Chapter 1-6

A Short Explanation to Why I Chose This Book

As Harry completed his first year at Hogwarts, a new story took place in Florida, in the woods behind the hotel Kentucky Star. Though there were no spells or curses in this book, it was just as touching as any other adventures I’ve witnessed.

I found that book first on a shelf in a bookstore when I went to America along with five other Dicamillo's books. I couldn't urge to read it once I saw the picture in front of the book and I couldn't help but writing a book review. There are so much things inside this one-hundred-and-twenty-page book. Kate Dicamillo surprised us with another miraculous tale.

And now let's begin.

Part One A Brief Summary

The first three chapters told us about a motherless child Rob Horton who was always bullied at school. He discovered a tiger was in the woods on a normal day to school.

He had read about Sistine Chapel in a book and found a girl who wore party dress named Sistine in school.

The next three chapters in the book is mainly about Sistine Bailey introducing herself and getting laughed, Rob accused and having to stay home because of his “contagious” leg disease, and Rob helping Sistine getting out of an occasion.

Part Two Impressive Plots

1 A Surprising Plot

This was such a surprising development, to have the bus stop halfway through its route, that Norton stopped grinding his knuckles into Rob's scalp and Billy stopped punching Rob in the arm.

"Hey, Mr.Nelson," Norton shouted. "Whatcha doin’？"

“This ain't a stop, Mr, Nelson,” Billy called out helpfully.

But Mr.Nelson ignored them . He keep whistling his non song as he swung open the bus door. And while Norton and Billy and Rob watched, open-mouthed and silent, a girl with yellow hair and a pink lacy dress walked up the steps and onto the bus.

2 A Fearful Plot

They wereall looking at him. Waiting. Sistine was waiting, too; waiting for him to do something. He looked down at the ground and saw what they have thrown to her. It was an apple. He stared at it for what seemed like a long time, and when he looked back up, they were still waiting to see what he would do.

And so he ran. And after a minute, he could tell that they were running after him, he didn't need to look back to see if they were there. He knew it. He knew the feeling of being chased. He dropped the picture of the tiger and ran fall out, pumping his legs and arms hard. They were still behind him.

Part Three My Idea

The first chapter briefly introduced Rob Horton, a boy of our age,to us. His life were just like us and, as we can learn from the story, wasn't so bad until his mother died.

We can see the cruelty of sickness and its affect to Rob. We always yell and cry when something bad happens, but Rob chose to ignore it. When we cry, the bad things and sadness pour out and didn't sound as bad after we were done. That way, we gave vent to our sadness. But Rob didn't cry. He didn't feel as much depression ashe cry when he tried to ignore things, to ignore life.

However,when he tried to get rid of sadness, he couldn't. He has sadness deep in theheart haunting and he couldn't be happy and laugh like we do. Pouring something out is way better than keep everything inside.

I must inspect the characteristic of Billy and Norman Threemonger. Comparing with bullies in other books, we can see that Augustus Gloop, Verua Salt and Dudley Dursley are far better. They are just greedy and demand everything while Billy and Norman are evil. They bullied people just because they were stronger and that God didn't pick on their mothers. I almost wanted to jump in that school busand put the cruciatus curse, one of the curse which tortures people in Harry Potter, on them. They will just be people who do hard works and earn nothing when they grow up.

The surprised scene of students staring showed that how uncommon Sistine was. Everything in this book, in chapter one and two, suggested that it was another gloomy day to start, another gloomy day for Rob to finish, another meaningless day.

However,with the tiger and Sistine, it wasn't a day which you can ignore just like that. It was a day that is worth remembering. It changed Rob's life the second time and helped him found a bit of his usual form, the boy who was loved by his mother.

We could see that Sistine came in spotlights. Everybody was shocked. It also showed how rude it is to interrupt one's introduction, and more by using an idiom for the teacher.

Why did Sistine hate Rob so much? Because of Rob's powerless and incapable of doingthings. That's why she sat next to him on the school bus on the way home. Rob showed his bravery and sympathy that day.

As Rob went into the principle's office, we can tell that the principle isn't sure about the contagious thing himself by coughing his throat. He only wanted to respond to the worried parents that he did something. In fact, he remained unsure all the time and he is even more powerless, comparing to Rob, though he is the principle.

Chapter 6 is important. It compared Sistine and Rob's way of handling bullies. These boys and girls will never leave you alone. You should first chose to igore, but when they push it to a point. You can never deal with them regularly. You must fight them to show you’re not a fool. The other way is trying to be friend them. You can be unharmed by others by doing it.

