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Bound

by Donna Jo Napoli (Goodreads Author)

3.67 of 5 stars 3.67 · rating details · 2,874 ratings · 371 reviews

YOUNG XING XING IS BOUND. Bound to her father's second wife and daughter after Xing Xing's father has passed away. Bound to a life of servitude as a young girl in ancient China, where the life of a woman is valued less than that of livestock. Bound to be alone and unmarried, with no parents to arrange for a suitable husband. Dubbed "Lazy One" by her stepmother, Xing Xing s...more

ebook, 192 pages

Published June 20th 2008 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers (first published August 1st 2004)

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Apr 30, 2008 Lily rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: finished

My high school girls love this book because it retells Cinderella in a different culture and time period, but it's cheesy and stereotyped at best. Most of the novel chronicles the girl's miserable life with her stepmother, and the Cinderella part doesn't really come into play until the very end.
The title itself serves as a metaphor for the bound life that the main character leads, which parallels the symbol of a girl's bound feet in ancient China.
This book does give more complex personalitie...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Erin Howard rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Young Adult

Shelves: historical-fiction

Rating: 3.5

Bound is a coming of age story with a Cinderella twist. Most reviews I have seen have put the shoe before the story, but this was truly not about Cinderella at its core. It was about Xing Xing, a not-quite-girl but not-quite-woman being raised by her stepmother in Ming Dynasty China with her older half-sister. Her father and mother had passed away, leaving her at the mercy of the dominant female of the household who had little respect or care for the young Xing Xing.

During this time i...more

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Nov 18, 2012 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Taylor Rector for TeensReadToo.com

Xing Xing is a young woman who is treated like the classic lower class stepchild in Donna Jo Napoli's BOUND.

Her mother died when she was very young and her father then remarried. The woman that takes care of her (if you want to call it that) is her father's new wife. Xing Xing has a stepsister who has bound feet and can't walk, so she is treated by her stepmother as though she were a maid.

The story is told in the classic tale of Cinderella, with th...more

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Feb 13, 2011 Asenath rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-lit, traditional-literature

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Jan 01, 2009 Jodi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Young adult women

Shelves: books-about-china

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Oct 02, 2012 Joy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A Cinderella story retelling based on Chinese tradition, this story gives an interesting spin to the classic tale. When Xing Xing loses her father, she is left with her half-sister Wei Ping and Stepmother. Although she cares for her half-sister, Stepmother discourages them from getting too close. Instead, Xing Xing is treated like little better than a slave. Although Xing Xing is unhappy, she feels duty-bound to care for her family, seeking only to please her ancestors. Comforted by a carp that...more A Cinderella story retelling based on Chinese tradition, this story gives an interesting spin to the classic tale. When Xing Xing loses her father, she is left with her half-sister Wei Ping and Stepmother. Although she cares for her half-sister, Stepmother discourages them from getting too close. Instead, Xing Xing is treated like little better than a slave. Although Xing Xing is unhappy, she feels duty-bound to care for her family, seeking only to please her ancestors. Comforted by a carp that she believes is her mother's soul incarnated, Xing Xing can deal with the poor treatment at home. When Stepmother kills the carp, something in Xing Xing changes. No longer is she the subservient daughter. Instead, she takes matters into her own hands and goes to a local festival on her own, dressed in her dead mother's clothing. While there, she loses one of her shoes. The shoe is picked up and sold to the Prince, who eventually finds Xing Xing and asks her to be his bride.

I appreciated the way Napoli integrated the Chinese tradition of foot binding into the story, making it so that all the women who vainly tried to make their feet smaller were unable to wear the shoe that could have gotten them what they so desperately wanted. It seemed a statement on vanity and its uselessness. The lack of a fairy godmother from the European tradition was another interesting twist, and one that I welcomed. I've always thought that the helpless female character didn't teach the right kind of message, whereas in the story, Xing Xing is the one who helps herself. Of course, one could also make an argument that her dead Mother was the godmother in that she visited in the form of a carp and also that the clothes were from her. However, Xing Xing made the decision to disobey and refuse to take her sister to the festival. Xing Xing even considered whether she thought it would be wise to accept the Prince as her husband. In the end, it was her choice.

