TIGER

Set in 17th-century China (aka "4348—Year of the Tiger"), Stone's debut novel launches his riveting Five Ancestors series. Five orphans live at Cangzhen Temple with their Grandmaster, and consider themselves brothers; "each had mastered a style of animal kung fu that reflected both his personality and his body type." Their names are Cantonese for monkey, snake, crane, dragon and—this novel's focus—tiger. As the novel opens, Ying (Cantonese for "eagle"), a 16-year-old former student, returns to the school with the Emperor's army to retrieve the "dragon scrolls" ("He yearns to be an all-powerful dragon," Grandmaster explains) and also to exact revenge on the Grandmaster, whom he blames for the death of his best friend. The brothers learn that Ying may harbor a deeper motive ("Grandmaster wasn't the holy man everyone thinks he is," Ying tells them). In a titillating foreshadowing, Grandmaster warns the boys not to kill Ying: "Your pasts are interwoven with Ying's and so are your futures." While Ying battles his teacher, 12-year-old Fu ("tiger") retrieves the scrolls and flees, and the five brothers "scatter into the four winds." Fu spares the life of one of Ying's soldiers, who then repays the favor at a pivotal moment; Fu and Malao ("monkey") each bond with their animal counterparts, who also aid them at key junctures. Stone credibly portrays Fu as alternately sympathetic and maddening, true to his adolescent nature, and the martial arts scenes will keep even reluctant readers flipping through the pages, and anxious for volume two, Monkey . Ages 10-up. (Mar.)