It is quite a difference between handling situations. Comparingly, I appreciate fighting. Life is meaningless when you choose to ignore everything. You can only let it fly when you are doing something. As I said, we must pour out things rather than let everything inside. That way, we have our sadness erupted.

It told us about people that time, the whistling driver, the strange way they speak. It was many years before, but the story isn't dull like the gloomy life that time. Rob and the tiger shared something in common. They were both locked up in different ways. They helped each other out. And as the sadness in Rob's heart rised, little by little, the story continues, surprising us with each chapters better and more touching than the one before.

Chapter 7-12

Part One A Brief Summary

Sistine sat with Rob on the bus back to home, and Rob showed Sistine what the Sistine Chapel is. Rob returned back to the hotel. Unable to go to school because of his "contagious" disease, he stayed at home as a working man for a few days and at the same time trying to see if the tiger was still there.

Rob Horton and Sistine started a friendship by saving each other from bullies andnow, as their friendship continues, they found some things and topics in common and decided to explore the tiger together.

Part Two Impressive Plots

1 A Sad Plot

He stayed up late working on the caring, and when he finally fell asleep, he dreamed about the tiger, only it wasn't in a cage. It was free and running through the woods, and there was something on its back, but Rob couldn't tell what it was.As the tiger got closer and closer, Rob saw that the thing was Sistine in her pink party dress. She was riding the tiger. In his dream, Rob waved to her andshe waved back at him. But she didn't stop. She and the tiger kept going, past Rob, deeper and deeper into the woods.

2 A Predicted-but-surprising Plot

He took a breath. He opened his mouth and let the words fall out. "I know where there's a tiger."

Sistine stood in the drizzly rain and stared at him, her eyes black and fierce.

She didn't say "A real one? "

She didn't say "Are you crazy? "

She didn't say "You're a big old liar."

She said one word: "Where? "

And Rob knew then that he had picked the right person to tell.

Explaination:

The plot above is both predicted and surprising. It is surprising because almost nobody can believe that there's a tiger. Imagine your best friend saying there's atiger (not in a zoo, but in a cage in the woods), you will probably respond the usual sentence “Are you crazy?” or something like that, but Sistine didn't and asked where. It was like a joke but she took it seriously, because she thought Rob is a friend. That's why it's surprising, though the fact that Rob had actually found a tiger in chapter one made it a little less surprising.

It is also predicted because that Rob’s actions made Sistine believe him to be a true friend who is trustworthy, not a fake friend. And knowing that Rob wasn't a joyful boy, just like Harry didn’t think that Hagrid's a joke played by the Dursleys, she believed him. Though their friendship hasn't even really started, they knew each other a lot.

Part Three My Idea

Chapter 7 is about the conversation on the school bus. Why can this day be called extraordinary? Because it was different from the other gloomy days Rob had when time just slipped by and got nothing. On that day, Rob found the tiger and discovered a friend. These discoveries made the ordinary day extraordinary.

We can identify that Rob has some same points with Sistine. For one thing, they both dread going to school, the bullies, the stupid teachers and other things. However, Rob didn't want to express his feelings to anybody, all except maybe his father because his father has been with him together. That was why he was glad that Norton an Billy beat him to silence.

Friendship is made up by sharing the same feelings with somebody. The friendship between Rob and Sistine started because of it.

Chapter 8 shows us how much Rob's father loved him, he loved Rob as much as Rob’s mother. He just didn’t show it in Rob’s mother’s way and became fierce and hard after the death of his wife Caroline. Working just for Beauchamp everyday just to earn a living. He, like Rob, hide his feelings inside. We can also define how good Rob's mother and father had combined together, the strong and the gentle. I heard that people with opposite characteristics are more likely to be better when they are together. Rob chose moving and living in a motel instead staying in his hometown, where everybody and everything reminded him of his loving, caring mother. It was so overwhelming. Maybe they'll even get some money from their neighbors. But his father chose to leave it, to live themselves instead of depending on others. Rob started hating the sun, I noted in the book. He was even glad if the whole state was flooded, everybody would be like him, a boy who was helpless and everything would disappear.

Another thing to notice is that Rob carved Sistine instead of someone else, like his mother said, you do what wanted and you followed. Why would Rob carve Sistine? Because she is who he needed. Just like Rob's mother, Sistine brought a piece of sunlight to Rob's life. When life's down, especially for a long time, something big will always happen to cheer you up from being depressed. From Sistine's act, Rob knew that she is another outsider of the society, unlike those gray building and dullness. She is just like his mother, active and open.