This feminist twist with Chinese cultural elements woven into it presents a much appreciated retelling of a story that is familiar to most Americans. I would recommend this to anyone would likes fairytales, mythology, or feminist literature. If you like this book, try Robin McKinley's novels.(less)

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Aug 31, 2012 Roxanne Hsu Feldman rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reading this retelling of the “Chinese Cinderella” story was a painful experience for me. I could not even tell if it is well told, as stories go, because I was so distracted by all the inaccuracies in Napoli’s portrayal of Chinese cultures, customs, characters, and philosophies.Here are some examples of my understanding that does not coincide with Napoli’s text. Granted, I need to do more research and see if maybe my understanding is not universally correct.. A second wife of a man is not the “...more Reading this retelling of the “Chinese Cinderella” story was a painful experience for me. I could not even tell if it is well told, as stories go, because I was so distracted by all the inaccuracies in Napoli’s portrayal of Chinese cultures, customs, characters, and philosophies.Here are some examples of my understanding that does not coincide with Napoli’s text. Granted, I need to do more research and see if maybe my understanding is not universally correct.. A second wife of a man is not the “Stepmother” of his children by the other wife. She is the “auntie-mom” or “second mother.” A stepmother is the wife of a second, separate marriage after the first wife is no longer around.

Napoli’s misunderstanding of Chinese words is glaringly annoying: A Carp (li 3rd tone) and the word Advantage (li the 4th tone) look and sound completely differently — yes, in English, you see them both sound as “Li” — but their tones are different, and thus a Chinese speaker will not confuse these two at all. There is no way that Xing Xing (the main character) can paint/carve one of these two words to set up a “pun” in the ceramics she made.And would a Chinese native speaker say something like this, “‘Ming means ‘bright’ with a second tone. The word for ‘destiny’ sounds the same but with another tone.”????? If they are speaking Chinese (which they are supposed to be doing in the story,) there will be no need to point out the tonal differences because by SPEAKING them, the different tones are already aparent.

Also — homophones are the most common in Chinese language. All the following are of the same pronunciation (and it’s only 5 out of a possible 20 or so homophones): Ming = bright, Ming = name, Miing = bird call, Ming = rememberance, Ming = hell/world of the spirits. Yes, the Chinese do have word plays, and much of such plays relies on the confusion of homophones… but, the way Napoli wrote it, you can just tell that she does not really GET this language. This is the same throughout the book: reading it feels like reading a Chinese History 101 text, with pieces of a tale stuck uncomfortably on the margins.A most painful experience…(less)

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May 05, 2012 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-lit

Ouch! Just reading this book made my feet hurt! When Stepmother came out with a cleaver I just about puked! Great story though. I really like Napoli's writing; it's interesting how she uses so much research in her books to place them appropriately in their origin. My only issue with this book was that the golden shoe thing seemed highly unlikely. But, then again, it is fiction. The problem I had with this was that, if all the women's feet are bound, wouldn't at least one of them fit in the shoe...more

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Apr 26, 2012 Madeline rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: english-365, english-365-16-books

I am always a fan of fairytale and with a good spin off I am so there! This book was an in between for me. Not only was it a quick read, all in one day, but it kept me intrigued. DJ Napoli has amazing writing and I will give that to her hands down. It was fantastically written it just wasn't one of my favorites. I think the way she portrayed the binding of the feet, I felt like I was there. The different aspects of the Chinese culture was dead on it felt like-but this is coming from a white girl...more

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Feb 05, 2012 529_Cristina rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: traditional-lit, historical-fiction

Text Summary
Xing Xing, a teenage girl living during the Ming Dynasty, is bound...
to a life of servitude and loneliness now that her father and mother have passed on. She is left in the “care” of her stepmother, who shows no care for Xing Xing at all. Xing Xing is expected to complete all chores around the cave, including cooking and cleaning, and ironically Stepmother still refers to Xing Xing as “Lazy One.” All of the care and attention is given to Xing Xing’s stepsister, Wei Ping, who is bein...more Text Summary
Xing Xing, a teenage girl living during the Ming Dynasty, is bound...
to a life of servitude and loneliness now that her father and mother have passed on. She is left in the “care” of her stepmother, who shows no care for Xing Xing at all. Xing Xing is expected to complete all chores around the cave, including cooking and cleaning, and ironically Stepmother still refers to Xing Xing as “Lazy One.” All of the care and attention is given to Xing Xing’s stepsister, Wei Ping, who is being prepped for marriage by having her feet bound (a Chinese tradition), leaving her practically bedridden and in pain. Xing Xing goes to great lengths to take care of Stepmother and Wei Ping without receiving much of anything in return. Until one day, Xing Xing stumbles upon some secret gifts left to her by her mother, which initiate a series of events that may change the course of Xing Xing’s life forever. Xing Xing is “bound” for more.

