Tae KellerRecensioni
Autore di When You Trap a Tiger
Recensioni
magical tiger appears in her grandmother's basement with a deal to heal the ailing woman, Lily is willing to do
whatever it takes—even if that means trapping the tiger. What follows is a glorious tale of self-discovery and family
overflowing with Korean folklore and magical realism. Thought-provoking and deeply moving.
- About a girl who grandma is sick and in order to heal her she must return something that was stole from a tiger. The deal is shady and the story of what happened is share.
- I think this would be a cool book to have on my shelf as it is a story about culture and a bit of fantasy.
Keller addresses the QAG (Quiet Asian Girl) stereotype head-on in the book. Lily sees herself as so shy she's practically invisible. But when she starts seeing a tiger stalking her family in the middle of their small Washington state town, she realizes she has to take bold action.
Representation note: Toward the very end of the book, there's an LGBTQ relationship brought to light.
She asks Kath and Ingrid to get involved and help her in her search for Jennifer Chan.
When Lily and her family move in with her sick grandmother, a magical tiger straight out of her halmoni's Korean folktales arrives, prompting Lily to unravel a secret family history. Long, long ago, Halmoni stole something from the tigers. Now they want it back. And when one of the tigers approaches Lily with a deal--return what her grandmother stole in exchange for Halmoni's health--Lily is tempted to agree. But deals with tigers are never what they seem! With the help of her sister and her new friend Ricky, Lily must find her voice...and the courage to face a tiger.
Tae Keller, the award-winning author of The Science of Breakable Things, shares a sparkling tale about the power of stories and the magic of family.
This book is very interesting and engaging, pulling the reader into its world immediately and taking hold. Being written by Tae Keller, the book is unsurprisingly full of absolutely beautiful prose. I love how Keller makes the theme of each of her books a recurring motif in the writing style, without being too hamfisted about it. Here, metaphors about space sneak their way into all kinds of situations and thoughts. For instance, when Mallory and her schoolmates try to signal aliens through a radio station, she narrates, “We wait. These minutes last so long you could stuff entire galaxies into them.” There’s tons of little moments like this, and they all feel so organic and perfect. While the book is mostly taking place in the here and now, some chapters alternate to the recent past of Jennifer’s introduction to the neighborhood and school, with little bits of Mallory’s role being revealed each time. These build tension up surrounding the mysterious “Incident.” Occasionally interspersed between the chapters are short entries from Jennifer’s notebooks full of observations about aliens, the universe, and her own family dynamics.
As much as this book is about aliens on the surface level, it is firmly rooted in the realistic fiction genre and is much more a testament about personal character development than anything else. Mallory is torn between wanting to be popular, wanting to be good, and trying to understand who in her life is trustworthy and truly kind. It’s a story about the search for one’s identity that just so happens to be couched in a story about the search for extraterrestrial life. Consider another piece of Mallory’s narration: “... I climb out my window again, just to look up at that infinite sky. Why would aliens come so far, just for us? If they’re not planning to interfere, what are they looking for? What are they trying to learn? I imagine them asking questions I don’t know how to answer. How are you? Who are you? Who do you think you are?” These italicized questions are central ones that Mallory, and by extension the reader, are trying to answer.
I appreciated that while there are certainly lessons to be learned here about being yourself, standing up against bullying, and so on, Keller doesn’t provide easy answers or moralistic one-liners. She reflects the reality of life in all its complexities, including that a person could be a supportive friend to one person but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are a good person all around. The book itself reads pretty quickly because of the beautiful writing and the compelling story, but you’ll be left with plenty to chew over and think about when you’re done reading it.
All of this is made that much more poignant by reading the Author’s Note at the end of the book, in which Keller reveals that she was much like the Jennifer character in school, being bullied by classmates and so-called friends. She goes on to explain how she processed and dealt with her own “Incident” well in adulthood, and reconnected with her former bullies to discover how they had grown since then.
Stories are ever changing because of language, memories, and situations. Tae Keller recreated the magic of childhood stories told by her halmoni (grandmother), creating a tool for teaching children about Korean lore, loss, race, and acceptance. Greta Jung maintains an anglicized narration making it hard for the reader to distinguish halmoni from harmony. However, this is cleared up in chapter 34 when Ricky learns how to pronounce halmoni. Making the listener want to start over too find other Korean words. The written and narrated versions of When You Trap a Tiger offer a multitude of learning experiences through the magic of storytelling. An inspiring read for all ages.
Personal note: my grandma lives in west Canada and we often times read stories together, almost always accidentally. One of us will find it interesting and the other will pick it up. This happened with When You Trap a Tiger. I could see a lot of parallels between my relationship with Grandma and Lily’s relationship with Halmoni. I thought everyone knew that 7 cups of herbal tea was equal to 1 vegetable. Turns out, it only works because Grandma said so.
This book was very engaging, written in the style of a school notebook for science class, interspersing observations and footnotes with Natalie’s distinct voice. Natalie’s friends and schoolmates round out the cast of characters who are quirky but believable. The book is an emotional rollercoaster – in a good way – as readers experience the tension of the egg drop competition and the sadness that Natalie feels when she sees her mother doing unwell. This is a great read for those who like character-driven realistic fiction.