Chapter 10 showed us Willie May's ideas and also how Beauchamp badly treated his workers. He didn't give them much salary while he himself owned a tiger. It didn't seem fair. That's the gap of poor and rich years ago, but so many years passed that almost nobody remember it now. However, the author described it brilliantly.

Willie May’s words are important. It is why this book is called The Tiger Rising. It showed darkness and sadness must be faced rather than kept in the heart.

The injury in Rob's leg helped us to understand the novel. There are no such disease like that while you must face sadness to cure it. Or maybe it's just Willie May's imagination. But it symbolized memories, soreness, and despair. If we don't face it and defeat it. It would forever remain, just like the tiger in the cage.

Chapter 12 and 13 is a conversation. The rudeness of Norton and Billy Threemonger are again shown here. I think Rob was right, they should be eated. They are worse than animals.

The conversation is short but touching. Seeing the tiger seem perfect for an adventure as they decided to go there. It ended so sudden and let me thinking about what they will say to each other and how they will find the tiger. Let's find out in the next eighteen chapters.

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Chapter 13-18

Part One A Brief Summary

Rob and Sistine finally explored the woods by themselves and found the tiger's still there. On the way they shared a few secrets about their families. Then Sistine went to the laundry room to phone her mother.

Rob andout the Sistine had a short conversation after they found the tiger and Sistine went away with her mother. Willie May told Rob about her bird Cricket and how she let him go. Beauchamp drove Rob into the woods to gave him a job of feeding the tiger with the meat.

Part Two Impressive Plots

1 A Happy Plot

Sistine said, "Stop shrugging your shoulders at me. I hat it, I hate the way you shrug all the time."

And that made Rob remember Willie May saying that when he shrugged he looked like a skinny bird trying to fly. It struck him as funny now. He laughed out loud at the thought of it. And without asking him what he was laughing about, without dropping his hand, without stopping, Sistine laughed too.

Then Rob remembered the name of the feeling that was pushing inside him, filling him fall to overflowing. It was happiness. That was what it was called.

By the time they made it back to the motel parking lot, it was dark outside, and they were both laughing so hard that they could barely walk.

Explanation

I chose this one as the plot I loved because it showed a sharp contrast to what Rob was at the beginning of the book. It is happy happy because I think there are no better way to define it, Some words that are long and few people know it are always complex. This plot is simple, just happiness being discovered.

It is like a normal daily joke for us, but there weren't many before. And after seeing the tiger again, Rob finally discovered something in his heart. It showed how melancholy Rob and Sistine was. When one is so depressed, once he or she laughed, he or she cannot stop laughing because they lacks it. And that's the case for Rob and Sistine. When his happiness began to flow, just like the way we laugh when we just finished crying, but much deeper. Though life isn't good, though many things black in front of him, Ron finally learn to enjoy the moment a little and had the little bits of happiness back in his heart.

2 A Heart-breaking Plot

Rob took hold of the sheet, and as it billowed out between them, a memory rose up before him: his father standing out in the yard, holding his gun up to the sky, taking aim at a bird.

"You think I can hit it? " his father said. "You think I can hit that itty-bitty bird? "

"Robert," his mother said, "what do you want to shoot that bird for?"

"To prove I can," said his father.

There was a single crack and the bird was suspended in midair, pinned for a moment to the sky with his father's bullet. Then it fell.

"Oh, Robert," his mother said.

It hurt the back of Rob's throat to think about that now, to think about the gun and his mother and the small thud the bird made when it hit the ground.

Explanation:

Reading the sentences above made me sad. It is really a cruel act of Rob's father, by shooting the bird, a thing so harmless and attractive. I always wondered why Rob's father shooted it. And the answer is clear: it isn't because he was really bad or something like that, it is because that Rob's father wanted to prove he isn't an idiot, a man who can't do anything. The author described it really well and

heart-breaking: "still-warm," "pined," and "It is like seeing a life actually despairing." It shows us that Rob's father wasn't really happy, the memories are better than what's in reality, and also that how people were years ago and gave us an impression that Willie Mary's bird got into bad accidents.

Part Three My Idea

After three weeks of writing just some normal parts, I came to the climax of the story at last. Though somebody may think the first twelve chapters are long, and it's boring to read them, I don't. I think if it's not the first twelve chapters, one can never understand the background of Rob easily and may think the story is confused and hard to understand.