Literary Merits
Set during the Ming Dynasty in northern China, Donna Jo Napoli, recreates the classic Cinderella story in her novel, Bound. Throughout the story, Napoli weaves fairy tale with history in order to create a whimsical, yet realistic tale. Embedded in her depiction of Chinese history are traditions, thematic and cultural elements specific to the time period as well (e.g. the balance of yin and yang, the objectivity of women, the teachings of Kong Fu Zi).

Classroom Recommendations
This text would be appropriate for middle school and high school students (~grades 7-12). The text would work well in a unit focused or including any of the following themes: family relationships (loyalty to family vs. self), determination, bridging past and present (ancestry).
Napoli exposes the issue of the objectivity and inequality of women in Chinese culture and tradition (feet binding, wives being sold off, etc.), which could be further analyzed through other texts. For the younger students, the movie Mulan came to mind when I was reading this and thinking of other Chinese texts/films with similar themes and content that might appeal to younger readers.
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Nov 22, 2011 Julia rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: foot-binding

This book is OK so far, just OK.
I'm not highly interested or taken with it so far. Pg 32

Well I was very sickened by this scene. It was gross and grim. Pg 40

It might just be me but Xing-Xing has no personality at all really. More like a doll you can order around and it'll do anything you want. She's not angry about anything, only sad for animals. Very dull. Pg 86

I'm begining to think the raccoon part was not even needed. Just put in to take up space, well I'm sure other things could have been mad...more

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Jul 12, 2011 Terry rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-books, cdcs-young-adult

This retelling of Cinderella is distinguished by Napoli's lyrical prose--her style is both descriptive and spare and the book almost feels like an extended poem. It's a joy to read, and easy to accomplish without stopping. At the same time, she doesn't sacrifice characterization--what's great about Bound is not only how developed the characters are, but also how complex their personalities and motivations are. For example, the stepmother is not completely evil; she is trapped in a difficult situ...more

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Dec 08, 2010 Chris Murray rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cinderella, historical-fiction

Napoli, Donna Jo. Bound (2004)
Boundis a novel based on a Chinese version of the Cinderella story. It is the story of Xing Xing, a young girl living with her stepmother and half-sister in ancient China. Since her father’s death, she has become the household slave. As her stepmother binds her daughter’s feet in hopes of a marriage prospect , Xing Xingrealizes that she is bound to a life of servitude and neglect with no possibilities of marriage and a life ofher own. I have mixed feeling about this...more

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Oct 24, 2010 Dana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This story is an ancient Chinese re-telling of the story of Cinderella. Xing Xing is bound to her dead father's second wife and her daughter Wei Ping. It is a life of servitude and tied by bonds of family and culture. Girls in this position can expect nothing and are treated little more than slaves.

Wei Ping's feet were bound immediately after her father's death and are extremely painful. Her father did not agree with this practice but her mother wants to negotiate a good marriage for her and see...more

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Jul 14, 2010 Izzy G. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pretty cover! I'd like to see something incorporating the whole thing with being bound, but it's very nice regardless.

I had mixed feelings on this one. I'm generally not the biggest fan of books based on fairy tales, especially those that try to make them modern fairy tales. Although this one took place in the past, it was rather predictable. I understand that might be the point of basing a book on a fairy tale in the first place, but I didn't find any places whatsoever where there was a plot tw...more

