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Summon the Tiger
Autobiography/inspirational story of an amputee that defies the odds and lives an extraordinary life, including boarding a freighter to see the world, performing a concert tour of Italy, becoming a successful businesswoman and successfully raising two athletes as a single parent.
242 pages, Paperback
Published September 8, 2016
1 person is currently reading
280 people want to read
About the author
Wendy Sura Thomson
6 books40 followersWendy Sura Thomson is a 5-star author of Summon the Tiger, The Third Order, Ted and Ned, The Man from Burnt Island, and a contributing author of the 5-star anthology, Postcards from the Future. She lives in Michigan with her beloved Irish Setters and covets sipping coffee outdoors first thing in the morning, rain or shine., listening to the waterfall and the birds, and watching [often with amusement] the pups explore.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 11, 2020
Summon the Tiger by Wendy Sura Thompson
This is a memoir of total self-absorption and woes about any and everything that ever happen to Wendy in her lifetime. There is no storyline, but rather a stream of happenings that goes on and on.
Forget a topic sentence or expanded thought. No, here you’ll find a long list of names of people throughout Wendy’s childhood, addresses of childhood homes with room descriptions, and how Wendy would go days on end without food, while relatives partied on.
She can brag to the heavens though about her stellar academic record (she read The Fountainhead in third or fourth grade, really?) and stunning vocal ability. No one appreciated her achievements,however, because no one, including her parents, liked her.
I certainly thought by the title and blurbs that this would be an uplifting tale of inspiration and overcoming life’s hardships-things we all face at one time or another, but don’t count on it. If 242 pages of minutiae is of interest to you, this is your memoir. Otherwise, move along and pick another book.
This is a memoir of total self-absorption and woes about any and everything that ever happen to Wendy in her lifetime. There is no storyline, but rather a stream of happenings that goes on and on.
Forget a topic sentence or expanded thought. No, here you’ll find a long list of names of people throughout Wendy’s childhood, addresses of childhood homes with room descriptions, and how Wendy would go days on end without food, while relatives partied on.
She can brag to the heavens though about her stellar academic record (she read The Fountainhead in third or fourth grade, really?) and stunning vocal ability. No one appreciated her achievements,however, because no one, including her parents, liked her.
I certainly thought by the title and blurbs that this would be an uplifting tale of inspiration and overcoming life’s hardships-things we all face at one time or another, but don’t count on it. If 242 pages of minutiae is of interest to you, this is your memoir. Otherwise, move along and pick another book.
April 28, 2017
Summon The Tiger was a great raw and quite inspirational read. We get a great deal of detail and information from this book about Wendy's entire life from the very beginning. We see her triumphs and tribulations as she grows up and can't help but be so happy for her. The mix between happiness and sadness comes with anyone's life story but especially Wendy's. The things she over came and I really can't get over the detail she included in this book are just awesome. I don't think I could remember that much about my early childhood but Wendy has and you get to read about it all in her memoir. One part of this book is making me laugh right now, It's part of her school days when there is a boy in her class who has a similar last name than her but it is not exactly the same and she insists that he is spelling it wrong. This part had me cracking up and made me feel a personal connection with Wendy. It also shows her strong willed heart that only gets stronger as she ages! Great read!
Note to the author- Thank you for personalizing this book when you sent it to me. You did a great job writing it and I will surely be spreading the word about this piece.
Note to the author- Thank you for personalizing this book when you sent it to me. You did a great job writing it and I will surely be spreading the word about this piece.
January 27, 2020
The author of this book is such an inspiration, as she had to overcome so much in her life due to having her leg amputated before she was even in kindergarten. On top of her physical abnormalities, Wendy had a dysfunctional childhood. There are a lot of people that would have gone down a different path than Wendy did, but she was able to succeed in life and become an inspiration for so many people. I really admired her honesty in writing this, as I am sure that there were parts that were unbearably hard to relive. I highly recommend this!
December 3, 2019
Born with congenital abnormalities and missing both the ulna and tibia on the right side along with several other deformities, Thomson had her leg amputated even before she started kindergarten. In a poignant manner, Thomson describes her life as she defied the odds and went on to live an extraordinary life as a single parent and achieved high professional success.
Thomson transports readers to a whirlwind journey of moving emotions and relentless resilience as she shares memories of her childhood, her daily struggles as she tried to complete her education and worked simultaneously, her strained relationship with her mother and sister, her traveling adventures, a difficult marriage, and struggles of raising two children as a single parent.
Most touching in Thomson’s heartwarming memoir, however, is her resilience, her love for her children, and the emotional bond she shared with her father.
Highly inspirational!
Thomson transports readers to a whirlwind journey of moving emotions and relentless resilience as she shares memories of her childhood, her daily struggles as she tried to complete her education and worked simultaneously, her strained relationship with her mother and sister, her traveling adventures, a difficult marriage, and struggles of raising two children as a single parent.
Most touching in Thomson’s heartwarming memoir, however, is her resilience, her love for her children, and the emotional bond she shared with her father.
Highly inspirational!
September 8, 2018
"Summon The Tiger", by Wendy Thomson, is a wonderful inspiring book for all people.
