Third Sister in the Tao family, Ailin has watched her two older sisters go through the painful process of having their feet bound. In China in 1911...
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Dec 30, 2010
Julie
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This young Chinese girl decides that she did not want to have her feet painfully bound, going against tradition. This novel takes us through her struggles and accomplishments that come as a result of this choice.
The main character was strong, so I found myself rooting for her quite early in the book. It is always nice to see strong female characters.
It was very interesting to see a book that dealt with Chinese culture without mocking it or being over-awed at it. This seem More...
The main character was strong, so I found myself rooting for her quite early in the book. It is always nice to see strong female characters.
It was very interesting to see a book that dealt with Chinese culture without mocking it or being over-awed at it. This seem More...
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Mar 23, 2009
Corinne
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The tale of Third Sister, Ailin, begins in turn of the century China. Even at the age of five, Ailin knows that having her feet bound will not give her the kind of life she wants – she’d no longer be free to run and play. As a coming of age story, we get to experience China first-hand as Ailin grows older and begins to suffer the consequences of her decision. With her family against her, Ailin has to find the courage to stand up to traditional Chinese culture and find her own way to be a woman.
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Oct 27, 2011
This book was very entertaining to read. It was about a chinese girl rebelling against a chinese tradition to have her feet bound. Her sisters, amah, (which is like a nanny) her grandmother and her mother all have their feet bound. Her grandmother says it is unlady like to have unbound feet. The main character Ailin, had a marraige arranged for her but the boys mother that she was suppose to marry broke off the engagment because Ailin did not have her feet bound. I thought this was not right for
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Aug 03, 2011
Rojo
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I really, really liked this book. That may sound a little plain but I really do. The first time I've even heard of this book was in 8th grade when my friend was reading it and she sat next to me in science. So I looked at what she was reading and it was about foot binding in China and I was actually really interested in that. So from that day I was like, ok, one of these days I need to read this book. Then a couple days ago my school was having a free book thing so people could have something to
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Mar 03, 2010
Barky
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Apr 17, 2011
Heather
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This lovely little novel is evidence that a book does not have to be long to handle complex topics and interesting characters effectively. "Ties that Bind, Ties that Break" is a look at early 20th century China around the time of the 1911 Revolution, but the heart of the story itself is one young woman caught between the East and the West, the past and the future. One downside of the novel's compact length is that it often has to summarize things that a longer work would have room to f
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Jun 29, 2010
Heather
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Apr 11, 2010
Mary
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In the book Ties That Bind, Ties That Break, Tao Ailin, who was raised in a strict traditional Chinese family breaks the rules to become a modern woman of the new generation. Ever since she escaped the cruel tradition of binding a girl's feet, she has committed other what her grandmother would consider "rebellious" acts. After attending public school, and met her first "big-nose" foreigner, Ailin was exposed to the other side of the world and how females can be independent
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Jul 03, 2009
W.H.
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Ailin, the third daughter of a wealthy Chinese family in Nanjing in 1911, is smart, headstrong, and slightly spoiled. When she is five, she fights at having her feet bound. Her mother and grandmother are horrified, while her older sister is sympathetic. Her father surprises them all.
"Ailin doesn't have to have her feet bound if she doesn't want it."More...
"She's too young to understand the consequences," said Mother.
"But I understand the con
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Nov 15, 2011
Zer
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Loved Ties That Bind, Ties That Break! A powerful book about a young women's life from China to the US. During her struggles to decide and breakaway from her past she learns the most powerful coming of age lesson: Standing up for what you believe in can be for the better.
This book made me think of my life and gave me the courage to want to do more in my life! It makes me so proud to be able to change what my future could be and can be. The main character taught me to make better More...
This book made me think of my life and gave me the courage to want to do more in my life! It makes me so proud to be able to change what my future could be and can be. The main character taught me to make better More...
Apr 09, 2011
Beverly
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Another wonderful YA book that I have not read in years. It must be an amazing novel because even though I haven't read it in probably ten years or more, I often thought about it. It is a compelling, culturally accurate story of a young girl torn between her family's strong ties to tradition and her own wisdom and goals. Middle school girls admire the protagonist's courage to risk her family's scorn in order to do what is best for herself both physically and emotionally. They are also shocked at
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May 05, 2011
Mary
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Ailin is a spoiled and headstrong 5-year-old daughter of a wealthy family in Nanjing, China at the beginning of the 20th century, when she refuses to have her feet bound. With few education or career options available to any girl or woman in China at the time, her refusal (with her father's support) has significant consequences. Her engagement to a nice son of wealthy family friends is broken, and after her father dies, her family refuses to support her any longer, threatening to send her to be
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May 30, 2009
Nayeli
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The Tao familiy which has 3 sisters and the youngest one sees how her older sisters feet are bound not been able to do anything they want. They dont have the possibility to walk or run as they wish they did because they have the feet bound. At the end Ailin left to the united states and gor married to James. They met when she was on her way to the United States in the boat. Alin decided to stay in the united states and stay with her husban. Life wasn't easy, but she was ready to live her life an
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Jan 13, 2012
Alma
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Ailin bucks a thousand years of Chinese tradition when she refuses to get her feet bound at age 4 like all young, respectable women of her day are expected to do. It is the mid 1900's, and women with bound feet are considered beautiful and it is necessary in order for them to have good marriage prospects. However, because of this decision, Ailin's life is ruined in her family's eyes as her future mother in law has called off her future marriage, and there are no prospects for a girl with "b
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Nov 11, 2010
Dori
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If you haven’t discovered Lensey Namioka, you’re in for a treat. I met her recently, and she has an intriguing background: daughter of a Chinese linguist, she married a mathematician from Japan after immigrating to the U.S. Her books, for children and young adults, draw on her deep knowledge of China and Japan. This novel tells the tale of Ailin, the spirited third sister in the Tao family, a girl who refuses to have her feet bound. That causes a break in her arranged marriage and costs her de
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Jan 15, 2010
Lana.