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Jun 10, 2010 Addie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another for YA Lit. class. Post from class is below.
I choose to read Bound by Donna Jo Napoli. This book is a retelling of the Cinderella story. This version of the story takes place in China, but the author notes that she made a few changes to the traditional Chinese story. Though the plot remains much the same, she differed in three areas: time period- it is in the Ming dynasty rather than the Qin or Han; location- takes place in a northern rather than a southern province; and community- it is...more Another for YA Lit. class. Post from class is below.
I choose to read Bound by Donna Jo Napoli. This book is a retelling of the Cinderella story. This version of the story takes place in China, but the author notes that she made a few changes to the traditional Chinese story. Though the plot remains much the same, she differed in three areas: time period- it is in the Ming dynasty rather than the Qin or Han; location- takes place in a northern rather than a southern province; and community- it is in an ordinary rather than a minority community. The plot differs from the Disneyfied version in a few ways. There is only one stepsister and she is a more sympathetic character as she is suffering through the traditional foot binding, although at an older age than is typical. The fairy godmother is really replaced by an actual mother who has been reincarnated in another form. The relationships between these characters are also much more complex, but I think that is more this authors in-depth retelling than the Chinese version.
As it is a much greater length than the typical Cinderella story the main character in this story, Xing Xing, is able to develop and grows psychologically from a child to an adult from beginning to end. This book relates strongly to social development as it places Xing Xing in the center of a culture that has very distinct rules. As a female she is undervalued. As a stepchild she is treated as a slave. As an orphan she is devoted to the ancestor worship that is prevalent in Chinese culture. The memory of her dead parents is a great comfort to her. In the midst of abiding by all of these social norms Xing Xing eventually is able to find herself and make decisions concerning her future. She is the most empowered Cinderella character I have ever encountered.
This is not a book I would necessarily choose to use to address social development, but I most certainly would use to explore Chinese culture or the variations and modernizations of fairy tales.
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Sep 29, 2009 Lexie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: review-blog, books-owned, genre-fairy-tale-redone

I freely admit my ignorance in Chinese history. What I do know is mostly gleened from Disney's Mulan, Katherine Patterson's novel (Rebels of the Heavenly Kingdom) and that which my coworkers at my job taught me for the Chinese New Year. My knowledge of the Cinderella tale, and its incarnations, is vastly larger however, but I had never come upon the Chinese tales (which according to the Postscript are some of the oldest known).

I have mixed feelings for this book; on the one hand the story moves...more

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Jan 09, 2012 Jasmineluvsjb rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: january-reads

Yesterday (Jan.7, 2012) I started reading "Bound". I finished the 11th chapter (p.61). So far I think this book is totally boring and is just about this poor girl name Xing Xing, who lives with her stepmother and stepsister and they basically treat her as a maid. O and this whole story takes place in Ancient China during the Ming Dynasty. This book is also, a version of Cinderella which made me pick it up in the first place. This book totally takes me back to second grade when we were all sittin...more Yesterday (Jan.7, 2012) I started reading "Bound". I finished the 11th chapter (p.61). So far I think this book is totally boring and is just about this poor girl name Xing Xing, who lives with her stepmother and stepsister and they basically treat her as a maid. O and this whole story takes place in Ancient China during the Ming Dynasty. This book is also, a version of Cinderella which made me pick it up in the first place. This book totally takes me back to second grade when we were all sitting on the carpet and my teacher (Mrs.Balltrop)tells us that we are going to learn about the different versions of Cinderella from around the world. That is something I will never forget, because my whole childhood was dedicated to fairy-tales and dreaming about being a princess and that totally changed my experience.

Well last night(Jan.8, 2012)I came about half way through this book. I finished the 21st chapter (p.135). Honestly, I feel bad for calling this book boring in the first place because things started to become an exciting read. In these chapters you actually feel like I was in ancient China, with an evil, no good stepmother and sister. Not only that but I start to learn about Xing Xing's past. In the last chapter that I finished reading, things were becoming to good to be true. So I see in my eyes, but in her eyes she is "happy as a hummingbird", not until things will start to turn (my prediction).

I finished this book, and it was one of the sweetest books I have ever read. Xing Xing is the Chinese Cinderella living in Ancient China. She is left with her evil Stepmother and Stepsister who hate her and treat her like a maid. In Ancient China there is a tradition when a girl hit puberty her mother bounds her feet in order to shrink them (see the Cinderella connection, foreshadowing!). Xing Xing has no mother to bound her feet so she can get married. How on earth will she!? Well she doesn't realize it (her stepmother and sister do) but she has the "most beautiful" little feet in all of China. When there is a festival in there town and she is not allowed to go...
Well I will let you figure out the rest!
I finished this book because it was a sweet read with tons of little surprises.
I would recommend this book to any girl who like me grew up dreaming about being a princess and prince charming coming your way with a glass slipper, because I think it would interest her just the same when she was six and reading Disney's Cinderella (less)

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Jun 10, 2010 Elida added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 10th-grade-advisory-shelf

Elida Almaraz
Advisory
Ms.Kwan
201C

Bound : Donna Jo Napoli

Bound is such a touching book, it is really heart breaking and unbelievable. This story is similar to that of cinderella's story, only that there are different elements. The Cinderella in this story is a teen named Xing Xing. This book takes place in northern China during the 17th century. Xing Xing was left with her stepmother and stepsister after her father passed away. Ever since Xing Xing's father died Xing Xing has been a servant for h...more

