In this sensitive, absorbing, and funny novel, 11-year-old Tig must learn how to live with love, care, and hope from kind, stable uncles after a lifetime of neglect.
Tig and her older brother, Peter, were abandoned by their mother, left alone in their house for four months. Once the children are discovered, they are turned over to their sweetly bumbling Uncle Scott and his partner, Manny. The kids are "different" now, though: "It's like how abandoned animals stop trusting humans. They go wild and crazy and when they're rescued it takes ages for them to calm down, to love and be loved again." A living situation that seems too good to be true is scary for kids who have survived trauma, and Tig responds in whatever way she can to keep her internal balance. She lashes out, gives her uncles the cold shoulder, misbehaves, steals, lies, sets outrageous goals for herself, and disappears into her imagination. Tig is slow to trust but working toward one of the outrageous goals (become the "Cheese-Rolling Champion of Wensleydale"), allows her to emerge into her new life.
In the complex, unforgettable Tig, Heather Smith (The Agony of Bun O'Keefe) explores the stunning (and sometimes self-sabotaging) resourcefulness children can muster in the face of adversity. Tig, who has a precocious and creative way with words, reveals her grief and anxiety in subtle details, like the words she chooses when she plays a dictionary game with Peter: "Forsake: to leave someone forever, especially when they need you." Tig herself may not realize what she's doing, but savvy readers will catch on. Tig is the next great read for fans of Dusti Bowling and Rebecca Stead. --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor