When You Trap a Tiger

I got When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller from the library after seeing it won the Newbery medal this year. I'm getting lazy with writing my own summaries, so here's the description from Amazon: "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."

This was a great read. I was sobbing by the end and was also left with a lot of questions about what was real and what wasn't--which maybe was left unclear on purpose. I loved the main character, Lily, and worried about what was going to happen as she tried to navigate the cirumstances she was facing. It was a unique book, but it definitely caught my interest and made me want to keep reading. It was also kind of deep at the end, and I probably need to do some pondering to really understand all of the lessons the book teaches in the end.

Rating: * * * (3/3 = Loved it)

Fighting Words

I got Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley from the library after hearing it was one of the newly announced Newbery Honor books. Here's a description of the book from the publisher: "Ten-tear-old Della has always had her older sister, Suki: When their mom went to prison, Della had Suki. When their mom’s boyfriend took them in, Della had Suki. When that same boyfriend did something so awful they had to run fast, Della had Suki. Suki is Della’s own wolf–her protector. But who has been protecting Suki? Della might get told off for swearing at school, but she has always known how to keep quiet where it counts. Then Suki tries to kill herself, and Della’s world turns so far upside down, it feels like it’s shaking her by the ankles. Maybe she’s been quiet about the wrong things. Maybe it’s time to be loud."

This was an incredible book. It is a book that addresses things like sexual abuse and suicide but is meant for younger readers than a typical young adult book. (My sensitive 10-year-old with anxiety wouldn't be quite ready for this book, but I think it would be a meaningful read for her in a few years. Other children her age probably could handle this, but I think it'd be good to have an adult in their life reading it too so it can be discussed.) The book was engaging and hard to put down, and the characters were just so well developed. I was rooting for Della and Suki the whole book and so grateful for the good people in their lives. The book also opened my eyes to the many children who go through childhoods that are completely unfair. I really love that this book was written because I think it will give children who have been through difficult things the courage to speak up and the ability to find hope for a better future.

Rating: * * * (3/3 = Loved it)