Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Tae Keller’s When You Trap a Tiger was on my radar before it won last month; it was being talked about in the book world, and the family aspect looked to be up my alley. I’m not sure when I would have gotten to it if it hadn’t won the Newbery Medal, but it did, and so you have the pleasure of this review!

Anyway. I think the simplest way to describe When You Trap a Tiger is that it’s an older Korean cousin to Grace Lin’s Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Starry River of the Sky, and When the Sea Turned to Silver. Like Lin, Keller intertwines folklore with family life, blurring the lines between prosaic reality and a different kind of truth. Keller’s story, however, uses contemporary reality instead of historical, and for me, that made the sadness of Halmoni’s illness a much sharper thing. As Lily attempts to trap and negotiate with the tiger only she can see–hoping to heal her halmoni, or grandmother–her relationships with those around her start to shift. And when her family’s story reaches its crisis point, it is Lily who must find a way to heal what can be healed while accepting what cannot be.

This was most certainly an emotional book to read, partly because Lily’s own emotions–not to mention her mother’s and sister’s–are in such turmoil throughout the book. It is Lily’s book first and foremost, but it is also a sister story (which tugged at me) as well as a mother/daughter and grandmother/granddaughter story; it’s the sort of book that has you both crying and laughing at the end. (It also has an LGBTQ+ side story, although to be honest with you, I found it somewhat distracting. A romantic relationship when the family has JUST BARELY moved back to a place they haven’t even visited for years feels rushed.) Ultimately, it’s not perfectly my thing (the fantasy element), but it’s a completely worthwhile read. Let me know what you think!