From School Library Journal
Grade 6-9 - Essentially a graphic novel without the graphics, this book (the first of five) should have broad appeal to readers who love computer games and Japanese anime. As the story begins, five orphans, being raised as foster brothers and Buddhist monks in 17th-century China, are hiding in a large water jar as imperial forces, led by their renegade older brother, Ying, attack and slaughter their temple's residents. Grandmaster has given the boys animal names and has trained each of them in a martial-arts style related to his titular animal's strengths. He intends the five to escape, even if everyone else dies. Fu - the "tiger" - is this book's main character; in addition to remaining free, he is determined to reclaim the valuable ancient training scrolls that Ying has taken from the temple. Fu finds friends in unexpected places and learns to control the impulses he has fought against all of his life. Teens are likely to warm to the implicit theme that each person has a particular destiny, an inborn sense of identity that must be brought to light. While quite a page-turner, employing slapstick humor from time to time in true manga style, Tiger is nonetheless an adventure story and not a more serious work of finding one's self and one's place in the world. Cheryl Aylward Whitesel's Blue Fingers (Clarion, 2004) is a fine story that also examines those topics. - Coop Renner, Hillside Elementary, El Paso, TX Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From Booklist
Gr. 6-9. This first installment of The Ancestors series features Fu, or Tiger, one of five orphan monks, each named for an animal he most resembles. As the book begins, the boys are hidden in a water barrel during a raid on their temple. The emperor's army, under the command of their former brother, Ying, the Eagle, is out to destroy the Cangzhen Monastery, kill the grandmaster, and steal the sacred scrolls. Impetuous Fu rescues the scrolls, but his own rash act leads to imprisonment in a remote village. Although set in 1650 China, this is a kung fu novel, not historical fiction, and despite the grandmaster's peace-seeking Buddhist philosophy, Tiger is not for the squeamish, as Ying is a terrifying villain and "bloodstained flesh dangles" during violent battles. Characters are virtuous or evil, but the slam-bang, pedal-to-the-metal adventure stands a good chance of luring kids away from video games; they will definitely line up for the forthcoming sequel. Linda Perkins
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


From the Inside Flap
“Tiger clips along at a lightning pace!”—Eoin Colfer

Twelve-year-old Fu and his temple brothers Malao, Seh, Hok, and Long don’t know who their parents were. Raised from infancy by their grandmaster, they think of their temple as their home and their fellow warrior monks as their family. Then one terrible night, the temple is destroyed by an army led by a former monk named Ying, whose heart is bent on revenge. Fu and his brothers are the only survivors. Charged by their grandmaster to uncover the secrets of their past, the five flee into the countryside and go their separate ways. Somehow, Grandmaster has promised, their pasts are connected to Ying’s. Understanding that the past is the key to shaping the future, the first book in the series follows Fu as he struggles to find out more and prove himself in the process. Fu’s name literally means “tiger,” for he is the youngest-ever master of the fierce fighting style modeled after that animal.


About the Author
Jeff Stone practices the martial arts daily. He has worked as a photographer, an editor, a maintenance man, a technical writer, a ballroom dance instructor, a concert promoter, and a marketing director for companies that design schools, libraries, and skateboard parks. Like the heroes of The Five Ancestors series, Mr. Stone was adopted when he was an infant. He began searching for his birthmother when he was 18; he found her 15 years later. The author lives with his wife and two children in Carmel, IN.


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
“This is stupid,” Fu mumbled from the bottom of the terra-cotta barrel. “How long do we have to stay inside this thing? I feel like a pickled vegetable.”

“Shhh!” warned his brother Malao, lying directly on top of him. “Grandmaster told us to remain perfectly quiet, and perfectly still.”

“I know what Grandmaster said,” Fu replied. “But we can’t stay crammed in here forever. I say we get out right now. I say we stop hiding and fight!”

“Calm yourself, Fu,” whispered his brother Seh from on top of Malao. “We are all just as cramped and uncomfortable as you are. But we must do as Grandmaster said and remain silent and hidden. The enemy within our walls is unlike any faced by Cangzhen Temple in more than a thousand years.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Fu said. “Stop being so dramatic. You guys are sounding more and more like Grandmaster every day. I don’t care who’s out there. We’re all masters now. We’ve all passed the tests. We shouldn’t be hiding like a bunch of girls. We should be—”

“Hush!” snapped Fu’s brother Hok, who was lying on top of Seh. “That’s enough, Fu! You’re making even me angry now.”

