Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that one of the book's major plot elements involves a serial murderer of children. While none of these murders are directly described, this is a society in which abuse, enslavement, and murder of children is common. Adult characters also die; some of these deaths spark strong emotional reactions.
Families can discuss the society of Tortall. What era of real human history is it most similar to? In what other ways is it similar to and different from ours? How can police and criminals be friends? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the relationships between the two groups in this society? What do you think of the way bribery is handled? Families who've read Pierce's other books set in Tortall can talk about what makes this one different. Why do you think magic isn't the focus this time?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Matt Berman
Told by main character Beka through her journal entries, this unusual combination of fat fantasy novel and police procedural is one very satisfying story.
Beka is a delightful heroine: painfully shy, modest yet exceptionally competent, eager to learn, and strongly empathetic toward the downtrodden people she grew up with. Her unusual talents are also weirdly compelling: She can hear the voices of murdered souls that are carried on the backs of the city's pigeons, can collect voices of the city from dust spinners in corners, and has a cat that may be a god.
Author Tamora Pierce has made her reputation with strong heroines, which has made her a darling of those with feminist leanings. But it would be a mistake to pigeonhole her as a feminist author -- she's simply too good. Beka is the hero of the story, a good one, and Pierce doesn't beat you over the head with the politics of her gender. It's simply part of who Beka is, and it's taken for granted. Though boys are notorious for rejecting books with female protagonists, if they allow themselves to try this, they'll like it as much as Pierce's girl fans will.
TERRIER is a riproaring good story with some really unusual elements, set in a world that Pierce has been developing for decades. Fans of her Tortall stories won't want to miss it, but it also makes a good introduction to Pierce's work for those who haven't read the earlier books.
From The Book
"Halt right there, Cooper. Look about you. What do you see?"
It was too easy. Not ten feet off to our sides, a pickpocket moved in on a pickle woman. I put my hand on my baton, but Tunstall slid in like ink in water. He laid his baton gentle on the boy's hand just as the lad touched the mot's purse. Tunstall shook his head. The pickle woman started to shriek at the thief. Tunstall gave her a smile and a copper. "How about one of your pickles, mistress?" Like anyone in the Lower City, she got distracted by business. When she started to fish for a pickle in the barrel, Tunstall raised his baton from the lad's hand. The pickpocket ran.
Plot Summary:
Beka has grown up in the slums of the Lower City in the capital of Tortall. When she was 8, she helped the Provost capture a gang of thieves, and he took her and his family under his wing.
Now she's 16 and training to be one of the police guards (called Dogs) of the city. As a trainee (Puppy), she's assigned to the best Dogs in the Kennel, though they're reluctant to have her. But soon, through her unusual ability to hear the voices of the dead, she gets wind of two serial murderers: one hiring and then killing groups of men, the other kidnapping and murdering children.
As she and her Dogs work to track down the murderers, gradually she earns their respect through her tenacity, which gives her the nickname "Terrier."
Includes maps, glossary, cast of characters, and information about the city.
Related Books:
Other Books by Tamora Pierce
The Will of the Empress
The Magic Circle Quartet
Trickster's Choice
Trickster's Queen
The Protector of the Small quartet
The Immortals Quartet
The Song of the Lioness Quartet
More Fantasy / Mysteries
Strange Objects by Gary Crew
(George) by E.L. Konigsburg
Voices After Midnight by Richard Peck
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
Related Websites
Author's Site
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Sexual ContentMentions of prostitution, implication of sex, discussion of girls' "peaches," some kissing. |
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ViolenceFighting, injuries, deaths, murders, child murders, child abuse, and slavery. |
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LanguageLots of slang specific to the book's world, which is translated in the included glossary. |
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Social BehaviorIn this society, corruption and bribery are taken for granted, even encouraged. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoDrinking and drunkenness. |
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