When You Trap a Tiger: (Newbery Medal Winner)

This has quickly become one of my favorite stories I have ever read. It truly is a remarkable tale that takes all the best parts of reading and meshed them into one. I laughed. I cried. I love this book. And will be recommending it to everyone. It is so worth the read.

How many times did I come close to tears while listening to this book? Let me count... 1, 2, 3, ..... 37, 38, ... Okay, I can't actually put a specific number on it, but it was a lot. There was so much going on in this novel that started out as a simple story with a tiger spirit. The feelings that Lily was dealing with, both before and after she found out her grandmother was sick, and the tension that was always there between her and Sam were so realistic that I found myself tearing up or having a catch in my throat so many times. The feelings that are evoked by Lily's simple desire to make her grandmother better, and how she deals with what happens as she tries to achieve her goal, were beautifully written. Then, to intersperse all of that with the stories that we got to hear, both from the grandmother and the tiger, were beautiful. Because I have seen so many other reviews complain about this, I want to address the information that comes up about Sam at the end. <spoiler>Yes, it is revealed that she is lesbian. No, it was not just "thrown in there" or "included to be politically correct." A person's sexuality doesn't have to be plot-relevant to be included. LGBTQ+ people exist, everywhere. Let them exist. And, for those who are grabbing their pearls over a MG book having a lesbian in it, children of all ages have siblings who identify as LGBTQ+; why should they not be represented in the literature, too? Sam is a teenager, so it is perfectly normal that she would be discovering who she is - and that includes her sexual identity!</spoiler> For this book, I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by Greta Jung. I thought she did a wonderful job, and I really appreciated hearing someone pronounce the Korean words so that, when I pick up the book to read again, I will know how they are pronounced.

Ever since she was a small child, Lily’s Halmoni has told her stories about tigers and warned her of their duplicity. When Lily’s family moves to Washington and she sees a tiger in the middle of the road, she learns that the stories her Halmoni told her are tangled with half-truths, stars, and family secrets. In an effort to save her Halmoni from her terminal illness, Lily traps the very tiger that she was warned about — but will it help heal Halmoni, or will the terrible stories grow teeth? – From the moment Lily looked out of the car window and spied a tiger in the rain, this story had my heart. It’s so much more than a novel about a girl learning to deal with the loss of her beloved grandmother — it’s a story about the blending of generations, the blending of cultures, and the blending of magic, myth, and reality. The very real and extremely raw challenges that Lily faces (moving to a new town, making new friends, dealing with a terminally ill family member, growing apart from her sister and mother) are infused with magic in a way that keeps readers questioning what is real and what is merely imagined. One of the most obvious examples of this is that Lily repeatedly encounters and converses with a tiger, but only in the dead of night, and once after she admits to having fallen asleep. It would be easy to write off the tiger as a figment of her sleep-deprived imagination, but at the end of the story, the tiger clears a path through the rain — a path which Lily’s sister, Sam, can clearly see. Of course, Halmoni can see the tiger as well, but there are several heartbreaking scenes sprinkled throughout the novel that make it clear that hallucinations are a side effect of her brain cancer. So what is real, then? What power do words, stories, and tigers have? As someone who doesn’t know much about Korean folklore and spirituality, I was fascinated with the mythology and descriptions of ritualistic practices such as kosa and using mugwort for protection. The author’s note at the end of the novel delves further into the author’s connection to her Korean heritage, and it’s definitely worth a read. As a reader, writer, and teacher, I love this book because it is a story about stories. Lily finds inner-strength, yes, but it’s clear that words have strength, too. Ultimately, her power comes from being brave enough to forge her own story.

This was TOTALLY one of the best books I have ever read!!! ( Other than foxcraft of course ) But no, I TOTALLY RECCOMEND IT! Full of family drama, suspense, and overcoming fears, I 100% reccomend this book for young tweens!!! - 11 year old Evelyn

this book is so good and my daugther loved it!the details and the lessons it teaches makes it so intriguing to read.

I love this story that mixes magic with the realities of real life . Most stories let magic fix what is wrong in the world, but here the magic collides with the truth for an ending the reader can believe could actually happen. This story and another "My Brother's Keeper" have characters with Korean ancestors. The customs and beliefs they live by provide insight into a culture we rarely get to glimpse. The stories take place nearly 75 years apart, but the characters in both must look inward to face their worst fears and find the courage to risk their lives for people they love. For anyone who has ever felt she isn't enough to be recognized or loved, by her parents, siblings, or community, it takes real strength to persevere when you might be wrong, and if so, even more strength to admit and learn from it if you are wrong. In this book Lily discovers that , and also that no one can fix everything, even a with magic. In the end she knows the best magic is what is inside her heart, and she will always be brave enough to face the tiger inside her.

I bought this book to read with my students and this so far out of all the books was the best. It teaches a lot of lessons and morals that was presented in the story. I, myself, as asian american, really connected with the book as well. It made me tear up reading the ending. I highly recommend this book because it helped my students open their minds and think very deeply about themselves and others. I love this book and would recommend even readers of all ages to read this

I am an English Language teacher at the local elementary school who is always looking for chapter books that are appropriate for my students who mostly are immigrants. The book’s setting spans cultures which my students will be able to identify with. We all grew up with some level of imagination and this story weaves a world of magic, fantasy and reality. It relates the struggles of life and the reality of death.

Good for small childrens.

Chegou no prazo, tudo certinho. Gostei médio da história, não é meu livro favorito da autora.

Good story except for the unexpected inclusion of colourful things. Good thing i was reading it to my kids myself.

I like the realistic way that this book addresses the way cultural values create dilemmas for children who are second generation.

Good