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Jul 16, 2010 Lady Knight rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Cinderella-story lovers

Shelves: historical-fiction, teen, middle-ages, public-library, asia-india-middle-east, fairy-or-folk-tale-retelling

Initially I was unaware that this was going to be a sort of "Chinese Cinderella" story and thought that it was going to be an interesting look at the practice of foot-binding. While there is some foot-binding, there is not as much as one would expect given the title (although the title could also imply/apply to many other aspects of Xiang Xiang's life (bound to tradition, bound to her stepmother, etc.)).

Set at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty (approx. 1368 A.D.) in Northern China, "Bound" tells...more Initially I was unaware that this was going to be a sort of "Chinese Cinderella" story and thought that it was going to be an interesting look at the practice of foot-binding. While there is some foot-binding, there is not as much as one would expect given the title (although the title could also imply/apply to many other aspects of Xiang Xiang's life (bound to tradition, bound to her stepmother, etc.)).

Set at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty (approx. 1368 A.D.) in Northern China, "Bound" tells the story of Xiang Xiang, a teenage girl who is expected to slave for her stepmother and half-sister now that her father is dead. While she doesn't mind overmuch, Xiang Xiang is used and abused by her living relatives and told she has no prospects. She is well-aware that since her feet were never bound, no man will want her as a wife. But that knowledge doesn't bother her overmuch since she has no real desire to married (at this point in time Chinese men could buy and sell wives at will as well as trade them without any sort of ceremony -- weddings were only required if the woman/girl was not already married). Her father had been a free thinker and had educated Xiang Xiang so that she can read and write. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage for her. But things are changing and with the establishment of the new Ming Empire, new rules and regulations are being into play everywhere. Even the upcoming local “cave festival” will be bigger than ever this year to bring it into line with the new policies on festivals… Xiang Xiang might even have a chance to stand out and make a new life for herself away from her stepmother and half-sister.

Overall the story flowed nicely and all of the cultural touches felt right. The biggest jar for me though was the use of the word “sexy”. It just didn’t seem to fit in with the flow of the rest of the dialogue – maybe it’s just me, but going from a more old-fashioned, heavily cultural dialogue, to the sudden usage of a more modern semi-slang term made me pause and re-read the sentence every time it was used. (“See the sway of her hips. See how sexy it is. I’ll walk like that soon.” – p. 31 to cite one example – definitely more jarring when read in context). The historical note at the end was also interesting. Good story but left me wanting more.
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Apr 26, 2010 Cat Conner rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fairy tale fans.

Shelves: young-adult-literature-reviews

Don't let the cover of this book fool you, for it did me. One might think that this is a novel about foot binding in China. While foot binding is an element of the novel, the word "bound" comes to take on several meanings.
"Bound" centers around Xing Xing. Xing Xing has recently experienced the death of her father and her mother died when she was seven. Xing Xing is now fourteen and lives with her stepmother and half-sister in a cave home in Ming China. Xing Xing had a close relationship with her...more Don't let the cover of this book fool you, for it did me. One might think that this is a novel about foot binding in China. While foot binding is an element of the novel, the word "bound" comes to take on several meanings.
"Bound" centers around Xing Xing. Xing Xing has recently experienced the death of her father and her mother died when she was seven. Xing Xing is now fourteen and lives with her stepmother and half-sister in a cave home in Ming China. Xing Xing had a close relationship with her father and is frequently visited by the reincarnated spirit of her mother in the form of a beautiful carp. However, home life is not what it was for Xing Xing when her father was alive.
Now, Xing Xing has been reduced to the life of a servant. Much of her necessity is do to the fact that Stepmother has bound feet and cannot move around without difficulty. Xing Xing's father would not allow Stepmother to bind her daughter's (Wei Ping, Xing Xing's half-sister) feet when she was young. As soon as Xing Xing's father passed away, Stepmother immediately began the process of binding Wei Ping's feet in the hope that she will be desirable for a husband. This leaves Wei Ping in excruciating pain and Xing Xing the only able-bodied household member.
Initially, the central theme of "Bound" is hard to decipher. The majority of the book centers around the hardships and chores that Xing Xing must endure due to the temperament and physical state of her stepmother and half-sister. The most interesting facet of the novel is Xing Xing's fluctuating perspective. She comes in and out of subservience and self-preservation. One cannot tell if she is the stereotypical daughter who will always do what she is told in the name of honor and family, or if she will give head to her radical thoughts and break away from total allegiance to her stepmother.
This book is a nice, quick read. Despite the indefinite plot for much of the book, the daily life that Napoli describes is captivating and told with a fresh perspective. Xing Xing is a dynamic character to whom the reader grows attached and endeared. The delightful surprise ending leaves one with a feeling of satisfaction and delight.
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Mar 27, 2009 Andrew Backs rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-titles

