Bound

Bound

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By Donna Jo Napoli

Published by Simon and Schuster Children's Publushing Division (2004)

Genre: Family, Multicultural, Historical Fiction, Religion

Pages: 186

This is a Cinderlla story about a Chinese girl named Xing Xing. Her mom had died several years before and her dad about a year before. She lives with her step mother and half sister. Her step mother is desperate to get her own daughter married and binds her feet. Xing Xing isn't treated well by her remaining family, but she does what they expect from her so she doesn't get sold into slavery, which is not good for a girl her age. She takes comfort by visiting her father's grave and a fish she believes to be the reincarnation of her mother. When her step mother starts does things that are dishonerable Xing Xing is saved by her mother.

This is a very sweet story. I loved how the author did the whole fairy godmother thing. I also like the way Xing Xing changed through the story. One of the ways the author seemed to show this was by letting us see how the stepmother was changing for the bad. I believe the author also pulled everything together well in the end. Quick read.