Bound

By Donna Jo Napoli

YOUNG XING XING IS BOUND.

Bound to her father's second wife and daughter after Xing Xing's father has passed away. Bound to a life of servitude as a young girl in ancient China, where the life of a woman is valued less than that of livestock. Bound to be alone and unmarried, with no parents to arrange for a suitable husband. Dubbed "Lazy One" by her stepmother, Xing Xing spends her days taking care of her half sister, Wei Ping, who cannot walk because of her foot bindings, the painful but compulsory tradition for girls who are fit to be married. Even so, Xing Xing is content, for now, to practice her gift for poetry and calligraphy, to tend to the mysterious but beautiful carp in her garden, and to dream of a life unbound by the laws of family and society.

But all of this is about to change as the time for the village's annual festival draws near, and Stepmother, who has spent nearly all of the family's money, grows desperate to find a husband for Wei Ping. Xing Xing soon realizes that this greed and desperation may threaten not only her memories of the past, but also her dreams for the future.

In this searing story, Donna Jo Napoli, acclaimed author of Beast and Breath,delves into the roots of the Cinderella myth and unearths a tale as powerful as it is familiar.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Dec 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9781471103391

Donna Jo Napoli

Donna Jo Napoli is the acclaimed and award-winning author of many novels, both fantasies and contemporary stories. She won the Golden Kite Award for Stones in Water in 1997. Her novel Zel was named an American Bookseller Pick of the Lists, a Publishers Weekly Best Book, a Bulletin Blue Ribbon, and a School Library Journal Best Book, and a number of her novels have been selected as ALA Best Books. She is a professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband. Visit her at DonnaJoNapoli.com.

Reviews for Bound

[robertalea-223265 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This morning when I woke, I was hungry. Weighed getting up and eating breakfast or starting a new book. Ancient China won. Excellent story. Finished in time for lunch.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This YA novel is a retelling of the Cinderella story, set in the Ming dynasty era of China. Xing Xing is bound to her Stepmother and half-sister. She is bound by tradition. She is bound to her ancestors, particularly her deceased parents. Her feet, however, are not bound. And she is also unusual in that her father believed in educating his daughters. While her half-sister Wei Ping showed no interest, Xing Xing thrived under her father’s tutelage and is an accomplished poet and a skilled calligrapher. I loved the way this story unfolded. I learned from the author’s note at the end that the Cinderella myth is a common one through many cultures. And that she took her inspiration for this novel from the Chinese legendary folk tales. Still, Western readers will recognize many elements … from losing a shoe to evil stepmother to the prince’s search for “THE girl.” I particularly appreciated the occasional poem which so eloquently expressed Xing Xing’s feelings. I’m a great fan of magical realism; Napoli incorporates this literary technique seamlessly.

[vivienner_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This retelling of Cinderella provides a look, not only at the custom of binding feet, but at other social conventions of ancient China. The writing has an illusory, other-worldly style that enhances the fairy tale mood. Xing Xing (Cinderella) is an appealing character, strong and smart. In keeping with the original, whether Chinese or Grimm's, parts of the story are painful, unlike the unbloodied modern version. Again I wonder why books for young people continue to be distressing. It makes me think of a Victorian ploy to encourage children count their blessings. Napoli is a talented writer and this book is recommended to anyone who enjoys fairy tales.

[deweyever · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Bound is a retelling of the famous Cinderella story, taking place in China. There are a lot of elements based upon both the German Grimm story and some of the various Chinese Cinderella tales. I liked how the author utilized the binding of feet to get her point across about Cinderella. The Stepmother is not made to be ultimately evil either, she is simply a very jealous woman. There is an element of magic to the story as well, that keeps it reading like a fairy tale. Xing Xing ( our Cinderella) is a very likable character because she is smart witty and tries to make the best out of her situation. I would recommend this for a variety of readers, especially younger teens.

[csweder · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was intrigued by this book, as I haven't read much about Chinese culture. I liked it, was engaged with the character, and wanted to see things work out for her.

I lost interest a bit when it turned into just another Cinderella story...

