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  • Music for Tigers

Music for Tigers

Publication Date
March 09, 2021
Genre / Grade Band
Fiction /  4th − 5th
Language
English
Music for Tigers

Description

From Governor General's Literary Award finalist Michelle Kadarusman comes a novel about a young violinist who discovers her mother's family secretly harbor a sanctuary for extinct Tasmanian tigers in the remote Australian rainforest

Shipped halfway around the world to spend the summer with her mom's eccentric Australian relatives, middle schooler and passionate violinist Louisa is prepared to be resentful. But life at the family's remote camp in the Tasmanian rainforest is intriguing, to say the least. There are pig-footed bandicoots, scary spiders, weird noises and odors in the night, and a quirky boy named Colin who cooks the most amazing meals. Not the least strange is her Uncle Ruff, with his unusual pet and veiled hints about something named Convict Rock.

Finally, Louisa learns the truth: Convict Rock is a sanctuary established by her great-grandmother Eleanor--a sanctuary for Tasmanian tigers, Australia's huge marsupials that were famously hunted into extinction almost a hundred years ago. Or so the world believes. Hidden in the rainforest at Convict Rock, one tiger remains. But now the sanctuary is threatened by a mining operation, and the last Tasmanian tiger must be lured deeper into the forest. The problem is, not since her great-grandmother has a member of the family been able to earn the shy tigers' trust.

As the summer progresses, Louisa forges unexpected connections with Colin, with the forest, and--through Eleanor's journal--with her great-grandmother. She begins to suspect the key to saving the tiger is her very own music. But will her plan work? Or will the enigmatic Tasmanian tiger disappear once again, this time forever?

A moving coming-of-age story wrapped up in the moss, leaves, and blue gums of the Tasmanian rainforest where, hidden under giant ferns, crouches its most beloved, and lost, creature.

Publication date
March 09, 2021
Genre
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781772781892
Lexile Measure
730
Publisher
Pajama Press
BISAC categories
JUV031040 - Juvenile Fiction | Performing Arts | Music
JUV039150 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Special Needs
JUV039020 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Adolescence
JUV013020 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Marriage & Divorce
JUV029010 - Juvenile Fiction | Nature & the Natural World | Environment
JUV002340 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Jungle Animals
JUV030080 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | Australia & Oceania
Library of Congress categories
Bildungsromans
Australia
Animal sanctuaries
Extinct animals
Thylacine

School Library Journal

Gr 5-7--The last place Louisa wants to be for the summer is the middle of the Tasmanian bush with an uncle she barely knows. She should be back home in Canada, relentlessly practicing violin for her orchestra audition. But with her biologist parents studying a frog habitat away from home, Louisa finds herself halfway around the world on an unrequested adventure. She always considered herself a musician and quite unlike her animal crazy family, but will the summer uncover secrets about the past to change her mind? Could it be her musical talents run deeper in her family line than she ever expected? And then there is Colin, a boy with autism spectrum disorder who is overflowing with knowledge about her new surroundings but oblivious about how to handle his bullies. Saving the last of a supposedly extinct species, caring for baby Tasmanian devils, facing her fears, and standing up for what's right are just a few of the adventures in store for Louisa. This is a well-told and timely story, which gently but firmly addresses topics such as environmental impact, endangered species, neurodiversity, friendship, bullying, and being your best self. Some of the vocabulary could be daunting for developing readers but short chapters and narrative style make a fantastic amount of information highly accessible. VERDICT A solid choice for middle grade collections providing a balanced and comprehensible voice to the environmental discussion for young people.--Emily Beasley, Omaha Public Schools

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Michelle Kadarusman
Michelle
Kadarusman
grew up in Melbourne, Australia, and also lived many years
throughout her father's homeland of Indonesia before moving to Canada in 2000.
Her books have earned numerous nominations, including the Governor General's
Literary Awards, the Ontario Library Association Silver Birch Awards, and the
Green Earth Book Award. Her novels include The Theory of Hummingbirds, Girl
of the Southern Sea,
and Music for Tigers. Her first picture book, Room
for More
, published in 2022. Michelle now lives in Toronto, Canada
and Byron Bay, Australia.
USBBY Outstanding International Book
-
2021
White Raven Selection
-
2021