- Audio Cassette
- Publisher: Listening Library; Unabridged edition (Oct 8 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0807209457
- ISBN-13: 978-0807209455
- Product Dimensions: 18 x 11.3 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 132 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,383,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
David Almond's extraordinary books skirt the edge of fantasy with stories that reveal the magic all around us in everyday life. His novels--among them the exquisite Skellig, and the Printz Prize winner Kit's Wilderness--are not for literal-minded kids, but only for those young dreamers who can float with the symbolism and enjoy the fragrance of mysticism.
In Secret Heart Joe Maloney and his good mum live in the dilapidated English village of Helmouth, on the edge of the wasteland. He dreams of a tiger padding into his room, and the next morning a great blue tent has appeared on the edge of town: Hackenschmidt's Circus, on its final tour. The young toughs who always make fun of Joe stand around sneering at the circus folks, "Clear off, gyppo scum!" But Joe is fascinated with the blue dusk inside the tent, and with Corinna, a young trapeze flyer his own age. He turns away from the urgings of his best friend, Stanny, to come along on a camping trip with sinister Joff, who wants to make a man of him by teaching him to kill things. He much prefers the strange, warm-hearted circus people and learning to jump with Corinna into the net far below the trapeze. But in the sad last days of this circus there are no longer any wild animals. "There are no tigers," says Corinna, but Joe knows better as he goes into the wood to save them by a final confrontation with the great striped beast. A strangely satisfying story, delicate and engaging. (Ages 11 to 14) --Patty Campbell --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
As mysterious and spiritual as Almond's previous novels (Skellig; Kit's Wilderness) this initiation story explores the contrasting worlds of dreams and wakefulness, then forms an artful meshing of the two realms. Around the time a circus comes to town, Joe Maloney, a stuttering boy with poetic vision, dreams of a prowling tiger. He doesn't find the tiger under the well-worn tent of the traveling circus stationed in his "wasteland" of a town, but he does find a group of downtrodden performers, outcasts like himself. Corinna, a young trapeze artist, discovers a kindred spirit in Joe, and together they chart a mystical journey through the wilderness. Believing that Joe possesses the heart of a tiger, Corinna offers encouragement, support and understanding. Through her belief in him, Joe finds the courage to follow his own path even though he is often met with jeers. Almond fans, who relish the author's skill at creating surreal landscapes and otherworldly images, will not be disappointed by this tale, though in many ways this novel's threads are more disparate. Readers must wait it out until the final chapters to see them joined. Although most of the book is characteristically dark and intense, Joe moves steadily towards the light as, escorted by a motley crew of circus people, he travels an evocative road towards self-discovery. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Secret Heart,
By "flyboy2163" (Wilmette Illinois) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Secret Heart (Hardcover)
Review This book was about a boy named Joe Maloney and how he was not made for this world and how he was so much different than everybody else. One day a circus comes to town and Joe goes over to see what its like. As doing so Joe sees a beautiful girl named and realizes that he has fallen in love with her. When Joe goes to sleep that night as done he is watched by a lion in his dream. Joe realizes that he is more at home more than he has every been before. I thought that this was a very well done book that i would recommend to children of all ages. This book was definitely a book that you could read over and over again to anybody.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dreams and ancient tales..,
By
This review is from: Secret Heart (Hardcover)
I love books that can be read on several different levels. I imagine a middle school reader could enjoy this book as a coming-of-age story. But it is also a book of great depth and beauty, as represented in one of my favorite quotes: Joe closed his eyes. He felt Nanty's hands cradling his head, and he felt how tender they were. "How can a thing like a head be held within a lady's fingers?" she whispered. "Here's dreams and memories and ancient tales that's being told and told. Here's stars that shine a billion miles away and deep dark caves and forests and Helmouth and teachers and mothers and horns of unicorns and the stripes of tigers. Here's a thing that's bigger than the world and all the worlds there ever was. And look. All held within a tent of tender bone and skin and cradled in a lady's fingers. How can this be so?"
4.0 out of 5 stars
Secret Heart,
By A Customer
This review is from: Secret Heart (Hardcover)
I read Secret heart. I thought it was a good book. It was a good book because it was an interesting book. This book was not my favorite book. I read other books that were more detailed. I would think that 4th though 5th graders should read this because it would be a little too hard for 3rd and under. I recommend this book to other people. It would be a good books for people that like tigers.
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