Part I: Bibliographic information
Type: Novel
Title: Tiger’s Curse
Writer: Colleen Houck
Copyright Date: 2011
Publisher: Sterling
ISBN: 1402784031
Genre/subgenre: Young adult/Fantasy
Interest Age: 13+
Reading Level: Upper Grades (UG 9-12)
Pages: 403
Awards: Next Generation Indie Book Award Nominee for Young Adult (2010)
Part I: Reader’s Annotation, Plot Summary, Critical Evaluation
Reader’s Annotation -- This adventure story features a feisty young American girl whose fate crosses that of a circus tiger. She travels back to India to return the tiger to his home only to find the adventure is much more involved and unbelievable than could be imagined.
Plot Summary --
Kelsey is a girl with a strong connection to a circus tiger. One day a man comes and offers to buy the tiger so that he can be returned to India. This is Mr. Kadam, a central character throughout the novel. He is entrusted with the care of the two tiger brother’s who are really two Princes who have been cursed into their tiger bodies. They can go back and forth at will but not remain in the human form for long. The first tiger is Ren -- and he is the more pensive and less confident brother.
Once the party has returned to India we meet Ren’s brother, who is known as Kishan and is also a man cursed into his tiger state. Kishan is very good with words and very smooth with Kelsey, who he flirts with openly. Kishan is more accepting than his brother of his fate as a tiger, however. He choses not to accompany Mr. Kadam, Ren and Kelsey on their quest to find the answer to breaking the curse. When they set off it’s know that the journey will be difficult but indeed it’s an unbelievable journey into secrets long buried and magical places that unfold as they journey into their depths added by tools provided by a sympathetic goddess.
On this journey, Ren and Kelsey bond as lovers might along the way but they remain uncertain about their relationship. Kelsey does not want to hurt Ren nor to be hurt by him. They managed to survive the tribulations of their journey through luck, resolve and fate -- and when they return they have the fruit of India, a magical mango that bears food to them. This is one piece of a puzzle that will in the end free the two princes to remain in a human form. Kishan also seeks her affection but she is clearly not interested as her life is already too complicated.
In the end, Kelsey decides that she cannot stay even after Ren confesses his love for her. She feels he needs to experiences his life as a man after his 300-year curse. An epilog follows describing Mumbai and a man’s search for ‘a girl’ and leads us to the next book, which continues the saga of the tigers.
Critical Evaluation -- The story is has lots of twist and turns and is most certainly not predictable. One could hardly expect that a story about two Indian princess cursed to live in the form of tiger would be predictable! But many young adult reads fall into a route of action that fails to bring much to the reader beyond distraction. Houck strives to create a human drama with the action as a backdrop to the relationships. Kelsey and Ren in particular are developed over the course of the novel and it’s not all happily ever after material. She’s hesitant to become more deeply involved because because she does not feel adequate for him -- he’s a hunky guy who could get any women in her view. He actually gets angry with her as his romantic ambitions are unrequited. That adds some reality to what might otherwise be just a sappy romantic subtext. In the end, the reader is left with a distinct sense of having journeyed to a faraway place and met some engaging and memorable people along the way. You cannot ask much more from literature -- and the series no doubt continues in this same vain.
Part III: Author Info
“Colleen Houck’s New York Times bestselling Tiger’s Curse series has received national praise with the fourth book, Tiger’s Destiny, debuting September 2012. Colleen is a lifelong reader whose literary interests include action, adventure, science fiction, and romance. Formerly a student at the University of Arizona, she has worked as a nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter for seventeen years. Colleen lives in Salem, Oregon, with her husband and a huge assortment of plush tigers” (Houck, 2013).
Part IV: Curriculum Ties, Diversity, Booktalk Ideas, Challenge Issues
Curriculum Ties, if any -- This might be an engaging read for a biology or zoology course to broaden the understanding of our relationship with animals.
Diversity of Cultures -- While it is not very academic in nature, it does explore another culture -- the Indian/Hindu culture with detail and contrast to our own.
Booktalking Ideas -- Rare animals are more and more confined to circuses and zoos. What are the ethical considerations relative to a wild animal's well being while held in captivity?
Challenge Issues -- There is some violence in the novel against various challenges they face in fighting through the palace enclave. There is a love interest between the characters but no sexual content.
Part V: Reasons chosen
Houck is trying to do something unique with the Tiger Saga. This is not stereotypical horror that is common to the young adult fantasy genre. She explores another culture in detail and leaves the reading feeling a deeper respect for and knowledge of Hindu traditions and lore. She also has said that she wanted to create a strong female lead. In the character Kelsey she is successful for the most part. This first novel in the series has her quite confused about her desires and she’s literally attracted to both the brothers and indecision reigns. While bothersome at times, this state of affairs expresses a common situation faced by teens -- and people -- as we find the right path for ourselves romantically speaking. It does make this more or less a ‘chick’ read to some degree. However, I found it engaging though not formulaic and certainly she develops the characters t-- of which there are not many -- with ongoing care and thoughtfulness throughout the work. It will be a major motion picture sometime in the near future.
Part VI: Citations
Houck, C. (2013). Bio [webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.tigerscursebook.com/bio.
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