[ecataldi-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fantastic rendition of the classic Cinderella tale. Years ago I took a class on fairy tales and we explored how many different cultures all across the globe have very similar stories and traditions, one of the most common is Cinderella. Last month we read Cinder which is a futuristic cyborg rendition of the Cinderella trope and this book, Bound, is a twentieth century Chinese retelling. Xing Xing lives in a cave with her stepmother and her stepsister Wei Ping and due to her feet being unbound is forced to do all the servant work. Xing Xing was educated up until her father's death so her stepmother is convinced that no one will ever want to marry an educated unbound, unattractive girl. Filled with great Chinese elements about family, traditions, calligraphy, and fish, this book compelled me from the get go. Donna Jo Napoli is master at fairy tale re-telling.

[loafhunter13 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

●Young Xing Xing is bound. Bound to her father’s second wife and daughter after Xing Xing’s father has passed away. Bound to a life of servitude as a young girl in ancient China, where the life of a woman is valued less than that of livestock. Bound to be alone and unmarried, with no parents to arrange for a suitable husband. Dubbed lazy one by her stepmother, Xing Xing spends her days taking care of her half-sister, Wei Ping who cannot walk because of her foot bindings, the painful but compulsorily practices for young girls who are fit to be married. All this is about to change as the time for the annual village festival comes around and stepmother becomes desperate to find a husband for Wei Ping. Xing Xing soon realizes that this greed not only threatens her memories of the past but her dreams for the future. This book is a non-native's interpretation of the Chinese version of Cinderella. She compiles several folktales gathered while teaching in China, rearranges some plot points and adds her own two cents to make a decent but lackluster book. Her alteration of the Chinese history and stories is unnecessary and tiresome . The addition of her subtle and anachronistic Western feminism also dilutes authority and given the nature of the characters, is unwarranted. Perhaps decent to get YA into more serious works on China but it confuses facts and history too much with modern opinions to be effective.

[jzunker-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

4Q, 3P Bound by Donna Jo Napoli, a 2006 version of Cinderella. Xing Xing is subject to a Stepmother consumed with her daughter's prospect of marriage. Daughter Wei Ping suffers the torture of the old custom of foot binding, a practice of binding a young girl's feet to prevent growth and allow for a sensual sway of hips while walking. Xing Xing suffers the torture of two deceased parents and the constant threat and mistreatment of Stepmother. Her life is comprised of caring for her sister as the feet worsen, forcing her to sell unripe figs for money or medicine. She takes solace from a large fish whom she believes is her reincarnated mother, looking out for her. The differences between the story now versus then is Xing Xing demonstrates more independence and confidence than the original Cinderella. Historically, as indicated in Bound, Chinese girls are undervalued and have no voice or presence. Like the original Cinderella story, Xing Xing seeks a way out; she does not yearn for a husband as a love struck girl, but instead views the Prince as a vehicle out of the cave, out of her Stepmother’s life. The story was most interesting and ironic due to the foot binding. The torturous practice completely backfired for the Wei Ping and her Mother which also serves as a reminder for any young adult that beauty is not physical.Napoli's studies of syntax, phonetics and historical and comparative linguistics is evident in her writing of this story, as if it were translated from Mandarin.Bound targets the younger female reader, therefore it will only appeal to older girls and males if pushed to read.

[bunwat_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked this Asian cinderella tale when I was reading it. But it didn't give me any characters or situations that stuck with me after I closed the book. So much so that a few weeks back when I ran across it again here at GR I thought oh, interesting, and requested it from the library. Five pages in I thought, wait I've read this? Yeah, I had.

I still enjoyed it enough to read it again but somehow I just feel... distanced. I don't know, maybe its because the main character is so passively obedient so much of the time, which I understand, its appropriate to the setting, but I couldn't connect. She works really hard and quite creatively at times doing things that make no sense at all because she is ordered to by her stepmother and its important to be dutiful. So yeah okay, being dutiful important in her time and place. Plus what else is she going to do, go starve in the street?

But wouldn't a person at least say in their own head, hey this is dumb? Something? Where is the creativity she uses to carry out the tasks? Why doesn't it show up more in the way she thinks about her own situation? Also the prince really does swoop in from nowhere in the very last part of the book. I didn't even know he existed until the story was nearly over.