And finally, they found the tigers. It used "enormous and bright", and "pacing back and fourth" to describe it. Reading this part, I saw a tiger pacing right in front of me. I was not reading, not in my house, not sitting here for hours, but following Rob and Sistine down the woods to see the tiger in Florida, expecting all sorts of exciting things to happen.

The first reaction Rob made was staring and fearing just like seeing some ancient writings or priceless treasures. It surely is, considering the time of the story. In that time bullying is common and seeing tigers out there or other things are rare.

But Sistine wanted to free it, to let it go, jumping up and down and to let it out. She cannot let something move their own way, she didn't adjust to the normal life there.

After a really long time thinking about the reactions, I think the tiger represent Rob's happiness in his heart. It wanted to come out, but couldn't as sadness and depression filled in Rob's head.

And then Rob seemed to know it better to keep it outside than letting it inside, and he let the things in the suitcase out a little. That's the time when he started laughing. We don't laugh that hard hearing a joke. It showed how Rob was, so helpless a child. Remembering and the nonstopping laugh showed Rob was in depression for very long before, that he hated it but still let it rule over happiness, just to keep things inside. But in fact, he suffered more.

Chapter 15 started by telling us how Rob's father and Sistine known each other. Then it had a sharp move by telling us memories of Rob, his mother, how they used to live happily together. I don't blame him, though, for closing the suitcase. It is so overwhelming.

As I said before, Rob only let the suitcase open a little, but found it dark and painful. But this darkness can not be hidden forever, not in front of Sistine and hiding so long. The next fifteen chapters told us how he got rid of them.

Although the tiger part in the book is the most exciting part, other parts can't be ignored.

Chapter 13 is mainly about telling their secrets. We can see similarities in Rob and Sistine's family, on their mother, One dead, one divorced, they shared the same dark secrets. Rob couldn't bear Sistine leaving because in the dream she left, leaving unhappiness and depression on the lonely Rob. That's why he told Sistine the secret of his family.

I think I discovered a same part about Sistine and Caroline. They were both bright and symbolize happiness and not keeping things inside.

Chapter sixteen is about a talk, simple actually, but touching and unforgettable. It shown how Sistine was when her parents were in love. They face the same fate except that Rob's deeper. On Page 61, we can see the other side of this active girl when she growled and shouted. The family issue is really bad and, even in some points, worser than Rob's.

I think this is the time when Rob finally discovered somebody he had shared the same background with. What I paid attention to was also the last paragraph----this is the exact point where, the suitcase was secondly opened. Inside it, were sweet memories, tigers, and other beautiful things, but Rob didn't want to face it because her mother died, and he thought all things disappeared. He discovered a similarity and opened a little in the end of chapter 16.

Chapter 17 is little different. It gave me the impression that Willie May was kind-hearted and Rob's father was cruel. It, as I said before, was the common society that time.

Another small point, Rob thought Willie May's hand could hold the entire world. It is really exagerrated but is vivid. It is a hand that hold Cricket, that was kind, and experienced many years of hardness.

Chapter 18 is about Beauchamp wanting Rob to do a job. The rudeness in Beanchamp's voice showed how rich people were that time. they were more than bullies, they get all money while poor people got almost nothing. Also that Rob said he believed it in the last sencence. What did he believe? I think he believed that there's the tiger. He believed he can free it and Beauchamp is the real fool.

This three chapters really did tell us a real lot things. I don't know why I have so much to express. Maybe because that the plot is more profound. This book really touched my heart and I liked it best in emotional books I've read. Let's see how Rob and Sistine freed the tiger next time.

Chapter 19-24

Part One A Brief Summary

Rob got the key of the cage from Beauchamp, who asked him to feed it meat. Though Sistine tried to convince Rob to free the tiger, Rob didn't and they went back to the hotel. They then showed Willie May the tiger and Rob decided to free the tiger.

Part Two Impressive Plots

1 A Wonderful Plot

He looked up at the dark outside of the sign and recalled lying on a blanket, staring up at a big oak tree. His mother had been on one side of him, and his father, asleep and snoring, bad been on the other. He remembered that his mother had taken hold of his hand and pointed up at the sun shining through the leaves of the tree and said, "Look, Rob, I have never in my life see a prettier color of green, Ain't it perfect?"

Explanation

This is only a short paragraph but has many meanings in it. It is about Rob's memory about a regular day. Though regular for us, it isn't for Rob. Because of the cruelty of cancer, this kind of day never exist, it can only be a memory, a small part inside the suitcase.

