Tiger Boy

By: Mitali Perkins
Location: FIC PER
Genre: India, Tigers and  the environment

Sunday was really wet and my brain did not want to read a big heavy book, so I snuggled down with my blanket, a nice cup of tea, lit a candle and read this book. I have been to India on multiple occasions and I love a good yarn from that country that is a cacophony. I have spent time in schools there and I can just hear the story unfold. I have seen kids swim in streams, the joy, the laughter, the diving, on those hot monsoon days.
But I never have seen a tiger- for that I am thankful!

This book is a book to address manipulation, it is a book to tell the story of the environment, it is a story that counters the folly of corruption, it is a story of bravery and integrity, it is a story about the power of education, and its centrefold- it a cute, cuddly escapee- a baby tiger.

If I had a 8-14 year old in my world- I would be reading this to them aloud!
Then we would chat about it and the power of a child standing firm for what is right, about courage and about integrity and how hard it is  outlive.

"One of the new tiger cubs has escaped from the reserve!"When a tiger cub escapes from a nature reserve near Neel's island village, the rangers and villagers hurry to find her before the cub's anxious mother follows suit and endangers them all. Mr. Gupta, a rich newcomer to the island, is also searching--he wants to sell the cub's body parts on the black market. Neel and his sister, Rupa, resolve to find the cub first and bring her back to the reserve where she belongs.

The hunt for the cub interrupts Neel's preparations for an exam to win a prestigious scholarship at a boarding school far from home. Neel doesn't mind--he dreads the exam and would rather stay on his beloved island in the Sunderbans of West Bengal with his family and friends.