[mamzel_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

For a short book (186 pages) this one packs quite a story. Napoli is best known for rewriting well known fairy tales and in this story, she transforms the story of Cinderella into a Chinese folk tale. Xing Xing's mother and father are dead and she lives with her stepmother and sister, Wei Ping. Their father would not allow Wei Ping's feet to be bound but as soon as he died, her mother started the painful process. I thought it was so clever of Napoli to rewrite the Cinderella story that centered around foot size and shoes to include the intense and barbaric ritual of foot binding.I found the part about the prince at the end a bit contrived especially since he did not attend the festival and Xing Xing did not have a chance to recite her poem to attract the prince's attention. All he had to go on was her gold slipper.I was charmed by use of Xing Xing's mother leaving behind gifts for her daughter rather than inventing a fairy godmother. I found this even more special since the story takes place in a country where dead ancestors are revered.

[bookratmisty · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3.5 This was the first thing I read by Napoli, and though it started strong and had a great sense of place, in some respects it was a letdown. Not completely, and I would still recommend it, but... I'll just get right into it. I thought it had a very strong start. The Cinderella aspects were clear and the sense of place was beautiful. It was reinforced with the language, too, so that it didn't seem like a Western character and sensibilities dropped in an Eastern setting. Everything matched and felt lovingly researched and crafted. I really enjoyed that. There was a beautiful gentleness to it all. Xing Xing and her journey were enjoyable and rootforable. It is a very different take on Cinderella than most of us are used to, but it hits the same notes and explores the well-known version in interesting ways. For example, I loved the use that Napoli made of some of the darker elements of the tale that have been largely lost to Disney, erm, time. The mutilation of the old tale -- where the Stepmother cuts off one daughters toes and the other's heels in an attempt to make the shoes fit -- is made use of in a genius way, really, tying it in with traditional foot-binding and the horror and desperation of the practice. And then, to add in the element of Xing Xing's belief about her "fish-mother" and the end result of that storyline...It was a very smart use of both the traditional tale and the history and culture of the setting. I loved, too, that even in spite of the Cinderella-ness and the element I mentioned up there in the spoiler, the stepmother and sister, and any "wickedness" that would generally be attached to their names was really understandable. The "wicked" stepmother isn't really wicked -- she's just human, and dealing with things in what she thinks is the best way. They are human and relatable, even when they are doing repugnant things. What knocked it back for me considerably in the end was the end, but it was so very rushed and almost cheesy with the prince, and I really wanted more development to the ending. Almost felt like a brush-off. It's a short book. There was really no reason that it couldn't have gone on a bit longer and given me some reason to hope that Xing Xing is going to have some kind of a chance at Happily Ever whatnot. It was abrupt, and it kept me from the satisfaction I was looking forward to, and because of that, I feel like any recommendation I give for this super quick read has to come with a large caveat...

[imsuebusy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This novel is based on Chinese Cinderella tales. Fourteen-year-old stepchild Xing-Xing endures a life of neglect and servitude, as her stepmother cruelly mutilates her own child's feet so that she alone might marry well.I read this book because I have always been fascinated by the ancient Chinese custom of foot binding. For a thousand years, Chinese mothers would bind their daughters' feet tightly in very long bandages of cloth, squeezing and folding their toes under their feet in order to make the feet smaller. These "lotus"쳌 feet were considered more attractive than regular feet; and the smaller a girl's feet were, the more valuable she was as a prospective wife.This book's title refers to the many ways in which its characters are "bound."쳌 The main character Xing-Xing does not have her feet bound because she must be able to work and run errands for her step-mother; so Xing-Xing is bound in servitude to her step-mother. Xing-Xing's half-sister must go through the excruciating foot-binding process, however, and her feet are bound. The step-mother is bound to the old Chinese custom of binding her daughter's feet so that she will be desirable to a prospective husband.This story is intriguing, but it is also a little painful to read. The life these three characters live is less than comfortable, and bad things happen. If you like good, candid, fact-based historical fiction, you will like this book.

[dingleberries11 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There are many different versions of “Cinderella” stories throughout the world. Bound is one that retells the Chinese version with a few alterations.Napoli sets her story in Ming times (while the original is usually said to be during the Qin or Han times) and tells the story of a beautiful young girl who diligently works for her stepmother and stepsister. The writing is very direct and precise, but there is a certain cadence and poetry to the words. For me, the greatest charm of this version is the interesting culture that goes along with it. As you read you really understand the different ideas and norms that exist (and some still do) in China. Such as: bound feet, the ideas behind family and ancestry, reincarnation, the foods they eat, ideas of beauty, living conditions…This is a really nice read, even if the ending is expected (and somewhat abrupt).