Thus the scene of the three of them, lying under a tree, had been so happy, and wonderful because his mother and smiling father are there with him.

2 A Sad Plot

But she didn't stop. She shook the cage and beat her head against the chainlink, and then heard her gasp. He was afraid that maybe she was chocking. He went and stood next to her. And he saw that she was crying. Crying. Sistine.

Before Rob could think whether it was right or whether it was wrong, he reached out and put his palm on Sistine's neck. He could feel her pulse, beating in time with the tiger's pacing. He whispered to her the same words hismother had whispered to him. "I got you," he told her. "I got good hold of you."

Sistine cried and cried. She cried as if she would never stop. And she did not tell him to take his hand away.

Explanation

This plot above is about Sistine cring after seeing the tiger in the cage and Rob using his mother's way to comfort Sistine.

Sistine saw the tiger and thought of herself, and she found out that she, like the tiger, was locked in a cage. The cage is school and her mother. She couldn't get out of the cage like the tiger. That's why she cried and cried. It is really sad and heart-breaking. For Rob, it was really surprising. Then Rob, thought about his situation and school, but he didn't cry. His suitcase, at this point, isn't completely open. His sympathy for Sistine impelled him to try to comfort her, just like his mother did to him.

Part Three My Idea

In these six chapters, the main characters are Rob, Sistine, and Willie May. The story is so realistic that I thought it's happening right in front of my eyes, but not in the book.

Chapter 19 is about Beauchamp giving meat and keys to Rob to feed the tiger. We can see that Beauchamp is afraid of the tiger because he looked away from its stare, and trembled when feeding it.

The reason Beauchmp afraid to the tiger is easy. It is because he didn't pay respect to the tiger, while the tiger is stronger than Beauchamp.The tiger needs freedom whild Beauchamp put him in a cage. That's why he was afraid. So everything he did to the tiger was careful. He was afraid that the tiger would rise up and attack him, that's why "His forehead was shiny with sweat, and his hands were trembling " when he opened the cage.

Chapter 20 is about Rob and Sistine seeing the tiger. Why did Sistine cry when she shook the cage? The significance of the tiger's cage for Rob is it symbolizes his feelings and the cage is like the suitcase. Rob found it difficult to look at the caged tiger because he didn't want to face it, didn't want to face his emotions, and didn't want to cry again.

Chapter 21 is mainly about Willie May. We can see that she experienced all kinds of sadness and anger so she can see it clearly. Willie May saw the anger in Sistine directly. It uses prophetess to show this.

Chapter 22 is about Rob's father. A hard man, he is. His hardness used to com bine with Caroline's tenderness, but erupted after Rob's mother's death. That's why he became angry all again.

In chapter 23 and 24, Willie May appeared again. It showed how much she cared for her bird Cricket and how Sistine's mother had treat Sistine.

These six chapters describes things which happened after Rob got the key. It isn't much, but really are emotional affecting. Let's see how the tiger was freed next time.

Chapter 25-30

Part One A Brief Summay

Rob freed the tiger but his father shooted it. Rob hitted his father but it was no use. So Rob let the suitcase open and finally understand his father. They buried the tiger together with Sistine and Willie May. Then Rob and his father decided to move back to their life.

Part Two Impressive Plots

1 An Angry Plot

And when Rob saw the tiger on the ground and his father standing over it, holding the rifle, he felt something rise up in him, an anger as big and powerful as the tiger. Bigger.

"You killed him." he said to his father.

"I had to," his father said.

"That was my tiger!" Rob screamed. "You killed him! You killed my tiger!" He ran at his father and attacked him. He beat him with his fists. He kicked him. But his father stood like a wall. He held the gun up over his head and kept his eyes open and took each hit without blinking.

And Rob saw that hitting was going to be enough.

Explanation

This dialogue is about Rob when he knew his father shoot the tiger. "As powerful as the tiger, beat him with his fists," showed how angry Rob was his father shooting and killing the tiger. It is a dialogue I can never forget, it is really emotional-affecting. Rob took the anger from the suitcase to hit his father, and he was really mad and angry of it.

Part Three My Idea

The last six chapters that ended the book really affect me. They are the best chapters in the whole and are full of emotions.

Chapter 25 is about Rob deciding to free the tiger. Comparing to Sistine, Willie May is more wiser and thought deeper. However, she wasn't so kind and pure like Rob and Sistine, she experienced more and became more like the common adult.

