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Title: Leyla: The Black Tulip (Girls of Many Lands) by Alev Lytle Croutier, Kazuhiko Sano ISBN: 1-58485-749-8 Publisher: Pleasant Company Publications Pub. Date: September, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (4 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Leyla: the Black Tulip
Comment: Leyla: the Black Tulip is about a young girl named Laleena, who is living in Georgia near the Caucasus Mountains with her mother and three siblings. Her father was a painter and went to war and never came back. One day, two men come and suggest to Laleena's mother that her daughter could go to Istanbul for the chance of marriage. Laleena's family is poor, and her mother knows that the money could help their family a lot, but instead she says no. Laleena hears the whole discussion, and knows that it would be best to go, so in the middle of the night, she sneaks out and gets on the boat to Istanbul. It is a long ride from Georgia to Istanbul, but Laleena meets a friend named Lena. Laleena serves as a mother figure to Lena and cares for her greatly. It turns out that all of the girls on the ship are not going to Istanbul to find a husband, but to be sold as slaves! Laleena is bought by a man, and taken to the Topkapi Palace, where she is forced to change identities and become "Leyla". At the palace, she is told to work in the gardens (something she enjoys very much), and spends time specializing in the tulips. When it is time for the Tulip Festival, the sultan announced that if anyone could grow a black tulip, they would receive a large amount of gold as an award. Leyla tries as hard as she can to nurture her tulip bulbs and win the prize. Will Leyla produce the black tulip? Will she ever see her father or Lena again? You can find out if you read Leyla: the Black Tulip.
This book is a great story about a girl learning to be independent. It is an intriguing story that you can learn a lot from. It made me think about how tough it would be to live in a palace back then. Any girl that reads this book will love it.
Rating: 4
Summary: A fascinating glimpse at a vanished world...
Comment: Leyla is a twelve-year old living in Georgia in 1720. Her artist father went off to war and never came home, leaving Leyla and her brother Cengiz to find food and keep their mother and twin brothers afloat in a time of poverty. Leyla'a special skill is working with flowers, particularly tulips, which she cultivates. One day four foreign men come offering money for girls to be married, and Leyla chooses to go with them, leaving the coins for her family.
She soon discovers that the group of girls she is travelling with are not to be married, but to be sold as slaves. Leyla befriends five-year old Lena and acts as an older sister to her, but the two are split up in Istanbul, where they are sold to the highest bidder. Leyla ends up in the harem at Topkapi Palace as a gardening apprentice and quickly learns the rules and manners of the court, and through hard work and new friendships she realizes her dream of painting, growing tulips and being reunited with her family once more.
"Leyla" is full of intriguing descriptions of the opulent palaces and gardens of Istanbul, life in the Georgian countryside, some of the basic tenets of Islam, gardening, and harem life. There are many Turkish/Arabic words scattered throughout, and a handy glossary at the back, along with a segment on girls' life in Turkey today. Out of the six "Girls of Many Lands" books that I've read (there are currently eight), "Leyla" is my new favourite.
Rating: 5
Summary: Recommended - regardless of age
Comment: I'm kind of old to be reading American Girl books, and I always hated the boring-and-blah books about the American Girls of Yesterday, but I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was babysitting for an 11-year-old and her copy was on the coffee table, so I started to read it and couldn't put it down. It isn't slow to get started and it has a very interesting storyline. The fact that it was written by a woman who grew up in Turkey makes the narration that much more authentic and engaging. Even though the age recommendation is 9-12, I didn't find the writing style patronizing at all. I'm interested now to see what the other books in the "Girls of Many Lands" series are like.
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Title: Saba: Under the Hyena's Foot (Girls of Many Lands) by Jane Kurtz, Jean-Paul Tibbles ISBN: 1584857471 Publisher: Pleasant Company Publications Pub. Date: September, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Kathleen: The Celtic Knot (Girls of Many Lands) by Siobhan Parkinson, Troy Howell ISBN: 158485748X Publisher: Pleasant Company Publications Pub. Date: September, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Neela: Victory Song (Girls of Many Lands) by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Troy Howell ISBN: 1584855215 Publisher: Pleasant Company Publications Pub. Date: September, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Cecile: Gates of Gold (Girls of Many Lands) by Mary Casanova, Jean-Paul Tibbles ISBN: 1584855185 Publisher: Pleasant Company Publications Pub. Date: September, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Spring Pearl: The Last Flower (Girls of Many Lands) by Laurence Yep, Kazuhiko Sano ISBN: 1584855193 Publisher: Pleasant Company Publications Pub. Date: September, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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