Keller slowly and beautifully reveled how the relationship between the tiger, Lily, and Halomi worked to create the entire narrative. This book taught me patience (in a good way). There was a weaving in of Korean folklore and storytelling that I found fascinating, yet at the same time I wasn't sure how it would all work together. For me as a reader, I was confused as to where Keller was going to take the story. Lily, her mother, and her sister move in with Halmoni (Lily's grandmother) to help take care of her while she's sick. Lily is used to being invisible and folds into herself quite a bit. That's not to say that it didn't however, this book was more about familial relationships and identity. Like other reviewers, I automatically assumed that it was going to have fantastical/magical elements. When You Trap a Tiger is so much more than the cover gives it credit for. I should have known that any book that wins the Newberry Medal is one that is bound to make me cry.

But this story is from the stars thus, I’d rate it infinitely. Ironically, this site has us rate books with stars. Thank you, Tae Keller, for this remarkable book. I saw them as the latter as they were dying, but this book showed me their bravery in a whole new light. My mom & grama were complicated: fierce, brave women, but also often scared and closed off. As Keller writes (and I paraphrase): the sadness may lessen, but the missing never does. This book made me want to read more about Korea so that its “single story” - in my brain, at least - doesn’t come from a 70s TV show.Īs for the mirror, I lost my grama 3 years ago this month, and my sweet mom almost exactly a year later. I loved hearing the stories of the gods and myths of Korean folklore, and of the quiet inner strength of the Korean women. I know very little about Korean culture, and nothing about the folktales within. But when a book acts as a window and a mirror (Sims Bishop, 1990) simultaneously, well, that’s something quite special.

Sure, I could describe When You Trap a Tiger as MG magical realism. Or it might help heal a part of you that is broken. It might show you the world in a new way. You never know what a book will truly be for you until you read it. I was in a bit of a reading slump when this book came to me from the publisher via a member of my reading group.

When you trap a tiger