Another point there is to say is that how Sistine acted to her almost closest friend Rob when he said that her daddy ain't coming. We can see that Sistine lost her judgement and became doubtful in life after the angers. When sometimes somebody was so angry, they last everything and became just like animals, unable to see what is right and what is wrong. "Dark, Cold, Glare" and many other adjectives decribes it.

Chapter 26 is mainly a dialogue with Beauchamp. It showed that Sistine didn't mean to not talk to Rob the rest if her life and Rob's decision to free the tiger.

Chanpter 27 and 28 aren't like any chapters in this book. They are strong. Rob's action showed how he hate his life, the death of his mother and everything that happened here. These things tortured Rob and he became depressed. He want to revenge. The sadness managed to pull it out, to open his suitcase, and let the tiger rise.

The crack of a gun killed Rob's tiger. It was a really sad moment. He was not whole that time because he had lost his tiger and everything. His revenge to his father was all his anger he had in the half year after his mother death.

However, the name of caroline brought him back to life. He finally understand his father. He had to kill the tiger because it may cause serious damage and no one could tell how it will behave.

Rob said "my tiger" because the tiger is just like himself. He has just so much in common with it. That's why he said the tiger was his.

The burying of the tiger brought Rob back to himself. Tears came back to him and he finally became open-minded. The lighter inside showed how sad Rob was when his mother died.

At last, the ending of this book. It seemed to us too sudden, but it is exactly the point where the book should end. I don't think this book is happy, even the ending. What may happen next? It left us with imaginations. I think that Rob will start to be happy again. It is true that Rob's father will lose his job, Beauchamp will be mad and even fine him, the bullies in school will bully him again. But Rob won't care about this and will face them bravely with Sistine.

The last chapter successfully put a period to Rob and his stories. I may not understand the deep meanings in this book, but I told what I get and learned from this book. It is one of the books that express so many emotions. Though the book is short, it is the best fiction dealing about feelings, more than any 121-page-book can contain

Conclusion

The Tiger Rising is written by Kate Dicamillo, an author of many great novels. Though it is very short, it is full of emotions and really affecting.

The book is mainly about friendship. Different from other books, it took place many years ago. I was wondering about how Rob and Sistine discovered friendship in such a time, especilly when they first hated each other so much. After thinking , I learned friends are people who help each other, not only standing up to bullies and defend the other, but also to help mentally, like cheering somebody up after when he is down, understanding feelings or achieving a goal together. That's what friends are for.

When it comes to understanding, Rob and Sistine have much of this in their friendship. One's parents divorced, one's mother died, they really have much in common. By talking about the Sistine Chapel, Sistine knew that Rob wasn't a boy of nothing.

By helping out with the bullies, Rob and Sistine started a frienship. By understanding each other, they became good friends, Finally, by achieving a goal, which is to free the tiger, they became inseparable. However, the tiger was cruelly shot by Rob's father. This time, it came again to understanding and the friendship became unbreakable.

Now let's go back to describing Rob. As the main character, he is pessimistic, intraoverted, and artistic. With his mother died and his father depressed, he was uncontrollably droven to became an introverted person who keeps everything to himself. He didn't want to get too much pain and closed his suitcase, or his mind and got more pain than he thought. After becoming introverted, moving to a new place and getting bullied, he started to be pessimistic, a person who thinks everything is bad. He went to school with thoughts just to bear one more day and started to dislike school. That was a time when living didn't mean everything, when life everyday is like living in hell, when Rob gave up the thought of expressing his feelings. That is more pain than facing the truth in life. If it wasn't for Sistine, he may be introverted forever and never be a man.

However, he is very artistic. He carved a wooden bird and a "Sistine" which looks real.

The most annoying character is Beauchmp. Though rich, he didn't have anything inside but is a coward, as Rob's father said, He underpaid Rob's father and liked driving cars crazily. He was afraid of the tiger because he did wrong things. He caged wild animals. That's why he gave Rob money to let him feed it. He is nothing but a big fool.

If I am the author, I may end the book with Rob starting to adapt to school life by fighting back the bullies and enjoy going to school with Sistine. instead of ending the book abruptly after the adventure ended. I feel not so joyful in my heart when book ended but the story is not yet finished, or doesn't have a "happily ever after" kind of ending.

However, it left us various imaginations and ended at the exact point where some things are yet not decided, It is the best way to end a novel.

After all, this is the most emotional-affecting and memorable novel and I will never forget it. It will always be with me when I faced problems in my future life.
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