“I don’t care!” Fu replied. “If you think—”

“Quiet!” hissed Fu’s oldest brother, Long, from the top of the pile. “Control your tongues, all of you! Brother Fu, empty the words from your mouth and then empty your mind. You must take control of your thoughts and your emotions, or they will control you.”

“You must take control of your thoughts and your emotions, or they will control you,” Fu mocked. “Give me a break, Long. Right now we need action, not philosophy.”

Fu was quickly losing his patience. He could hear enemy horses racing up and down the brick pathways that crisscrossed the temple grounds. He also heard weapons clashing and men crying out—plus a terrible, new sound. It was almost like thunder, except every boom was followed by a pain-filled scream. Fu’s keen ears recognized each and every scream. Warrior monks were falling.

A low growl resonated deep within Fu’s chest. He didn’t understand why his four brothers, stacked above him in the barrel, were holding back. Like him, each had mastered a style of animal kung fu that reflected both his personality and his body type. In fact, their true natures were so perfectly matched with their kung fu styles that they were each named after the animal they mirrored. They were born to fight. But they wouldn’t.

Fu, the tiger, growled again. His brothers didn’t look like him, walk like him, talk like him, or even smell like him. And they certainly didn’t think like him. He called them “brothers” because they all were Buddhist and lived in the temple together. In reality, he and his “brothers” were orphans. What Fu needed were real brothers. Brothers who would fight alongside him.

Fu grunted under the weight of the others. “I can’t believe we are just going to—”

“Please!” Long interrupted. “No more talking! We all have to remain silent. Brother Fu, focus your breathing. Meditate like the rest of us have been doing. If you find that you cannot meditate, just lie still and relax.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” Fu replied. “You’re on top. Try lying down here at the bottom of the pile in a pool of water with Malao’s nasty feet pressing up against your lips.”

Malao giggled softly and wiggled his toes.

“If you do that again, Malao, I’ll bite them off one at a time,” Fu said. “I swear I will.”

Malao giggled again but kept his toes still.

How much longer am I going to be stuck in here? Fu wondered. He hoped for his brothers’ sake they would all get out of the barrel soon, because he wasn’t sure if he could control himself much longer.

ANNOTATION

Five young warrior-monk brothers survive an insurrection and must use the ancient arts to avenge their Grandmaster.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Twelve-year-old Fu and his temple brothers Malao, Seh, Hok, and Long don't know who their parents were. Raised from infancy by their grandmaster, they think of their temple as their home and their fellow warrior monks as their family. Then one terrible night, the temple is destroyed by an army led by a former monk named Ying, whose heart is bent on revenge. Fu and his brothers are the only survivors. Charged by their grandmaster to uncover the secrets of their past, the five flee into the countryside and go their separate ways. Somehow, Grandmaster has promised, their pasts are connected to Ying's. Understanding that the past is the key to shaping the future, the first book in the series follows Fu as he struggles to find out more and prove himself in the process. Fu's name literally means "tiger," for he is the youngest-ever master of the fierce fighting style modeled after that animal.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Set in 17th-century China (aka "4348-Year of the Tiger"), Stone's debut novel launches his riveting Five Ancestors series. Five orphans live at Cangzhen Temple with their Grandmaster, and consider themselves brothers; "each had mastered a style of animal kung fu that reflected both his personality and his body type." Their names are Cantonese for monkey, snake, crane, dragon and-this novel's focus-tiger. As the novel opens, Ying (Cantonese for "eagle"), a 16-year-old former student, returns to the school with the Emperor's army to retrieve the "dragon scrolls" ("He yearns to be an all-powerful dragon," Grandmaster explains) and also to exact revenge on the Grandmaster, whom he blames for the death of his best friend. The brothers learn that Ying may harbor a deeper motive ("Grandmaster wasn't the holy man everyone thinks he is," Ying tells them). In a titillating foreshadowing, Grandmaster warns the boys not to kill Ying: "Your pasts are interwoven with Ying's and so are your futures." While Ying battles his teacher, 12-year-old Fu ("tiger") retrieves the scrolls and flees, and the five brothers "scatter into the four winds." Fu spares the life of one of Ying's soldiers, who then repays the favor at a pivotal moment; Fu and Malao ("monkey") each bond with their animal counterparts, who also aid them at key junctures. Stone credibly portrays Fu as alternately sympathetic and maddening, true to his adolescent nature, and the martial arts scenes will keep even reluctant readers flipping through the pages, and anxious for volume two, Monkey. Ages 10-up. (Mar.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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