in the world, which is not a small feat for an India girl plunged into a world of prejudices against her. Sahira is the definition of someone rising above their circumstances. She took her life into her own hands and decided that no adult was going to make her feel bad about being herself in their world.
The story elements in The Tigers in the Tower were nicely paced and made for a lovely, quick read. I believe that many middle grade-aged children will be able to appreciate the social issues that are tackled in this novel as well as the importance of being kind to any person of any background. The animal facts in this book are also very interesting and fit really well within the plot. These extra little facts didn’t feel random at all and it boosted Sahira’s background in taking care of wild animals.
This book is definitely getting a re-read from me in the near future and this book is something I will be planning on sharing with my future children (I hope they have a love for reading lol).
Top 5 Reasons to Read
- It satisfies all your needs for a story similar to A Little Princess, I loved that movie growing up and that made me love this book even more.
- Sahira is so brave and caring and selfless and she is a great role model for Middle Grade students
- The respect that Sahira has for the tigers is just amazing. The author does a great job of being realistic with how Sahira would handle the tigers in the real world. She doesn’t treat them like pets
- Sahira’s journey is heartbreaking, but hopeful at the same time. I never really knew what was going to happen at the end of the book.
- The end of the novel will make the whole reading journey worth it.
Favorite Quotes
“I’ve travelled to place they’ve never been, faced down threats they can’t imagine. They haven’t met anyone like me before.“
“Sahira knew only too well how they felt. Fitting in with this new London life felt a little like sloughing off her old ways, revealing a new and vulnerable skin.”
Purchase your copy of Tigers in the Tower here!
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Meet the Author
Julia Golding is a multi-award winning writer for adults and young adults. She also writes under the pen names of Joss Stirling and Eve Edwards. Born in 1969, she grew up near Epping Forest. She studied English at Cambridge University, then joined the Foreign Office and worked in Poland, before returning to Oxford University to study for a doctorate in literature of the romantic period. She worked for Oxfam, lobbying on conflict issues, before becoming a full-time writer. Over three-quarter of a million of her books have been sold worldwide in many languages.
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