Tiger Skin Rug: A Magical Journey

A fast-paced fantasy-thriller undercut by unconvincing characters.

Lal Patel, nearly 12, and his younger brother Dilip have just moved to Scotland from India with their parents and maternal grandmother for their father's work. Unlike their modern housing compound in India, their new home, Graystanes, is a large, fully furnished bungalow in a small town, and feels haunted. Though both boys are homesick, things start to look up when they meet their exuberant, white freckled neighbor Jenny, who's eager to show them around town. Concurrently, the tiger skin rug in their drawing room starts to converse with Dilip, temporarily becoming an apparently resurrected tiger when it does. Bringing Jenny into their secret, the brothers decide to help the tiger fulfill the promise he had made right before he was poached. Soon, the group is magically traveling to London and then India on the rug in search of the tiger's promise. The children meet new people, solve riddles, and finally help deliver the tiger's message. Though the text, narrated by Lal, includes some cultural inaccuracies, Haig's characters are lively in this swiftly paced fantastical debut. Ages 8-12. (Nov.)

After brothers Lal and Dilip Patel move from India to Scotland with their parents and Naniji, they quickly begin to miss home desperately. Everything in Scotland is strange—especially the tiger skin rug in their new drawing room that seems almost to move when the light hits it just right. So when Dilip discovers the tiger can move, the two jump at the chance to help him keep a long-kept promise and hopefully find their own way home again. Readers are sure to devour this magical, mysterious adventure of a debut, equal parts gentle and exhilarating. Lal and Dilip's longing for the familiarity of home resonates, as do the lessons they learn along the way. VERDICT A natural recommendation for fans of emotionally resonant adventure books, and authors such as Kate DiCamillo, Sara Pennypacker, and Katherine Applegate.—Kaitlin Frick, Darien Lib., CT