It is a true story of one woman 's strength and courage battling through difficult obstacles with fierce determination and grit against all odds.
No matter what the situation or how difficult the hardship , Wendy always rose above it.
You cannot help but cheer her on, and to be amazed of what she did in her life, and all she had accomplished.
I highly recommend this book, weather you need a inspiring lift or going through a hard time, this book will inspire you!
Excellent inspiring read!
It is a true story of one woman 's strength and courage battling through difficult obstacles with fierce determination and grit against all odds.
No matter what the situation or how difficult the hardship , Wendy always rose above it.
You cannot help but cheer her on, and to be amazed of what she did in her life, and all she had accomplished.
I highly recommend this book, weather you need a inspiring lift or going through a hard time, this book will inspire you!
Excellent inspiring read!
August 9, 2018
I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway. It is a compelling, interesting, and inspiring memoir in which Wendy achieves professional and personal success despite a physical handicap and a very difficult family life. Her tenacity, intelligence, and positive attitude are admirable.
dnf-shelf
January 9, 2024How I read this: Free ebook copy received through NetGalley
DNF @ 40%
I really tried with this book, but honestly just couldn't keep reading on. I'm glad there are many good reviews, because sometimes it's hard giving a bad review when there's nothing there. At least there are good ones, to balance out my bad one (at the time of writing, I see only one review with the same opinions as mine.) Also, I do not rate books I didn't finish. So I will only give my opinion.
The whole book is just "I lived here. I did this. I had a tall roommate, a short roommate and a middle height roommate. And here are some more people you will hear in this one paragraph and never again." It's like you're sitting down with a lady who is recounting every detail, every name and last name of the hundreds of people she knew in passing, and none of it leads ANYWHERE.
You know how good memoirs seem to have a "plot"? Well, I understand that people's lives don't technically have a plot, but when people write down their memoirs, they center it around something. Some people even stick it to a plot or a storyline. This book... I have no idea what it was about. They lived in this house, that house, actually that ship. They had neighbors who had pets. Their grandparents' house was furnished this way and that, and there were these matching last names in the neighborhood. These highschoolers were jealous of someone, and these crashed a car. Neither of them had anything to do with any topic, outside of just being remembered by the author chronologically.
So yeah, she did have a disability (actually, why I picked this book up.) Yeah, the family was pretty awful to her. Yeah, she had many challenges. But none of that drew any conclusions for the reader. It JUST HAPPENED. With so many names and way too detailed references. I mean, if this was a friend giving me all this detail, I still wouldn't care for half of it. Why would I for a stranger? What's the point of telling me who crashed who's neighbors' car when the author wasn't even remotely involved in the accident..? I'm struggling to understand where is all this promised inspiration that other reviewers are talking about? (I'll assume it is in the last 60% of the book which I didn't get to, because I can't imagine sitting through it.)
Not sure about the finished book, but the review copy has a lot of punctuation and spelling errors, as well as missing words or even sentence endings, cut off paragraphs. There is a part where the author writes about how talented at writing she was when she was in university. Well, I am not a professional in publishing, so I can't draw any conclusions on that statement.
I would have finished this book, had I been reading it a couple of years ago. Now I think life's too short. Sorry. Maybe it would have got better by the end - who knows. I hope the author did get over all the challenges and had a great life. I'm sure she did, she does sound like a strong and capable person. My respect to her.
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
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DNF @ 40%
I really tried with this book, but honestly just couldn't keep reading on. I'm glad there are many good reviews, because sometimes it's hard giving a bad review when there's nothing there. At least there are good ones, to balance out my bad one (at the time of writing, I see only one review with the same opinions as mine.) Also, I do not rate books I didn't finish. So I will only give my opinion.
The whole book is just "I lived here. I did this. I had a tall roommate, a short roommate and a middle height roommate. And here are some more people you will hear in this one paragraph and never again." It's like you're sitting down with a lady who is recounting every detail, every name and last name of the hundreds of people she knew in passing, and none of it leads ANYWHERE.
You know how good memoirs seem to have a "plot"? Well, I understand that people's lives don't technically have a plot, but when people write down their memoirs, they center it around something. Some people even stick it to a plot or a storyline. This book... I have no idea what it was about. They lived in this house, that house, actually that ship. They had neighbors who had pets. Their grandparents' house was furnished this way and that, and there were these matching last names in the neighborhood. These highschoolers were jealous of someone, and these crashed a car. Neither of them had anything to do with any topic, outside of just being remembered by the author chronologically.
So yeah, she did have a disability (actually, why I picked this book up.) Yeah, the family was pretty awful to her. Yeah, she had many challenges. But none of that drew any conclusions for the reader. It JUST HAPPENED. With so many names and way too detailed references. I mean, if this was a friend giving me all this detail, I still wouldn't care for half of it. Why would I for a stranger? What's the point of telling me who crashed who's neighbors' car when the author wasn't even remotely involved in the accident..? I'm struggling to understand where is all this promised inspiration that other reviewers are talking about? (I'll assume it is in the last 60% of the book which I didn't get to, because I can't imagine sitting through it.)
