A book about bullfighting seems like the last book I would want to read, but Shadow of a Bull is not just a book about bullfighting. Shadow of a Bull is a rich book about the trials of being the son of a hero, a book about the struggles of a boy trying to find his own way in a world that is attempting to force him to take a path the boy does not want to take. Manolo is the son of a magnificent bullfighter. When Manolo's father is killed in the ring, the people look to Manolo to become the man his father was. Manolo does not want to be a bullfighter. But he does not want to disappoint his mother and his father's friends and all the people of his town. He is afraid, paradoxically, of both the bull and of being a coward. He can find no way out.

The author is somehow able to share with the reader the beauty and the horror of bullfighting. I was surprised to find that I could see bullfighting in a new way, as an art, as a heroic act, though I continue to feel revulsion as well.

Off to a new reader!

Found in Around the World Bookbox #2; releasing back into the box.

Reserving for a local Children's LFL.

Glad to have received this in the Around the World Bookbox round 2, thanks! Released into a Little Free Library that circulates children's books, that's currently a bit empty.

Planning to read within the week, just writing down that its not my turn to read it.

Planning to read within the week, just writing down that its now my turn to read it.