Judy Chernak (Children's Literature)
Chinatown, San Francisco. Demons and animal-persons and shape shifters; people who are not what they seem; old houses, treasures, and those who would kill to steal them. Indeed, this is an adventure story for the fantasy-prone as young Tom discovers secrets his Grandmom did not think he was yet ready for. Except that now there is no choice; Grandmom has been dispatched heavenward, her soul rescued by the giant moth that swooped down from the sky after the intruders did their rotten deed. Tom is now, by default, apprentice to the reluctant, elegant Mr. Hu, a tiger in his other identity. And there is no time for mourning because they must track down and rescue the rose for which his Grandmom gave her life. This Book I of what is destined to be a series is no match for the Harry Potter phenomenon, but it is a good read, especially for boys and anyone looking for a rip-roaring adventure in an Oriental setting. Author Yep has two Newbery books already to his credit (Dragon's Gate and Dragonwings) and he knows how to fashion a page-turner. The publisher suggests ages 10 to 14, but many 8-year-olds will handle this quite well, especially if they've cut their teeth on that English wizard's story. 2003, HarperCollins, $15.99. Ages 8 to 12.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2003 (Vol. 71, No. 5))
This colorful fantasy seamlessly weaves ancient Chinese mythology into the contemporary city of San Francisco. Twelve-year-old Tom Lee, who lives with his grandmother, arrives home one day to find an old man with furry ears opening his door for him. The man turns out to be a tiger, Tom's grandmother turns out to be a powerful magician guarding a world-changing object, and Tom himself turns out to bear a sudden burden of responsibility. Thrust quickly into a skirmish, Tom barely has time to ask what's going on before he and the tiger are escaping onto the roof with the magical object while his grandmother remains inside to fight monsters. Her death is shocking but helps Tom begin to understand how important the object must be. A phoenix egg disguised as a cheap coral rose; the object holds the power-in the wrong hands-to flood the world with chaos and destruction. Mr. Hu, the tiger, has now become its Guardian, and Tom his apprentice. A dragon, a golden monkey, and a flying yellow rat join their forces, employing both enchantments and wit as their task takes them underwater, underground, and finally into another realm. Chapter-beginning quotations about the relevant Chinese mythology and its creatures give the story a deep, archetypal element. Near the end, Mr. Hu shares his soul to save Tom's life; what Tom will be like as part tiger, and what the monsters will try next to procure the object, must wait for the second entry in this simultaneously gentle and suspenseful series. (afterword) 2003, HarperCollins, $15.99. Category: Fiction. Ages 9 to 12. © 2003 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2003)
After his grandmother dies while protecting a sacred phoenix egg, seventh-grader Tom Lee finds himself apprenticed to the egg's new guardian, a magic tiger. Yep draws from Chinese creation myths to develop his characters and their histories, but the novel gets off to a slow start, and the writing is persistently clunky. Category: Intermediate Fiction. 2003, HarperCollins, 184pp, $15.99, $16.89. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 5: Marginal, seriously flawed, but with some redeeming quality.

Cynthia Grady (VOYA, June 2004 (Vol. 27, No. 2))
Yep returns to modern-day San Francisco in this first installment of a projected fantasy series. Tom Lee lives with his elderly Chinese grandmother whose unusual habits are the subject of neighborhood gossip and the reason Tom winds up in frequent skirmishes with the bullies at his middle school. Mistress Lee is apprenticing a reluctant Tom in the magical arts of the Lore. Tom learns just how powerful his grandmother is when he comes home to find a shape-shifting tiger named Mr. Hu in his living room. Mistress Lee is Guardian of a mythical phoenix egg that is disguised as a rose; Mr. Hu was one of her students in his youth. Tom is not quite ready to take over the guardianship, but his grandmother is hoping that he will become a more diligent student. Evil forces attack the house, steal the rose, and kill Tom's grandmother, thereby framing the adventure that ensues. A mischievous monkey and the exiled dragon, Mistral, join Mr. Hu and Tom in their search for the rose. The characters' squabbling and very human manner of traveling through the city keep the story fresh and light. Chinese history and mythology are successfully woven throughout the story to illuminate Mr. Hu's instructions as the shape-shifter takes over as guardian/teacher of young Tom. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P M J (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2004, HarperCollins, 192p., $15.99 and PLB $16.89. Ages 11 to 15.