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 the wicked step-family and the prince trying to find the girl who the missing shoe fits. There is even a great mix of Chinese culture thrown in! I learned a lot about the old (and now mostly) unused tradition of binding a girl's feet.

I enjoyed BOUND because I really love the Cinderella story. Xing Xing becomes a character that you want to see succeed and a girl whom you want to find a suitable husband. You care what happens to her and want to know how she survives her mean stepmother.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Awesome book

Love this book

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A wonderful story!!!!

This was a beautiful story!!!!

Short, sweet book

Rather simple Cinderella story line but kept me entertained. Some supernatural elements that were a bit hard to believe but good insight into Chinese culture. Would have been better if the year of the story had been put into context.

Fantastic

Must read!!!!! Very good mixed cinderella story

Fairy Tale retelling. Recommend

This is a very interesting true to life Cinderella story. It is a story of kindness, perseverance and self protection.

Bound

The story is really good. It reminded me of the cinderella story.

Fantastic+Book

This+book+is+a+great+international+chinese+cinderella+story

Greatly recommended.

In the book Bound, Xing Xing is forced to live with her dreaded step mother because of the death of her parents. Living in Ancient China where girls are valued less than animals, Xing Xing is faced with the callenge of taking care of her sister; who is going through the painful prcess in which her feet are bound. As Xing Xing struggles to find her importance in life, Donana Napoli does a great job writing this historical fiction. She makes you get attached to the characters and uses great deatial to make you feel like you are there. I would suggest this book to kids above the age of 9 because of some intense topics.

By: Brenna N.

Read it

I found it to be a fun book to read one afternoon and I reall

Recommended

The book, Bound, retells the Cinderella story in a unique way from the perspective of a Chinese girl named Xing Xing, who's mother and father died when she was young and was left to live with her father's second wife and the wife's daughter. I felt this book was worth reading because the story inspires you to not give up on your dreams and to work hard at it. The story takes place in China and the reader will learn a lot about Chinese culture and traditions. One of their traditions was to bind the feet of young girls to keep them smaller because small feet were considered beautiful and a woman with small feet would have a better chance of getting married. Xing Xing's stepsister, Wei Ping, had her feet bound and it was Xing Xing's job to care for her feet. Her stepmother worked hard to insure that Wei Ping would get a husband but did nothing for Xing Xing. Xing Xing had to do all the work around the house and even though Xing Xing has a hard life, and is not given a lot of opportunities, she still stays positive and makes the most of what she does have for a better future. The story contains many Cinderella moments such as the prince and the shoe, which fits the girl, and the mean stepmother. I would recommend this book because Xing Xing provides a good example of someone who learns to stand up for herself and gains confidence.

Smart

Bound is definitely a good retelling of Cinderella. Its about a little chinese girl (Xing Xing -pronounced Sing Sing) is an basically an orphan, except for her stepmother... Not exactly evil, but totally rude. Not only do they make her clean, cook, and care for them, but they also make her feel bad about herself. They tell her shes not pretty, that no one will ever marry her and things like that. Her stepmother even calls her "Lazy One". Bound is Smart!

=-)

I thought this was really great book. It had a good cinderella theme in it. I never thought that this was one of the first cinderella stories ever written. This book will make you angry, sad, and happy when you read through it. I would recommend it to anyone that believes in happy endings.

Powerful Imagery

I really enjoyed this book, although the end seemed very unrealistic, even though the whole book kind of did. I thought that the imagery was very powerful, especially when Xing Xing was talking about how her stepsisters feet were bound. At a few points in this book I plugged my ears so that I would not have to hear it, even though I was reading it and heard it despite my ears being plugged.

Twisted Cinderella

Historical Fiction

Bound

Donna Jo Napoli



Xing Xing is a small child who is coping with the recent death of her kind-hearted potter father. Her mother died years ago from a illness, which forced Xing Xing to live with the stepmother her father had married with her half sister Wing-Pei. The "Family" lives off selling what remains from Xing Xing's Father's collection of unsold pottery. Xing Xing fears she may be sold into slavery once the supply runs out as her stepmother has threatened her with. The step mothers increasing vanity is shown early on by her obsession with Wing-Pei undergoing the painful procedure of "feet binding"Feet binding is a painful procedure where all the bones of a woman's foot are shattered via blunt force trauma and rearranged as to appear smaller and more "Beautiful". Xing Xing's father was greatly against such a horrific procedure, but now against his dead wishes his daughter Wing-Pei is put through it.Xing Xing finds solace and seclusion from the torments of Stepmother who forces her into servitude and border-line slave work through practicing Chinese writing "calligraphy" as well as reading and seeing her " Mother fish". Mother fish is her pet of sorts who seems to be a reincarnation of her late mother. This book depicts Xing Xing's struggles as well as an adventure she must go on for the sake of Wing-Pei. Xing Xing begins to learn the ways of the world and through her own cunning and intellect learn a way out of her horrible predicament. All in the wonderful book Bound.


In Bound Donna Jo Napoli Delivers a Heart-warming Tale about a young girl. With many twists and turns this book will keep your eyes glued to the page and your mind racing. Donna Gives a hearty tale of a family turmoil and especially of two girls turmoil. This book will make your mind wonder about the past.



Honestly I loved this book from beginning to end. I will probably read it again and again. I think anyone who loves heartfelt stories with a Cinderella twist will love this story. Now get up , go to a library, check out Bound By Donna Jo Napoli, Get home and Read it. I promise you will love it.

You'll Be BOUND

bound is a fabulous, classic cinderella story that will keep you hooked. xing xing survives an evil step mother and mean sister, to find her [rince charming and turn here life around.

Simply Amazing

Donna Jo Napoli just excites your imagination with her chinese retelling of Cinderella. Its addictive and an awesome read.

This is a great book, completely flawless and realistic. 'Bound' just happens to be my favorite book so far.

Well I am not going to tell about the story due to the descriptions other reviewers told, so I will give some comments. 'Bound' is definatly not a waste of time, all I can say is if you like books, Donna Jo Napoli's are a wonderful choice. I am thrilled to come across this adventure of a book.

a reviewer

Bound is set in china in the 14 century, but it like a Cinderella story though. The main character is Xing Xing and her sister Wei Ping and her stepmother. Xing Xing is about thirteen or fourteen years old. But she is treated like a slave girl. Because she must take care of ever thing, like hunt, get water, shop, cook, clean an ever thing that comes with it. But this book has a lot of event that happens all at once. The best part of the book is when you find out that Xing Xing is very smart an beautiful when she can get a chance to be. But since Xing Xing father¿s friend the elder Master Tang taught Xing Xing and Wei Ping. But since her father died the step mother stopped all teaching lessons. Because back then all smart woman in the village did not get a husband as the stupid ones That is not what Step mother wanted to hear because she needs her daughter to have a husband. So the idea of this story is since Xing Xing was smart she could not do much. But instead of that the slave girl Xing Xing had just become the Cinderella of the story.

a reviewer

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 the wicked step-family and the prince trying to find the girl who the missing shoe fits. There is even a great mix of Chinese culture thrown in! I learned a lot about the old (and now mostly) unused tradition of binding a girl¿s feet. I enjoyed BOUND because I really love the Cinderella story. Xing Xing becomes a character that you want to see succeed and a girl whom you want to find a suitable husband. You care what happens to her and want to know how she survives her mean stepmother. **Reviewed by: Taylor Rector