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14th out of 18 books
—
21 voters
Leyla: The Black Tulip (Girls of Many Lands)
After her artist father goes off to war, 12-year-old Leyla must help her family earn enough money to survive. She makes a deal with marriage brokers-- but discovers too late that she's sold herself into slavery instead. Her journey as a slave takes her to faraway Istanbul, into the harem of the sultan. There she finds her Kismet, or destiny.
Hardcover, 196 pages
Published
September 30th 2003
by American Girl Publishing Inc
(first published September 1st 2003)
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Although not finishing the book, Leyla: The Black Tulip is an astonishing story of how a girl leaves her home to save her family. Her father was sent off as a war painter and has never returned. Her family is struggling to hold themselves up. Men come to town looking for girls with skills and talent and she is on the list. She takes the offer to help her family and brings along some over her self-cultivated tulips. She must go to Istanbul. She works with the Mistress of Flowers in the harem. She...more
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"Leyla The Black Tulip" features a girl from Turkey named Leyla. She makes a deal with soldiers to go with them to Istanbul to find her a husband. Leyla expects the deal to be true, but she realizes she has been tricked! Leyla ends up being a pupil for the Mistress of the Flowers in Istanbul. Padishah, her master, offers a reward for the first person to breed a black tulip and Leyla wants to win that reward.
I really liked this book because it helped me learn about a new culture. I recommend this...more
I really liked this book because it helped me learn about a new culture. I recommend this...more
This book is a great way to present the history and culture of Turkey to children. Leyla is a 12 year old girl in 1720 who volunteers to marry a rich husband so that her struggling family can have money. Instead, she is sold as a slave to a representative of the Padishah, the emperor of Turkey. She becomes part of his harem and cares for the tulips in the private gardens.
This book was part of the American Girl Series, "Girls of Many Lands." I am impressed with its educational value as well as i...more
This book was part of the American Girl Series, "Girls of Many Lands." I am impressed with its educational value as well as i...more
Part of the Girls from Many Lands series distributed by American Girl magazine. Leyla is about a Turkish girl growing up during the Ottoman Empire. Her family falls upon hard times after her father disappears during the war. Leyla, thinking she is selling herself to be married, unwittingly sells herself into slavery in order to bring her family money. She finds herself as part of a harem where her love of gardening and painting become both her only solace and her salvation. This is a melancholy...more
Apr 17, 2012
Gloriana
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
upper elementary through high school
Before Reading:
I've read a couple of other books in the American Girls Girls of Many Lands series, and I loved them! Excited to start this one, set in Turkey :)
After Reading:
I really enjoyed it! Definitely one to keep :) I think I'm going to buy the whole series, because it's really a quality series, they're all about different countries, and they're written by people from those countries, so they're very authentic. Definitely recommend it. :)
I've read a couple of other books in the American Girls Girls of Many Lands series, and I loved them! Excited to start this one, set in Turkey :)
After Reading:
I really enjoyed it! Definitely one to keep :) I think I'm going to buy the whole series, because it's really a quality series, they're all about different countries, and they're written by people from those countries, so they're very authentic. Definitely recommend it. :)
Croutier tackled a very complex subject for children's book. But I suppose that the huge gaps for the adult reader would not be evident to the younger reader. It provides background on the female slave trade and life within a harem in the most innocent of ways. However, I do wonder if little girls should leave the book thinking that 'kismet' should determine the course of one's life and that a young girl could be happy enslaved.
Leyla offers to go with the men from Istanbul to get enough gold so that her family may survive. What she doesn't know is that she is to become a slave, not the wife of a rich man. Taking place during the height of the Ottoman Empire, we are given an insider's look at the world inside the Pasha's harem. A great story about a string girl who creates her own destiny. Full of interesting facts about tulips as well.
I thought that this book was a very good read. I was very impressed by the amount of detail, imagery, and information that American Girl put into this book. This book was one of my favorites of this series because I have gotten the most imagery out of it, and I like the exotic setting they have. I would suggest this book to people who like to learn history in a story of emotion and action.
I really liked this book because I could easily imagine how the main character must be feeling and also for me this book was easy to read because the language it used were words that I use everyday and the culture of the book is something that I'm proud to say that I am apart of and this book really did a good job showing both the negatives and the positives and not just leaning to one side.
This book is part of the American Girl Doll book series- Girls of Many Lands. I was surprised with how much I enjoyed reading this book! The plot was great & definitely kid friendly, but didn't sacrifice cultural context in the process! There was some poetic license taken when it comes to Women's rights to "modernize" but all-in-all great!
This book is one of those serendipitous experiences. I was at the library to pick up some other books and happened to see this one. It looked intriguing so checked it out, too. What a wonderful story! I am now anxious to read some of the other books in the Girls of Many Lands series.
Leyla is a wonderful gardener, when discovered, she is put in charge of the gardens of the palace. But when she plants the bulb of a black tulip from her home. Will they accept her backround?
I love the namey Leyla, and her world, and it's description on culture are great too.
I love the namey Leyla, and her world, and it's description on culture are great too.
She is a verry poor family, and wants to help her mom so she goes to the lady like place where you learn and show tallents, you get money for it so she left behind her family, and learn how to be a lady knowing she may not see her family again!
Leyla, 12, accepts the soldiers’ offer of gold for her family to go with them to Turkey—she thinks, to be married to a Turk, but in actuality, she becomes a slave who is purchased by the Sultan’s harem. There she pursues her talents of gardening and painting and gains favor (although not freedom). Pretty good.
Found it more interesting than the others, but it felt a bit rushed and 'perfect' towards the end. I kept expecting Leyla to wake up and discover that the last few pages had been a dream.
It was a really good book for American Girl. I would suggest it to younger readers though. I read it for my book report but it was still good.
Leilani said I should read it so I will........................ looks good!!!
yea about that ..... well...yea....i don't know how to put this
I love the story although the end is a bit teary ;(
This was very interesting about their culture.
Mar 12, 2009
Rachel
added it
I really enjoyed reading this book.
Possibly my favorite story ever....
My eight year old daughter BEGGED me to read this, and it was pretty fun :D
A great "girl" book.
A great "girl" book.
I really like this book.
This book is wonderful not only to teach about different times, but different people and places. This book talks a little about Muslim culture, and talks about the old tradition of keeping harems.
Jun 25, 2008
Shadi
added it
This is a young adult novel--I absolutely loved it. It is a lovely tale of a young girl coming to terms and accepting her destiny. I read it in an hour (a bit of an exaggeration).
Delightful read. Leyla is a wonderful character. A great book to begin an understanding of another culture. Thanks to my friend, Barbara, for recommending it.
I really liked this book but there was some boring parts of this book, and weird parts, also Turkish language. Others ways I recommed this book to read.
Violet's 2009-2010 reading page: http://happyheartsmom.typepad.com/swe...
Sep 18, 2007
Annalise
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
girls between the ages of 10 to 15
Shelves:
american-girls
This was really really good. I love the stuff with the tulips.
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Alev Croutier was born in Turkey. She has written and directed award-winning independent films and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship (the first ever for a screenplay) for her work on Tell Me a Riddle. She is the author of the internationally acclaimed bestseller Harem: The World Behind the Veil. She divides her time between San Francisco and Paris.
More about Alev Lytle Croutier...
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