Gradually-too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic-it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales.

Longing-for connection, for family, for a voice-roars to life with just a touch of magic.Ĭhainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.Įvery four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. It is at one and the same time completely American and thoroughly informed by Korean culture. Keller infuses this tale, which explores both the end of life and coming-of-age, with a sensitive examination of immigration issues and the complexity of home.

Interesting supporting characters are fully developed but used sparingly to keep the focus on the simple yet suspenseful plot. What she comes to realize is that healing doesn’t mean health and that Halmoni is not the only one in need of the power of storytelling. Lily makes a deal with the tiger to heal her grandmother by releasing those stories. From the tiger, Lily learns that Halmoni has bottled up the hard stories of her past to keep sadness at bay. There is no need for prior knowledge of Korean folktales, although a traditional Korean myth propels the story forward. What were previously bedtime stories become dangerously prophetic, as Lily begins to piece together fact from fiction. When Lily, her sister, Sam-both biracial, Korean and White-and their widowed mom move in with Halmoni to be close with her as she ages, Lily begins to see a magical tiger. A young girl bargaining for the health of her grandmother discovers both her family’s past and the strength of her own voice.įor many years, Lily’s Korean grandmother, Halmoni, has shared her Asian wisdom and healing powers with her predominantly White community.

When you trap a tiger genre