The Five Ancestors Book 1 website book page banner with silhouette of a boy holding tiger hook swords and silhouette of a tiger with orange flames in the background.

Book cover of TIGER by Jeff Stone with silhouette of a boy holding tiger hook swords in front of a burning Chinese temple and orange flame silhouette of a tiger overhead.

Henan Province, China

4348—Year of the Tiger (1650 AD)

Cangzhen Temple is destroyed.

Its secret scrolls stolen.

Its warrior monks dead.

All except for the five youngest.

Alone. His entire life, 12-year-old Fu has yearned to be alone. Raised in a secret warrior monk temple with four fellow orphans, he never has any solitude. There is Malao—Monkey, Seh—Snake, Hok—Crane, and Long—Dragon. Fu—Tiger can’t relate to any of them. Even though he calls each one brother (and one surprise sister), Fu doesn’t think of them as actual siblings. The only thing they have in common is that each has already mastered a different style of animal kung fu that reflects both their personality and body type.

When their temple home is suddenly destroyed, Fu begins to reconsider his definition of family. The attackers are an army led by Fu’s vengeful, 16-year-old former temple brother, Ying—Eagle. None of the adult warrior monks survive, including the Grandmaster who raised Fu. Grandmaster’s final command is for Fu and his four surviving siblings to scatter into the four winds and uncover the secrets of their pasts, for it is the only way they can stop Ying, to whom all are somehow connected. The five separate, and Fu soon learns what it means to be truly alone. Wounded and lost in the forest, he struggles to make sense of everything until he hears a tiger roar in pain. Then instinct takes over....

Paperback and ebook of kung fu novel TIGER by Jeff Stone from The Five Ancestors series

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Awards & Recognition

· American Library Association/YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

· Hawaii Nene Award Nominee—Four consecutive years!

· New Hampshire Great Stone Face Book Award Master List

· BookSense New England Best Seller

· BookSense Summer Reading List

· BookPage Notable Title

· Quills Award Nominee

· Amazon Teacher’s Pick

· Atlanta Parent Magazine “Favorite Titles of the Year”

· Disney Adventures Magazine “What We’re Reading Now”

· Publisher’s Weekly ★ Starred Review ★

What People Are Saying

Publishers Weekly ★ STARRED REVIEW ★

"Set in 17th-century China (aka '4348—Year of the Tiger'), Stone’s debut novel launches his riveting Five Ancestors series. 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.”

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"The quest of the warrior monk, deadly elegant in battle yet bound by a sacred honor, is a popular story. The read is fast paced and accessible and the fighting patterned after animals is intriguing; in light of the promise of plenty of action and even more secrets to unfold in later books, young warriors-to-be will likely read the whole series.”

Booklist

"The slam-bang, pedal-to-the-metal adventure stands a good chance of luring kids away from video games; they will definitely line up for the forthcoming sequel.”

School Library Journal

"This book should have broad appeal to readers who love computer games and Japanese anime. Fu finds friends in unexpected places and learns to control the impulses he has fought against all of his life. Teens are likely to warm to the implicit theme that each person has a particular destiny, an inborn sense of identity that must be brought to light. A page-turner, employing slapstick humor from time to time in true manga style.”

goodreads -Susan

“Great, captivating. A great young readers action book. My 10-year-old son started reading this series and I had to check them out. I couldn't put them down. Very interesting. Funny, sad, surprising, action packed and mysterious. What more could you ask for? If your kiddos are into kung fu they will like these.”

goodreads -Chris

“It all started when my son didn't like any of my book suggestions. We went to the library and talked to one of the librarians. She gave Benji a list of books that she thought he might enjoy. Five Ancestors was one of those on her list of "how to get your boys to read" books. He hasn't put the series down ever since. I decided to read it to my other daughter who isn't at that level yet and she loved it too! They are exciting, suspenseful and PERFECT for boys who can't find anything to read!”