[futuremrsjoshgroban · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Probably my favorite YA retelling of "Cinderella".

[beccabowmeow · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This had a few things that I would consider to be a little disturbing so even though it looks like a middle school book, I would say it is for a mature middle schooler or high school age. It had a lot to do with Chinese customs, however, which I thought was neat but also thought that it made the book drag a little at times. I also didn't care much for the abrupt ending even though I know fairy tales often have a similar ending.

[vanedow · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The concept: Set in Ming China, this retelling follows Xing Xing, who is stuck obeying each and every whim of her demanding step-mother. With her mother and father both gone, Xing Xing wonders who will ever speak up for her.What I liked: I enjoyed the novel setting of the story. I also liked the way the fairy godmother was replaced by Xing Xing's deceased mother. Xing Xing herself is an easy-to-like character.What I didn't like: It was just a little too "surface" for me. Having read other books set in the same time period, I found the historical detail distractingly inconsistent. Still, I would recommend this book for younger teens.

[xuesheng_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this Chinese Cinderella story. Chinese versions of Cinderella are among the earliest recorded. Napoli stayed true the various versions that she researched; however, she placed her story during the Ming dynasty so that she could use foot binding as part of her story. This is a novel so it goes into greater detail that is found in the other Cinderella stories.This book was located in the in the Young Adult section. I think this is the right place for the book since the story deals with more sophisticated topics that in my opinion aren't appropriate for tweens and early teens. There is mention of female infanticide, multiple wives including selling wives, and references to then desirability for bound feet.

[deslivres5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another great fairy tale retelling by Donna Jo Napoli. This time, she takes on a Chinese Cinderella story. Xing Xing lives in a cave home in northern China during the Ming dynasty era with her stepmother (a bit evil) and her older half-sister (a bit overbearing, but not so evil), tending to her half-sister ,who is recovering from a foot-binding, and being a virtual slave to her stepmother. The story has a fairy godmother in a unique guise and of course there is a prince, a ball/festival and a slipper involved. The life of Xing Xing before all this comes to pass is a lot more interesting than the conclusion with the prince.

[beckyhill · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An interesting twist on the Cinderella story set in China. The main characters are symbolic of good and evil, with Xing Xing being good and her step-mother being evil. The plot follows Xing Xing through her daily practices as a servant to step-mother and step-sister after her father dies, and the things she learns along the way. It is set in China during the Ming dynasty. This book does allow for good to triumph over evil, with Xing Xing slowly gaining courage to face up to her step-mother, and ultimately when the prince finds her and takes her away. The style reflects the culture, allowing the reader to gain an understanding of feet-binding in society, and the traditions surrounding marriage.

[punxsygal · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Bound by Donna Jo Napoli is a Chinese version of Cinderella. Xing Xing lives with her harsh stepmother and her stepsister, Wei Ping in a cave in a northern province of China. Despite her stepmother’s efforts to keep Wei Ping’s feet small by binding them, Xing Xing’s are smaller. Xing Xing feels surrounded by the spirit of her father in the back of their cave and her mother in the form of a large white carp in a nearby pond. Stepmother grows increasingly desperate in her efforts to find a husband for Wei Ping. Preparations are made to attend the annual village festival. Xing Xing chooses to stay home where she finds a secret letter and gift left behind by her deceased mother. The story, though known, encompasses the beauty and thoughts of China.

[zanadi17 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A classic Cinderella story that takes place in china during the Ming dynasty. Well written with alot of vivid detail and a good ending. However the ending feels rushed the way it was written. You will immediantly sympathize with the main character Xing Xing. Has loads of info about chinese mythology and traditon.

[jhagiya · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Xing Xing’s journey of self discovery comes from her inner strength to face the death of both parents as she lives a conflicted life bound by old Chinese traditions, superstitions, and values. This book contains all the elements of a powerful historical fiction novel: the people and settings are richly described giving an authenticity of the time period, including descriptions of cultural customs such as feet binding and religious customs; believable characters who share common experiences with the audience such as freedom, survival, and love. This story parallels a version of Cinderella, which readers will find enjoyable and familiar.

[fionacat_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent retelling of the Cinderella story, set in ancient China and addressing the custom of foot binding.

[mcilibrary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Bound is def. like the Asian Cinderella.