When You Trap a Tiger: (Newbery Medal Winner) Paperback – January 3, 2023

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.

It was so good!! I loved that the book was explaining Lily’s struggles about finding out if she was a QAG, super hero, or just a brave girl. The way the book pivoted emotionally was very nice, and I was sad when Halmoni died. GOOD BOOK!

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.

Lily and her family had to leave California to stay with their grandmother (or halmoni) who is getting sick in her old age. For years she entertained the girl and her sister with tales from Korea about magical tigers and loving sisters. However, their grandmother's condition worsens and Lily is surprised when she's confronted by a magical tiger who wants her to return something. How will Lily be able to help her family and escape the tiger?It didn't take me long to become engrossed in this book. The story and characters just grab you in a way that makes you want to keep going with it. Lily is someone who grabs your sympathy because she has to deal with a multitude of problems internal and external, and you do feel sorry for her. Her grandmother/halmoni is also a fun person to follow, with her knowledge on traditional Korean customs and eccentric habits. Everyone was well thought out and well written, so good job to Tae Keller.I also love how the mystical elements are woven in to the narrative without overpowering Lily's struggles. It was fun to see tigers being represented as more supernatural entities instead of just mundane animals you'd see at the zoo. I also love the use of folk tales as an element of the story, connecting our heroes to their heritage as well as their present. I would recommend this book to people looking for a fun fantasy that also contains a passion for one's heritage.There are some things to be aware of. One of the conditions of the characters reflects a real-world challenge that may be hard for some readers who have experienced it. There is a gay couple in the story for those who don't like such relationships. There is a use of some stereotypes (like a super-rich white kid), but it doesn't define who the character is.Parents and teachers can use this story to illustrate to kids the magic of looking to the homelands of their ancestors and learning about their customs and traditions. This story can also be used as an object lesson to illustrate the importance of loving our family and helping them when they need our help. An activity that parents and teachers can also associate with this book is to inspire children to research some old folk tales from the lands of their ancestors, and try to write stories inspired by those tales.