Not sure about the finished book, but the review copy has a lot of punctuation and spelling errors, as well as missing words or even sentence endings, cut off paragraphs. There is a part where the author writes about how talented at writing she was when she was in university. Well, I am not a professional in publishing, so I can't draw any conclusions on that statement.
I would have finished this book, had I been reading it a couple of years ago. Now I think life's too short. Sorry. Maybe it would have got better by the end - who knows. I hope the author did get over all the challenges and had a great life. I'm sure she did, she does sound like a strong and capable person. My respect to her.
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
Book Blog | Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter
April 14, 2020
I have a fondness for memoirs. What a wonderful way to get to know someone, as they share their triumphs, and struggles- what made them the person they are. The author of this memoir is a great person to get to know- a one of a kind whirlwind of ideas and plans.
Based on the cover of this book, I assumed that much of the author’s story would revolve around her challenges with her physical disability. Not at all! Her physical issues are rarely mentioned, because this driven woman has a life to live!
Wendy Thomson presents most of her life to us, beginning with great scenes of growing up with a boisterous family in the 1950’s. Every man woman and child for themselves in Wendy’s family. Her childhood years end with the family traveling on a large freighter that her dad bought, from Michigan to Miami. Once in Miami, Wendy moves away from her unusual family and strikes out on her own- getting jobs, going to school, moving up the ladder. She ends up back in her hometown area of Detroit, Michigan where she had a successful career, mainly with General Motors.
Wendy Thompson is fearless, headstrong, determined and she also sounds like she’s a lot of fun. She ends the book with her list of life lessons including, “Don’t be afraid of the hard stuff- in fact don’t be afraid of much at all.” This book is not a literary masterpiece, but it is an honest and closeup look at a life lived with joy and perseverance.
Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for a review copy. This is my honest review.
Based on the cover of this book, I assumed that much of the author’s story would revolve around her challenges with her physical disability. Not at all! Her physical issues are rarely mentioned, because this driven woman has a life to live!
Wendy Thomson presents most of her life to us, beginning with great scenes of growing up with a boisterous family in the 1950’s. Every man woman and child for themselves in Wendy’s family. Her childhood years end with the family traveling on a large freighter that her dad bought, from Michigan to Miami. Once in Miami, Wendy moves away from her unusual family and strikes out on her own- getting jobs, going to school, moving up the ladder. She ends up back in her hometown area of Detroit, Michigan where she had a successful career, mainly with General Motors.
Wendy Thompson is fearless, headstrong, determined and she also sounds like she’s a lot of fun. She ends the book with her list of life lessons including, “Don’t be afraid of the hard stuff- in fact don’t be afraid of much at all.” This book is not a literary masterpiece, but it is an honest and closeup look at a life lived with joy and perseverance.
Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for a review copy. This is my honest review.
July 4, 2018
A wonderful memoir. Sharply-remembered, compulsively readable, written in the clear and natural voice of a born storyteller, Summon the Tiger takes us through the ups, downs, and ups again of a singularly remarkable life. With a Dickensian sweep of fascinating characters and often-improbable events, Wendy Sura Thomson shares with her lucky readers the rich details and adventures of her childhood, girlhood, youth, and maturity, from her earliest memories to her many accomplishments in the heart of American industry. It is a story of courage and grace, told with elan and a joi de vivre that shines off every page. Highly recommended!
November 30, 2020
Resiliency!
A remarkable exploration of the life of the author who was born with disabilities that require surgery and hospitalization. This is not the crux of the story, though; the author is confronted more so by an uncaring mother and a dysfunctional family which forces Wendy to develop steely resilience. Her disabilities are almost rarely mentioned in the book except for an interesting section when she theorizes that her father was exposed to radiation during the war which is then transmitted to her in the womb, thus preventing her limbs from forming properly.
A remarkable exploration of the life of the author who was born with disabilities that require surgery and hospitalization. This is not the crux of the story, though; the author is confronted more so by an uncaring mother and a dysfunctional family which forces Wendy to develop steely resilience. Her disabilities are almost rarely mentioned in the book except for an interesting section when she theorizes that her father was exposed to radiation during the war which is then transmitted to her in the womb, thus preventing her limbs from forming properly.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 27, 2017
I remember Wendy in high school as always being cheerful and having a smile on her face for everyone. It was eye opening to read about her troublesome family life and the obstacles she overcame to become a successful adult woman. It was fun reading the stories where she remembers some of our high school classmates.
December 18, 2017
I won this book through Goodreads. Very heartwarming and profound. An amazing woman.
November 7, 2016
Raw truthful and heartfelt
I can not say enough about Wendy and her family... This book is honest truthful and raw beauty spoken from the heart. It brought me chills smiles tears sadness and happiness as well as the realization of how strong Wendy is .... Never give up read and rated with honesty and love from to you... Wendy Weiss
I can not say enough about Wendy and her family... This book is honest truthful and raw beauty spoken from the heart. It brought me chills smiles tears sadness and happiness as well as the realization of how strong Wendy is .... Never give up read and rated with honesty and love from to you... Wendy Weiss
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews