The grandmother, mother and granddaughters are learning how they fit into their family history. The Korean culture included is meaningful and adds to the diversity. I appreciate the inclusion of diverse characters overcoming their (and helping each other) personal challenges. The Korean folklore and magical realism kept me interested.

As a result of my various committee appointments and commitments I am unable to disclose my personal thoughts on this title at this time. Please see my star rating for a general overview of how I felt about this title. Additionally, you may check my GoodReads for additional information on what thoughts I’m able to share publicly. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this and any other titles you are in charge of.

"Long, long ago, when tiger walked like man..."

It's the summer before Lily begins seventh grade, and her widowed Korean American mother suddenly decides to move her and older sister Sam from their home in California to Sunbeam, Washington, to live with their Halmoni, who is very ill. Lily claims that her one superpower is the ability to make herself invisible, or what her sister calls a QAG - quiet Asian girl, unlike Sam who is always able to fit in and get along with people. But neither girl wants to move to Sunbeam.

Sure, Lily and Sam had always enjoyed visiting their Korean grandmother and hearing her stories. They especially like the way she would have them pretend to grab a star containing a story. Their favorite story was about a tiger and two sisters who became the sun and the moon to escape the tiger. So when Lily sees a large magical tiger sitting by the side of the road into Sunbeam, she knows she can tell her Halmoni about it.

But Halmoni's reaction when she hears about the tiger, isn't what Lily expects. She tells Lily that long ago she had stolen something from the tiger and stashed it away in some jars. Now, the tiger has come looking for what belongs to her. But what could Halmoni possibly have stolen from a magical tiger? The answer is in a story that Halmoni tells Lily one night about a lonely sky princess who whispers stories to the night. The stories become stars that light the world. But as a little girl, Halmoni didn't like some of the star stories that made her sad and thought they were dangerous. So she stole them and put them into jars. Now, the tiger wants them back.

So with the help of new friend Ricky, they build a tiger trap in the basement, using boxes that Halmoni had stacked by the basement door. One of the boxes contains jars and Lily is convinced that these are the star jars that Halmoni had used to hid the tiger's stories. Sure enough, that night the tiger is in the basement waiting for Lily. When she offers her a deal - return the stories and Halmoni would feel better - Lily is at first hesitant, but later, desperate to help her sick grandmother, she accepts it. With the release and telling of each story star, Lily begins to fill in the blank spots in Halmoni's past, sorting through and separating fact from fiction.

When You Trap a Tiger is just simply a wonderful, unputdownable story. The balance of realism and magical realism is so seamlessly done, nothing jars and even the tiger, appearing and disappearing like a Cheshire cat, becomes believable in the skilled hands of author Tae Keller. Story and characters are well-drawn and equally nuanced, playing their parts perfectly. The cast of characters is small and no character, not even Ricky, is gratuitous.

Keller addresses a number of themes in this book - loss, grief, family history, identity, and LGTBQ - but at heart is the theme of storytelling. As the tiger tells Lily, stories have the power to change someone, even if don't always end happily. The release of Halmoni's stories helps Lily discover not only who her grandmother is, but who she herself is and can be, and the lesson learned is that it is up to Lily to create her own story, making this a powerful coming-of-age tale.

At one point in the book, Halmoni tells Lily "everything a little bit magic." What a wonderful time to be a reader and be able to read magical stories like this.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was purchased for my personal library

This sweet middle-grade book will bring an adult to tears. The characters, the plot, and even the setting make this book extra special. Learning about her past and Korean folklore, Lily has to help her sick grandmother as stories start to become her reality. If you liked Patrick Ness's A Monster Call, you'll love this story, but I will recommend this to everyone!!