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Foot binding has always been a curiousity to me, another part of my heritage I couldn't quite understand. Why would non-functional foot be considered lovely? Why suffer so much pain?
Protagonsit Ailin asks similar questions as a young girl who is pressured to have her feet bound to make her suitable for marriage. Her story is a great adventure which is also heart-wrenching as she describes living as an outsider - neither foreign nor Chinese because of the choices she makes. To t More...
Protagonsit Ailin asks similar questions as a young girl who is pressured to have her feet bound to make her suitable for marriage. Her story is a great adventure which is also heart-wrenching as she describes living as an outsider - neither foreign nor Chinese because of the choices she makes. To t More...
Jul 14, 2009
♪☼Jen☼♪
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I am reading this book at the moment. I have learned not much because I am currently on pg 42
Oct 14, 2007
Kristyn
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This book is about the foot bindings in ancient China. Long ago when a girl was still very young she would have her foot bound. Foot binding was a tradition that crippled girls, but small feet was considered fashionable. If your feet were unbound you were looked down upon since only girls who were farmers or very poor had unbound feet. With unbound feet you were garanteed to not make a good marriage. In this book it tells the story of a girl named Tao Ailin who refused to have her feet bound. Ta
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Oct 09, 2009
Huong
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some students can be able to relate to how the main character has problems dealing with being "too Westernized" and conflicting views of what is acceptable in one culture, yet not the others.
the book also deals a little with racism and some issues relating to Christian missionaries in China (e.g. Eastern vs. Western beliefs/traditions)
bits and pieces of the Chinese Revolution are discussed in this book, along with the Boxer Rebellion, etc. which will require ext More...
the book also deals a little with racism and some issues relating to Christian missionaries in China (e.g. Eastern vs. Western beliefs/traditions)
bits and pieces of the Chinese Revolution are discussed in this book, along with the Boxer Rebellion, etc. which will require ext More...
Jan 15, 2009
Jana
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I never knew about foot binding until reading this book. Chinese girls had their feet bound at a young age so that their feet would not grow. Their 4 small toes were bent under their feet and wrapped up all day and as you can imagine, it was a very painful process. Bound feet were considered a sign of wealth and in order to marry well you had to have them. This is a story about a girl who refused to have her feet bound and the "consequences" that came with it.
Nov 28, 2010
Isabella
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I had to read it in class, and it turned out to be a pretty good book. I thought it was going to be a terrible story about China back in the day, but I was wrong. Feet binding is really interesting, and I never knew about it before this book. I love the story and how Namioka put it together :)
It took long to read because we all read it as a class, and since it's English, we have at least two essays a week to do, so we a chapter almost every day.
It took long to read because we all read it as a class, and since it's English, we have at least two essays a week to do, so we a chapter almost every day.
Dec 02, 2008
TheSaint
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Imagine living in a society where, for a thousand years, tradition dictated that girls too young to think for themselves be physically mutilated. Author Lensey Namioka wrote Ties that Bind, Ties that Break in honor of her grandmother, one of the first Chinese girls to escape the horrors of footbinding in the 1930s. Main character Ailin pays dearly for her independence, but it is a cost she considers well worth the price.
Mar 21, 2011
Jenny
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Ailin is almost five when her mother and grandmother try to bind her feet so she can marry well. Ailin fights until her father says her feet may stay unbound. The engagement for Ailin is broken off, and Ailin must find a different future. She is sent to school and learns English. After her father dies, she must support herself as a nanny to a missionary family. She goes with the to America to find her destiny.
Oct 11, 2010
Martina
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It's a little short for my reading level now but at the same time the references to history can really get you thinking. I have the feeling that making the book 300 pages long isn't very necessary. And I am also Chinese, though I'm in 7th grade in the US, so I don't think I can really connect, only some of the Chinese words I proudly translated correctly and grinned smugly to myself when I did.
I loved the book!
I loved the book!
Feb 11, 2011
Becky
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I read this book when I was in middle school. It was a moving story. I've looked back over the years at ALL of the hundreds of books I've read and this one has always stood out. It was one that made me want to read, and definitely one that helped push me into actually enjoying reading rather then just doing it to satisfy learning requirements, or even necessity. A wonderful book.
Jun 08, 2009
Jessica
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Ties That Bind Ties That Break is a really good book that shows you how a girl can go against her tradition and still have a happy life. From this book i learned that women are always the one's that have to suffer. Binding your feet is one of the most painful things and I hope that no more women have to suffer like many Chinnese women did. I recommend this book to every women out there.
Jan 28, 2010
I love this book because it describe how they bond their feet. The book create a image about the people back then in china. This book is about how this girl need to bond her feet in order to get married to a guy. She don't want to bond her feet after seeing what her grandma have been through. This book make me wonder about my family background.
Apr 11, 2009
Emily
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jun 05, 2009
Kittiya
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What I learned from this book.. well that I'm glad I never had to have my feet bound. That I feel a wave of compassion for the women who had to endure this process for over a thousand years. That while many traditions are important to pass along, I'm very grateful for the women before me to pioneer away from these to begin a new.
Jun 06, 2009
Alejandra
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This was a great short story about a young girl breaking away from Chinese tradition. Ailin, the main character of the story, is a young girl who refuses to bind her feet just as her sisters and mother had. Since a revolution was occurring in China she felt as though old traditional values was something of the past thus she could rebel. Ailin's father allows her to go to school, although in the early 20th century girls going to school was something out of the normal and considered as a stupid th
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