3Q 3P MJ

The story in Bound focuses on the troubled youth of Xing Xing after the passing of her father. She lives with her Step-mother and her half sister Wei Ping in a small cave on the outskirts of their small village in China. Along with her sister, Xing Xing's future is in doubt and may very well be held in the hands of her unloving Step-mother whose only concern seems to be the marrying off of her daughter Wei Ping. Without her father or her mother, Xing Xing has no family heritage left outs...more

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Dec 22, 2012 Yang-Ha Kim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Very interesting historical fiction, mixing it with the tale of Cinderella. Though short, it is filled with facts of Ancient China and explains its story through the mind of a compassinate Chinese girl, including poems. It's one of my favorites.
Xing Xing, named "Stars" from her beloved dececsed mother, now serves her stepmother and her half sister after her father dies. Bound and in pain, her step sister Wei Pang lives a life only of being served and only with the goal of being married to a rich...more

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May 16, 2013 Brittanee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: eng356

I wanted to read this book because I love to learn about different cultures. This book also has a Cinderella twist to it and my romantic mind loves that. This book was really good. I enjoyed watching Xing Xing grow and develop through the book. There were some parts that I thought were kind of gross but that just gave the book more depth. This book had a string around my heart from start to finish. I felt many different emotions throughout this book and that really does it for me.

I would recomm...more

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Dec 20, 2010 luiloth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A Chinese fairy tale based on the retelling of the oldest known version of Cinderella, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_Xian

The story revolves around the lives and interactions of four women; Xing Xing, her dead mother, her Stepmother and her dauther, Wei Ping.

After the death of her parents, Xing Xing becomes bound as a servant to her stepmother and for caring for her halfsister, Wei Ping.
In hopes of finding a good marriage for her daughter, her mother binds the girl's feet even though she is ov...more

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Nov 18, 2010 Caroline Saltzman rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 03, 2010 Eva Leger rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Eva by: library

Shelves: b-fiction, y-a

A beautiful quote from the book: "If you fall into water, you my still be saved. If you fall down in literary matters, there is no life left for you." How beautiful is that?
I'm requesting Beast from my library today. I'm so surprised I enjoyed this as much as I did being that I'm way more of a non-fiction and memoir fan than a fantasty/sci-fi/fairytale reader.
How could I read the description on the back of the book and not want to know what that was about? For the most part it felt like a ligh...more

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Aug 11, 2011 Lisa Rathbun added it · review of another edition

Good story based on the Cinderella tale set in China. It hearkens back to the old variant of the story where her mother's soul is in a fish to guide her. I enjoyed the story, reading it in a couple hours. The title is great! One detail that didn't ring true to me was that Xing Xing's mother's tiny shoes fit her and not others in town. No matter how small Xing Xing's feet were, how could they possibly be as small as a woman's bound feet?

A lot of neat cultural details as well helps students learn...more

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Aug 18, 2011 Veazey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was a pleasant surprise. Honestly, when I began, I didn't know what to expect. To my surprise, it is a retelling of Cinderella...though I couldn't figure that part out until the very end.

I had picked this book up late one night, about ten o'clock, because I was having some particuarly bad pain in my stomach and I couldn't sleep. I ended up reading the whole thing in one sitting, getting to sleep around 1 am. It was very engaging, and ended up being a really good painkiller! Haha....boo...more

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Dec 16, 2012 Amanda rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, cultural, children-s-pre-teen, cinderella-stories

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Donna Jo Napoli is both a linguist and a writer of children's and YA fiction.

Donna Jo has five children. She dreams of moving to the woods and becoming a naturalist. She loves to garden and bake bread.

At various times her house and yard have been filled with dogs, cats, birds, and rabbits. For thirteen years she had a cat named Taxi, and liked to go outside and call, "Taxi!" to...more

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