Lily is so used to being ‘invisible’, she’s convinced it’s her super power. It’s especially difficult to speak up when her outspoken older sister, Sam, is doing enough talking for the both of them. (“What Sam doesn’t realize is that she’s already rocking our boat. If I rock it, too, the boat will flip. We’ll drown.”) It becomes difficult to remain quiet, however, when Lily, Sam and their mother move from California to Washington in order to live closer to Lily’s Halmoni (grandmother) to help care for her, and the girls struggle to adapt to a new town, make new friends, and cope with their grandmother’s failing health. It isn’t until the unexpected appearance of a giant, mysterious, talking tiger that only Lily can see and speak to that Lily is able to find her voice. Filled to the brim with Korean folktales, mystical creatures, stories hidden in the stars and much, much more, When You Trap A Tiger is a magical novel that demonstrates how powerful, comforting and inspiring middle grade literature can be.

I feel confident in saying that discovering the work of author Tae Keller will be one of the best things I do in 2020, and it’s only February. After reading (and falling in love with) the author’s debut novel, The Science of Breakable Things, at the beginning of the year, Penguin Random House was kind enough to approach me and ask if I would be interested in reading Keller’s January 2020 release, When You Trap A Tiger, and I couldn’t have been more excited!

One of the Tae Keller’s many strengths as a writer lies in her ability to address difficult topics in a sensitive, empathetic and accessible way. In her debut novel, The Science of Breakable Things, the novel’s protagonist, Natalie, attempts to better connect with her botanist mother and understand her mother’s chronic depression through an exploration of the scientific process. In When You Trap A Tiger, Lily uses her grandmother’s familiar Korean folktales to re-connect with her older sister and parse the trauma and grief she is experiencing because of both the death of her father when she was a child and her grandmother’s worsening cancer and eventual death. Despite the seriousness of the aforementioned topics, however, Keller’s work is never lacking in hope or sensitivity. Keller uses stories and the act of storytelling as a way for Lily to navigate and make sense of immense change, and in doing so teaches young readers that while change and even endings are inevitable, they are by no means something to fear. (“I don’t yet know the ending, but I will face my story as it changes and grows. Because of Halmoni, I can be brave. I can be anything.”)

Stories also form the basis for Lily’s growing understanding of her grandmother’s past as well as a growing understanding of her Korean ancestry. It becomes clear that Halmoni is reluctant to speak about her past, and she admits to Lily that while the stories she shares with her granddaughters are always positive and end happily, there are other stories she’s reluctant to share because “Some stories are too dangerous to tell. (…) Sometime, they make people feed bad and act bad. Some of those stories make me feel sad and small.” Halmoni tells Lily that she ‘stole’ a number of these stories and hid them away, hoping to free herself and others from the sadness and anger they inspired. Unbeknownst to her Halmoni, Lily comes to believe it is these stories that the mysterious tiger is hunting, and it is only through telling these hidden, ‘stolen’ stories that her grandmother will truly be set free. (“Maybe keeping those stories secret is a bad thing. Because all those things still happened, even if you don’t talk about it. And hiding it doesn’t erase the past – it only bottles it up.”) What Lily, and the reader, ultimately learn is that stories have the power to connect, preserve and immortalize, and it is through these stories, tradition and memory that those we love are able to live forever.

There’s so much to love about When You Trap A Tiger, I can’t help but worry that a review will never truly do it justice. Keller’s writing is exquisite, managing to be both profound and beguiling while remaining approachable and easy to understand. The warmth and depth of the personal connections the author draws, whether it be Lily’s loving relationship with her grandmother, her strained disconnection (and reconnection) with her older sister, Sam, or burgeoning friendship with the talkative and inquisitive Ricky, Keller emphasizes the beauty of both biological and found family. The characterization is strong, particularly in the case of Lily, who is a quiet, introverted girl who learns over the course of the novel that you don’t have to speak the loudest or the most to speak volumes.

Compassionate, uplifting, and full of heart, When You Trap A Tiger would make a valuable addition to any library, classroom or personal collection and would be a particular gift and comfort to readers struggling with grief and loss. I’m thrilled I was introduced to Tae Keller’s work this year, and even more thankful that young readers everywhere have her empathy and eloquence to guide them.