1.) One of my coworkers loved it and we usually like the same books
2.) It won the Newbery this year
I kept trying with reading it. But as it sat for over a month on my table.....I'd read a few pages and then put down....I had to ask myself why. I am not a fan of magical realism for starters. I struggled with the book being about Korean folklore and yet the Author not being Korean (yes, she did do research but still......)
I also kept comparing it to two other middle grade books that stand out in my memory. One of them being "Fighting Words" (which won a Newbery honor). I wanted that to win. I didn't see the wow in "When to Trap a Tiger." Maybe I gave up too soon, but when it's a third of the way through a book and I don't feel a wow....it is time to put it down.
This was a family read-aloud for story time. It is full of good sibling feels and is all about the power of stories -- as well as the traditions passed down and lost between generations. A lovely middle-grade adventure.
Premise/plot: Mihi and her (new) friends Reese and Savannah return to the dangerous fairy tale realm (the portal is a refrigerator in the school library). Though these three barely escaped the first time round, these three are back again for a second adventure. Why? Well, Genevieve, Mihi's nemesis (frenemy), has ventured into the realm. Mihi thinks that Genevieve will need help to survive and return. She surely knows that it took all three of them [Mihi, Reese, Savannah] to escape the first time. So much trickery and deceit in that realm.
Expect a giant, a beanstalk, and Jack in this second book.
My thoughts: The Rainbow Realm is topsy-turvy and unpredictable. Mihi and friends do have trouble detecting who is being honest and who is lying. To be fair, sometimes it's because they are just in a tough predicament where they have to make a decision to move forward. Even a bad mistake is movement forward. There are a lot of villains in this one. Few are just openly villainous. Many are "I'm just misunderstood" or "I'm trying to rewrite my story." A few villains they trust turn out to be honest (a wolf and fox), but others are just lying (a witch?).
I am not the intended audience for these--obviously. I think they are certainly entertaining...especially for kids in that intended age range. (Perhaps not so much for adults just for the fun of it.) These books--the first two--focus a lot on the tricky relationships. It is so tough to make friends and keep friends. Both books look at what makes a friend a good friend in addition to how to BE a friend even when the other person isn't the kindest or nicest.
The legendary three mice, Sleeping Beauty, and the three bears all have roles to play as Mihi, Savannah, and Reese use their strengths to keep each other safe on their journey and return home in one piece. And maybe, to help Sleeping Beauty change her story, too...
Sequel TK
See also: Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu (but Mihi is shorter, faster-paced, and more upbeat).
Quotes
"Some people have to work harder than everyone else, because the game is rigged against us. We can't just get what we want." (Maven to Mihi, 140)
She'd been running so fast, chasing this dream. She'd been so focused on the person she wanted to be that she hadn't even considered the person she was actually being. (167)
See also: The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga, The Insiders by Mark Oshiro, Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina, Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk
Quotes
In Nowheresville, someone's always saying something, and nobody knows what's real. But the truth doesn't always matter. Sometimes the idea of someone, the things people say about them , matters so much more. Because when you think about it, isn't that who we really are - a collection of the things people think about us? (14)
"Most people run from the truth. But I run toward it. I'm going to make history. I'm going to change the world." (Jennifer to Mallory, 28)
For whatever reason, the universe decided that I had to worry, all the time, about how things looked and what people thought, and Jennifer just...didn't. (40)
"I think you're trying to do the right thing. And when people are trying to do the right thing, it's probably the right thing to help them, right?" (Kath, 74)
For the first time, I wonder if my friends are good people. And I wonder if I am. (86)
It's hard to do it alone, of course, because the world is easier with someone who gets you. (Jennifer's journal 93)
A weird thing happens when you see something with your own eyes and then you hear about it later. It's like your reality merges with the rumors, and you aren't sure what's real anymore. You can't trust your own memory.
But here's what I remember:..." (107)
"Maybe it's more complicated than knowing the right thing. Maybe people are just trying to balance helping other people and keeping themselves safe." (Mal to Kath, 123)
Maybe I am someone new, someone fearless. And maybe I don't need anyone else to see that in me. Maybe it's enough to see it in myself." (153)
And then I wonder: How many followers does it take to make a leader? And what if someone decided not to follow? (163)
How much difference can one human possibly make? (182)
A weird thing happens when you see something with your own eyes - when you participate, when you do something wrong - and nobody ever talks about it again. The less you hear about it, the more you tell yourself it never happened at all. You can shove reality into the shadows of your mind, so it's always lurking but never fully present. You're afraid of your own memory. You're afraid to believe it. (223)
"You have to be kind enough to forgive yourself when you make mistakes. You have to trust yourself to fix them." (Mom to Mal, 229)
Why are people afraid to believe? Maybe it's because if they believe in a better world, then they have to work to make that world happen. (250)
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I think that this is a great book for intermediate students and one that would create many opportunities for students to stretch their creating thinking through discussions.